Musa bin Nusair

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Musa bin Nusair (640—716) was a Yemeni Muslim governor and general under the Umayyads. In 698 he was made the viceroy of North Africa and was responsible for putting down a large Berber rebellion. He also had to deal with constant harassment from the Byzantine navy and he built a navy that would go on to conquer the islands of Ibiza, Majorca, and Minorca.

In Spain there was internal fighting among the Visigoths. Among the factions were the sons of a recently deceased king who felt that they had unfairly been stripped of power. They appealed to Musa to intervene in their civil war, and Musa obliged. He sent his deputy, Tariq bin Ziyad, to Spain, whose armies landed at Gibraltar on April 30, 711, from whence they proceeded to take most of Spain. Their major victory came in September of the same year when the Muslim armies defeated Roderic at the Guadalete River.

Musa joined Tariq in 712 and led armies into Southern France, where he annexed some land. Musa was planning an invasion of the rest of Europe when he was recalled to Damascus by Al-Waleed. Al-Waleed would die soon after and Musa would be jailed by his successor, Suleiman, who would have Musa executed in 716. The reasoning behind this was that Suleiman saw Musa as a threat. But perhaps it was a personal vendetta.

According to American writer Washington Irving, in the "Legend of the Subjugation of Spain," a part of his 1835 Legends of the Conquest of Spain, Musa (Muza) and Tariq (Taric) feuded because each regarded the other as stealing his rightful glory. Their conflict reached the ear of Caliph al Waleed (Waled Almanzor). Both North African leaders were therefore summoned by the caliph to Damascus. Tariq arrived first. But then the caliph took ill. So the caliph's brother, Suleiman ben Abdelmelec, asked Musa, who was arriving with a cavalcade of soldiers and spoils, to delay his grand entry into the city until Waleed recovered. But Musa dismissed this request, triumphally entered Damascus anyway, and brought his case before the ailing Waleed. After hearing from both Musa and Tariq, the caliph concluded that Musa, as emir, had wronged his subordinate general, Tariq, by taking all the credit. Waleed then died a few days later and was succeeded by his brother Suleiman, who soon demanded that Musa deliver up all his spoils. When Musa complained, Suleiman stripped him of his rank, confiscated his possessions, had him publicly scourged, and threw him in prison.

This story has been disputed by many Muslim historians. They believe that Musa died naturally while he was doing the Hajj with new Caliph Suleiman.

His son was Abd al-Aziz ibn Musa.

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