Abd al-Malik, governor of Al-Andalus from 732 to 734, is a very wealthy member of a noble Arab family.

Spurred by critics who lashed out at his lack of military victories, he had led an expedition north to Pamplona, where a Frankish or Aquitanian party had taken over after the Battle of Poitiers.

Despite his failure to capture the Basque fortress, he had left troops to invest it, and had decided to continue his way north across the Pyrenees, where he engaged the Basques in skirmishes and was eventually overcome, but managed to escape back to Al-Andalus.

After being deposed and incarcerated by his successor Uqba ibn al-Hajjaj or possibly the governor of Ifriqiya ("was bound in chains"), he had made his way back to prominence in 740, when he is appointed wali (governor) of Al-Andalus again after the natural death of the former.

Abd al-Malik is a more popular figure among local Arabs and Berbers alike The news of the Berber victory in Morocco echoes through Spain.

Berbers heavily outnumber Arabs in al-Andalus, and the Andalusian Arab elite fear the Berber garrisons in their own lands might take inspiration from their Moroccan brethren.