abd al-aziz was the son of a senior member of the umayyad clan, marwan ibn al-hakam, and one of the latter's wives, layla bint zabban ibn al-asbagh of the banu kalb tribe. he may have visited egypt when the province was governed by maslama ibn mukhallad al-ansari (667–682), the appointee of mu'awiya i, founder of the umayyad caliphate. in 682, abd al-aziz was part of an embassy alongside his elder half-brother abd al-malik sent by marwan to the anti-umayyad rebel abd allah ibn al-zubayr in mecca. when the inhabitants of medina, the home of much of the umayyad clan, rebelled against mu'awiya's successor, caliph yazid i (), and besieged the umayyad family in marwan's neighborhood in 683, abd al-aziz is not mentioned as being present. the historian wilhelm barthold speculates he could have been in egypt at the time.