Muslim ibn Sa'id ibn Aslam ibn Zur'ah ibn Amr ibn Khuwaylid al-Sa'iq al-Kilabi (Arabic:مسلم بن سعيد الكلابي) was governor ofKhurasan for theUmayyad Caliphate in 723–724. He is best known for his efforts to conciliate the native population ofTransoxiana and for the major military defeat at the "Day of Thirst" against theTürgesh.

Muslim had a distinguished ancestry: his grandfatherAslam served as governor ofKhurasan in 671–675, and his fatherSa'id was a partisan of the powerfulgovernor of Iraq,al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf, who rewarded his loyalty by appointing him as governor ofMakran.^[1] They were the Basran branch of a clan of theKilab tribe that was mostly concentrated in theJazira (Upper Mesopotamia) (seeZufar ibn al-Harith al-Kilabi).^[2]

When his father was killed during his governorship, Muslim was raised as a foster-son by al-Hajjaj, alongside his own sons.^[1][3] His first official post was as a provincial sub-governor under the governor ofBasra,Adi ibn Artat, and he reportedly acquitted himself well. During the rebellion ofYazid ibn al-Muhallab in 720, he fled toSyria carrying the province's tax revenues with him.^[3]

Muslim became a companion to the governor of Iraq,Umar ibn Hubayra, who in 722/723 appointed him as governor ofKhurasan, replacingSa'id ibn Amr al-Harashi.^[4][5] He took office at a sensitive time, as widespread unrest among the nativeIranian andTurkic populations of newly conqueredTransoxiana had been brutally suppressed by al-Harashi.^[6][7] When appointing him to the post, Ibn Hubayra advised him to seek conciliation with the native populations, and especially the converts (mawali).^[4] Indeed, al-Kilabi appointed officials that would be acceptable to the locals, such asBahram Sis, aZoroastrian who was appointed asmarzban ofMerv.^[4][8]

In the next year, he resolved to launch an expedition with the goal of seizing theFerghana Valley, which had been lost during the unrest of the previous years. The campaign faced difficulties already in its early stages, when the news arrived of the accession of a new Caliph,Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik, and the appointment of a new governor of Iraq,Khalid al-Qasri. This brought thelong-simmering tribal rivalries of the Arabs of Khurasan came to the fore: anticipating the immediate recall of al-Kilabi, theYemeni (southern Arab) troops inBalkh refused to join the campaign, and had to be coerced by a force ofMudaris (northern Arabs) underNasr ibn Sayyar, who clashed with them atBaruqan. The campaign eventually went ahead as Khalid al-Qasri wrote to al-Kilabi, urging him to proceed with it until his replacement, Khalid's brotherAsad, arrived in Khurasan.^[9][2][4]

Al-Kilabi moved his army up theJaxartes valley to Ferghana and laid siege to its main settlement, but news of the approach of theTürgesh forced him to hastily retreat south.^[4][10][11] After several days, with the Türgesh in close pursuit, the Umayyad army found its path blocked by the native princes who had allied with the Türgesh. In the so-called "Day of Thirst", the Arabs were forced to break through the enemy lines to cross the Jaxartes and reach safety, suffering heavy casualties in the process. Al-Kilabi surrendered the leadership of the army toAbd al-Rahman ibn Na'im al-Ghamidi, who led the remnants of the army back to Samarkand.^[12][13][14] This debacle led to the almost complete collapse of Muslim rule in Transoxiana over the next few years.^[13]

Some of the Khurasani Arabs are said to have lashed Muslim after his dismissal, for his role in causing the battle at Baruqan, but al-Ghamidi interceded to make them stop.^[15] His successor, Asad al-Qasri, treated him well, and allowed him to return to Iraq.^[16]

• Blankinship, Khalid Yahya, ed. (1989).The History of al-Ṭabarī, Volume XXV: The End of Expansion: The Caliphate of Hishām, A.D. 724–738/A.H. 105–120. SUNY Series in Near Eastern Studies. Albany, New York: State University of New York Press.ISBN 978-0-88706-569-9.
• Blankinship, Khalid Yahya (1994).The End of the Jihâd State: The Reign of Hishām ibn ʻAbd al-Malik and the Collapse of the Umayyads. Albany, New York: State University of New York Press.ISBN 978-0-7914-1827-7.
• Crone, Patricia (1980).Slaves on Horses: The Evolution of the Islamic Polity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.ISBN 0-521-52940-9.
• Gibb, H. A. R. (1923).The Arab Conquests in Central Asia. London:The Royal Asiatic Society.OCLC 499987512.
• Hillenbrand, Carole, ed. (1989).The History of al-Ṭabarī, Volume XXVI: The Waning of the Umayyad Caliphate: Prelude to Revolution, A.D. 738–744/A.H. 121–126. SUNY Series in Near Eastern Studies. Albany, New York: State University of New York Press.ISBN 978-0-88706-810-2.
• Powers, David S., ed. (1989).The History of al-Ṭabarī, Volume XXIV: The Empire in Transition: The Caliphates of Sulaymān, ʿUmar, and Yazīd, A.D. 715–724/A.H. 96–105. SUNY Series in Near Eastern Studies. Albany, New York: State University of New York Press.ISBN 978-0-7914-0072-2.

• 8th-century Arab people
• 8th-century people from the Umayyad Caliphate
• Banu Kilab
• Umayyad governors of Khorasan
• Generals of the Umayyad Caliphate

• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Articles containing Arabic-language text
• Year of birth unknown
• Year of death unknown