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The Revolt of Ibn Tabataba, Abu Saraya, and Its Suppression

2026-10-12T03:28:42.598-07:00

The Revolt of Ibn Tabataba and Abu Saraya

Abu Saraya bin Mansoor was related to the tribe of Banu Shaiban. During Ameen's Caliphate, he was in the army of the governor of Jazirah. There he murdered a man belonging to Banu Tamim. When the governor of Jazirah ordered his arrest for the crime, he escaped and with 30 persons who joined him began plundering whatever and wherever they could.

After a short time, he along with his group went to Yazid bin Mizyad in Armenia. Yazid bin Mizyad appointed him to the rank of general. When Yazid bin Mizyad died, he began to live with his son Asad bin Yazid. When Asad was deposed from the governorship of Armenia, Abu Saraya went to Ahmad bin Mizyad. When Ameen deputed Ahmad bin Mizyad to fight with Harsimah, Ahmad bin Mizyad made him chief of the vanguard of the army. Harsimah entered into a conspiracy with him and he went over to Harsimah's side.

He then called the men of his tribe Banu Shaiban to him 2000 of them responded and joined Harsimah's army. Abu Saraya made a recommendation on their behalf and handsome allowances were fixed for them. When Ameen was killed, Harsimah refused to pay the daily allowance to Banu Shaiban. Abu Saraya became angry with him and sought his permission to go for Hajj. Harsimah gave him the permission plus a sum of 20,000 dirhams for the expenses of his journey. He divided the amount among his men and told them to come to him in ones and twos to avoid suspicion. Abu Saraya took leave of Harsimah and left ostensibly for the purpose of Hajj. He halted on the way and 200 men rallied round him there. He arrayed them and invaded Ainuttamar and arrested the rulers there. Ainuttamar was looted and the spoils were distributed among his men. He continued plundering and looted government treasuries in several places.

Harsimah sent an army to punish and arrest him. Abu Saraya defeated them and forced them to escape. More men joined Abu Saraya and his power increased. Then he defeated the ruler of Waquqa and looted the treasury. He went to Ambar, killed its ruler Ibrahim Sharwi, looted the town, and distributed the spoils among his men. He went to Riqqah where he came across Mohammad bin Ibrahim bin Ismail bin Ibrahim bin Hasan bin Muthanna bin Ali who declared his Caliphate and left Riqqah with Abu Saraya. Mohammad bin Ibrahim's father was known as Ibrahim Tabataba and he was known as Ibn Tabataba.

It was at this time that Hasan bin Sahal arrived in the Baghdad after being appointed the governor there and in Yemen and Hijaz. The Arabs in general looked upon the increase of non-Arab power with hatred and apprehension and regarded Mamoon's caliphate as harmful to them and the Alawiites became busy taking advantage of it.

Nasr bin Sheeth announced that he was not an enemy to the Abbasids but he opposed the present regime simply because it preferred non-Arabs to Arabs. The announcement made an impact on the Arab chiefs of the army and their activities were very lax against Nasr bin Sheeth.

Hasan bin Sahal at the same time was displeased with Harsimah and sent him to Khorasan. Abu Saraya took Mohammad bin Ibrahim's (Ibn Tabataba) presence as a sign of good fortune and took the oath for his caliphate. Ibn Tabataba sent Abu Saraya to Kufa by boat along the river and he himself went to Kufa by land. According to plan Abu Saraya and Ibn Tabataba entered Kufa on 15 Jamad-al-Thani 199 A.H. from two different directions and looted the palace of Abbas bin Musa bin Isa which was the governor's residence and which also housed the royal treasury. The entire city was brought under control and all the civilians took the oath for ibn Tabataba's Caliphate.

When Hasan bin Sahal was informed of the occupation of Kufa by Abu Saraya and Ibn Tabataba, he sent Zuhair bin Musayyib with 10,000 men to Kufa. They came out of Kufa and clashed with Zuhair and defeated him. Abu Saraya looted Zuhair's military camp, killed and plundered the people mercilessly. Ibn Tabataba forbade him to indulge in merciless killing and plundering. Abu Saraya who had become accustomed to such killing and plundering could not tolerate the interference and he had Ibn Tabataba poisoned. The next day he was found dead and the period of his authority and conquest ended. Abu Saraya had a young boy Mohammad bin Jafar bin Mohammad bin Zaid bin Ali bin Husain bin Ali bin Abi Talib, Ibn Tabataba's deputy and took the oath for him and began to run and manage all state affairs using him as a figure head.

