'Amr ibn al-'As (redirected from Amr ibn al-Aas)

'Amr ibn al-'As

(died 663, Al-Fustat, Egypt) Arab conqueror of Egypt. After accepting Islam (c. 630), he led a force to Oman, where he converted the region's rulers. He was a leader in the Muslim force that conquered southwestern Palestine in the 630s but gained fame when, on his own initiative, he set out to conquer Egypt, succeeding (642) after a two-year campaign. A good administrator and politician, late in his career he aided the governor of Syria, Mu'awiyah I, against 'Ali, Islam's fourth caliph. He was rewarded with the governorship of Egypt at the beginning of the Umayyad dynasty (661).