Khalid al-Qasri

Khalid ibn Abdallah ibn Asad al-Qasri
Born	Damascus
Died	743
Years active	702/5/7–743
Known for	Umayyad governor of Mecca and Iraq; champion of the Yaman in the Qays–Yaman rivalry

Khālid ibn ʿAbdallāh al-Qasrī (Arabic: خالد بن عبد الله القسري‎‎) (died 743) was an Arab who served the Umayyad Caliphate as governor of Mecca in the 8th century and of Iraq from 724 until 738. The latter post, entailing as it did control over the entire eastern Caliphate, made him one of the most important officials during the crucial reign of Caliph Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik. He is most notable for his support of the Yaman tribes in the conflict with the Qays who dominated the administration of Iraq and the East under his predecessor and successor, as well as for his reputation for un-Islamic beliefs, support for Christianity and even atheism (zindiq). Following his dismissal, he was twice imprisoned and tortured by his successor, dying as a result in 743.

Khalid was born in Damascus. He was a member of the Qasr clan, a subtribe of the Banu Bajila, of which his great-grandfather Asad ibn Kurz al-Qasri is said by some traditions to have been the chief in the times of Muhammad, and is accounted as one of the Prophet's Companions. Other traditions, however, hostile to Khalid, report that Asad was a runaway Jewish slave. Khalid's grandfather Yazid was an early and prominent supporter of the Umayyads in the First Fitna, while Khalid's father Abdallah sided with Ibn al-Zubayr in the Second Fitna, but was eventually pardoned by the Caliph Abd al-Malik (reigned 685–705). Khalid's mother was a Christian.

Khalid possibly served as governor of Rayy in 702, but his first secure appointment is as governor of Mecca. The dates of this appointment are unclear, as al-Tabari mentions his appointment twice in 707/8 and 709/10, under al-Walid I (r. 705–715), but other traditions report that he held the post already under Abd al-Malik in 705. Similarly, although his tenure is held to have ended with the accession of Sulayman in 715, the historian al-Azraqi reports traditions that he continued to govern Mecca into Sulayman's reign. His governorship of Mecca is remembered chiefly for acts such as the decoration of the Kaaba with gold or measures to regulate the local cult, such as the segregation of genders during the tawaf. Khalid also constructed a fountain, at the behest of the Caliph, to serve the pilgrims, and boasted of its superiority to the bitter water of the sacred Zamzam Well. During this time he also reportedly proclaimed that he would be willing, as a measure of his loyalty to the dynasty, if the Caliph so ordered, to tear down the Kaaba and transport it to Jerusalem.

...
Wikipedia