Abbad was the son of Ziyad ibn Abihi, the Umayyad governor of Iraq, and a brother of Ziyad's successor Ubayd Allah ibn Ziyad,[1] with whom he had a close relationship.[2] The Umayyad caliph Mu'awiya I (r. 661–680) appointed Abbad governor of the eastern province of Sijistan (Sistan) in 673, and he was reconfirmed in the post by Mu'awiya's son and successor Yazid I (r. 680–683).[1][3] While the historian Muhammad Abdulhayy Shaban notes that Sijistan remained stable under Abbad's rule with no record of rebellions in the province or military expeditions originating from there,[3] the historian K. V. Zetterstéen asserts that Abbad was an active participant in the eastward expansion of the Caliphate and credited him with leading the conquest of Kandahar.[4]