Abu Saraya's Government and its End

After being defeated, Zuhair bin Musayyib went to Qasr bin Hubairah and stayed there. Hasan bin Sahal gave Abdus bin Mohammad bin Khalid Marwarozi 4,000 men and sent him to reinforce Zuhair. Zuhair and Abdus attacked Kufa but were defeated and killed on 15 Rajab 199 A.H. while fighting against Abu Saraya. Following the victory Abu Saraya issued coins in his name in Kufa, appointed several Alawiites as governors of several provinces. He sent Abbas bin Mohammad bin Isa bin Mohammad to Ahwaz, Husain bin Hasan bin Ali bin Husain bin Ali bin Abi Talib known as Aftas to Makkah, Ibrahim bin Musa bin Jafar Sadiq to Yemen and Zaid bin Musa bin Jafar Sadiq to Basra after defeating its ruler. Abbas captured Basra. All the governors of Abu Saraya scored victories. Abu Saraya wrote to Abbas bin Mohammad to take an army from Ahwaz and invade Baghdad from the eastern side while he stayed at Qasr ibn Hubairah. Hasan bin Sahal sent Ali bin Sayeed from Baghdad to Madain in defense of Madain and Wasit. When Abu Saraya found this out, he at once sent an army from Qasr ibn Hubairah, which occupied Madain in Ramadan 199 A.H. before the arrival of Ali bin Sayeed. Abu Saraya himself left Qasr Ibn Hubairah and camped at the Sarsar River. Ali bin Sayeed reached Madain and besieged Abu Saraya's army in Shawwal 199 A.H. Receiving the news that his army had been encircled, Abu Saraya left the Sarsar River and marched towards Qasr ibn Hubairah.

When the armies sent by Hasan bin Sahal suffered defeat at the hands of Abu Saraya and his leaders were killed and captured in Rajab 199 A.H., Hasan bin Sahal was very worried. At that time Tahir was in Riqqah and could not leave due to Nasr bin Sheeth. Harsimah had left Baghdad and gone to Khorasan. Except these two commanders, Hasan bin Sahal had no other commander at his disposal to be sent against Abu Saraya. Abu Saraya had begun making preparations to conquer Baghdad. He had already captured Basra, Kufa, Wasit, and Madain, Hasan bin Sahal and Harsimah were at odds with each other. Hasan did not want to seek help from Harsimah but in view of the critical situation, he sent a fast messenger to Harsimah asking him to return and tackle the affair of Abu Saraya. Harsimah did not want to make Hasan bin Sahal's affairs easier. However, since Hasan had personally requested help, he did not think it proper to refuse and immediately returned to Baghdad. He entered the city at the time Abu Saraya had already left the Sarsar River for Qasr Ibn Hubairah after hearing about the siege of Madain. Harsimah left Baghdad in pursuit of Abu Saraya without any hesitation. He came across a group of Abu Saraya's supporters and he surrounded and killed them. He moved quickly and caught up with Abu Saraya. Abu Saraya attacked. The battle resulted in the death of many of his men but Abu Saraya escaped. He went to Kufa and looted the houses of Banu Abbas and their supporters and reduced them to rubble capturing all their goods, belongings and valuables. Harsimah moved forward, and besieged Kufa. Abu Saraya showed great perseverance in defense in a two month long siege of Kufa. Being compelled by the siege, he took Mohammad bin Jafar bin Mohammad and 800 horsemen and escaped from Kufa. Harsimah entered Kufa on 15 Muharram 200 A.H. appointed an administrator there and returned to Baghdad.

Abu Saraya left Kufa for Qadsiyah. Then he went towards Tus. He came across a caravan, which was going from Ahwaz loaded with merchandise. He looted it and distributed the loot among his men.

During the same period, Hasan bin Ali Mamooni expelled Abu Saraya's governor from Ahwaz and occupied it. When Hasan bin Ali heard about Abu Saraya's condition, he took an army from Ahwaz and went in pursuit of Abu Saraya. When they clashed, Abu Saraya suffered a crushing defeat. After being defeated, he went to Rasain in Jalula. Hasan bin Ali quickly surrounded and captured him along with Mohammad Jafar bin Mohammad and sent them to Hasan bin Sahal. He had Abu Saraya slaughtered and hung his corpse on the bridge of Baghdad. He sent his head and the head of Mohammad bin Jafar bin Mohammad to Mamoon. Ali bin Sayeed conquered Madain, slaughtered Abu Saraya's men and went to Wasit and captured it in accordance with Hasan bin Sahal's order and then left Wasit for Basra. He dethroned Zaid bin Musa bin Jafar Sadiq there and captured Basra. Zaid bin Musa set fire to all the houses of Banu Abbas and their supporters. He came to be known as Zaid an-Nar (Zaid the fire). Ali bin Sayeed arrested Zaid an-Nar and put him in confinement. In Muharram 200 A.H., the corruption of Abu Saraya in Iraq came to an end but Hijaz and Yemen were still reeling under the disturbances and unrest that he had started.

