Editing Muhammad ibn al-Qasim (section)

==Origins and early life==
Muhammad was born in {{circa|694}}.{{sfn|Baloch|1953|p=244}} His birthplace was almost certainly in the [[Hejaz]] (western Arabia), either in [[Ta'if]], the traditional home of his Thaqif tribe, or in [[Mecca]] or [[Medina]].{{sfn|Gabrieli|1965|p=282}} Following their general embrace of Islam in {{circa|630}}, members of the Thaqif gradually attained high military and administrative ranks in the [[Rashidun Caliphate|nascent Caliphate]] and played important command and economic roles during and after the [[early Muslim conquests]], particularly in [[Muslim conquest of Persia|Iraq]].{{sfn|Lecker|2000|p=432}} The tribe produced effective commanders associated with early Arab military operations against the Indian subcontinent: in {{circa|636}} the Thaqafite governor of [[Eastern Arabia|Bahrayn]] (eastern Arabia), [[Uthman ibn Abi al-As]], dispatched naval expeditions against the Indian ports of [[Debal]], [[Thane]] and [[Bharuch]].{{sfn|Baloch|1953|p=243}} The tribe's power continued to increase with the advent of the [[Umayyad Caliphate]] in 661.{{sfn|Baloch|1953|p=243}}

Muhammad belonged to the Abu Aqil family of the Banu Awf, one of the two principal branches of the Thaqif.{{sfn|Baloch|1953|p=243}} The Abu Aqil family gained prestige with the rise of [[al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf]], the paternal first cousin of Muhammad's father al-Qasim ibn Muhammad ibn al-Hakam.{{sfn|Baloch|1953|p=243}} Al-Hajjaj was made a commander by the Umayyad caliph [[Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan|Abd al-Malik]] ({{reign|685|705}}) during the [[Second Muslim Civil War]] and killed the Umayyads' chief rival for the caliphate, [[Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr]], in 692, and two years later was appointed the viceroy of Iraq and the eastern Caliphate.{{sfn|Baloch|1953|pp=243–244}}{{sfn|Gabrieli|1965|p=282}} Following his promotion, al-Hajjaj became a patron of the Thaqif and appointed several members to important posts in Iraq and its dependencies.{{sfn|Baloch|1953|p=244, note 11}} Muhammad's father was appointed the deputy governor of [[Basra]], though his career was otherwise undistinguished.{{sfn|Baloch|1953|p=245}} According to a letter between Muhammad and al-Hajjaj cited by the ''Chach Nama'', Muhammad's mother was a certain Habibat al-Uzma (Habiba the Great).{{sfn|Baloch|1953|p=245}} The ''Chach Nama'' also indicates Muhammad had a similar-aged brother named Sulb and Arabic sources indicate he had a much younger brother named al-Hajjaj, who served as an Umayyad commander during the [[revolt of Zayd ibn Ali|Alid revolt of 740]].{{sfn|Baloch|1953|p=245}}

No information is provided by the Arabic sources about Muhammad's childhood and adolescence.{{sfn|Gabrieli|1965|p=282}} The modern historian [[Nabi Bakhsh Khan Baloch|Nabi Bakhsh Baloch]] holds that Muhammad most likely grew up partly in Ta'if and then Basra and [[Wasit]], the provincial capital of Iraq founded by al-Hajjaj in 702.{{sfn|Baloch|1953|p=245}} Muhammad's time in Basra, a military and intellectual centre of the Islamic world at the time, may have widened Muhammad's career horizons, while at Wasit he was likely educated and trained under al-Hajjaj's patronage.{{sfn|Baloch|1953|pp=245–246}}

Al-Hajjaj was highly fond of Muhammad,{{sfn|Baloch|1953|pp=245–246}} and considered him prestigious enough to marry his sister Zaynab,{{sfn|Friedmann|1993|p=405}} though she preferred the older Thaqafite al-Hakam ibn Ayyub ibn al-Hakam, to whom she was ultimately wed.{{sfn|Gabrieli|1965|p=283}}{{sfn|Baloch|1953|p=247}} The ''Kitab al-aghani'' refers to Muhammad at the age of 17 as "the noblest Thaqafite of his time".{{sfn|Gabrieli|1965|pp=282–283}} In the summation of Baloch, "Muhammad grew up under favourable conditions into an able, energetic and cultured lad of fine tastes".{{sfn|Baloch|1953|p=246}}