Ameen’s Caliphate Reviewed and Mamoon’s Rise to Abbasid Power

2026-10-12T03:26:09.194-07:00

A Review of Ameen's Caliphate

Caliph Ameen was 27 or 28 years old. He had been caliph for 4 years and 7 months. His entire reign was plagued with riots and carnage. Thousands of Muslims were killed for only political reasons. His regime was one of troubles, evils and misfortunes for the world of Islam. Ameen was well versed in syntax and literature and composed verse proficiently, he honored the scholars but he was inclined to sports and amusement. In matters of administration and expeditions, he was a misfit. Immediately after becoming Caliph, he ordered a polo field to be built near the palace of Mansoor. He paid special attention to decoration and beautification projects. He was fond of singing and playing musical instruments and worshipping beauty. His greatest trouble was the body of selfish ministers none of whom ever reminded him that he was a soldier and he should not dally with women.

In brief, Ameen was overwhelmed with his own youthful passions and totally devoid of the ability to conquer and rule. Fadal bin Rabi, his Prime Minister, did not prove to be a good minister for the dynasty of the Abbasids. It was he who was instrumental in having the army and the equipment which should have remained under Mamoon's control in keeping with Haroon's will, brought from Tus to Baghdad. He tried to harm Mamoon and sowed seeds of contention between the two brothers. Mamoon would have probably tolerated this as a small matter and Ameen would not have turned against Mamoon just for the sake of his extravagance. However, the next destructive act that Fadal bin Rabi had Ameen accomplish was beyond the limit of reconciliation.

The removal of Mamoon from the succession and the installation of his own infant son as the next Caliph destroyed Haroon's well-documented plans for his sons. In order to establish the succession of his son, Ameen had to capture the territory that belonged to Mamoon in accordance with Haroon's will and distribution. He had the official document of Caliph Haroon Rasheed removed from the Ka'bah and destroyed at the instance of Fadal bin Rabi. Consequently, all the influential members of the Abbasid dynasty were offended and disgusted with him at the inferred disrespect to his father and even the holy sites.

If we ponder a little we can easily infer that the man who is responsible for all this damage done to Islam is Haroon Rasheed. The biggest blunder and the most condemnable act of Haroon Rasheed was that he was dishonest in naming his successors. He knew that Mamoon was more capable and deserving yet he chose Ameen to take the caliphate. A plea may be offered from Haroon's side that Ameen was noble born from both sides and a pure Hashimiite and Mamoon's mother was Iranian and he had apprehensions that Mamoon would weaken the Arab elements and promote and strengthen Iranian authority and power.

Haroon chose Ameen as his successor because he was a pure Arab and Hashimiite and he believed Ameen would successfully continue his policy of breaking the Iranians power that he had adopted at the end of his caliphate. Ameen's heart and mind were not suited for this purpose. Haroon was aware of this in the last year of his life and he had become fully convinced of Mamoon's ability to rule and Ameen's inability. If we go deeper, we will find that Haroon Rasheed was not at fault but the fundamental policy adopted and followed by the Abbasids from the very beginning of their dynasty was bound to yield these results.

First, the Abbasids opposed the Arabs by using the Khorasanis. They put all their energy into effacing and destroying Arab power and influence and made the newly converted Khorasanis the leaders. Mention has been made above about the order given by the leaders of the Abbasids to Abu Muslim not to spare even a single Arabic speaking soul and Abu Muslim put to death 600,000 Arabs in Khorasan and Iran. The joint efforts of the Alawiites and the Abbasids aimed against Banu Umayyah weakened the Arab's influence and power and strengthened the Khorasanis, Persians and Iraqis. Every conspiracy against Banu Umayyah that proved fruitful was supported and implemented by the Iraqis and the Khorasanis. When the Banu Umayyah were destroyed, the Alawiites stood as mute spectators while the Abbasids became the masters of the caliphate and authority. When the Alawiites began to oppose the Abbasids and initiated a series of conspiracies against them, the Abbasids received aid from the Iraqis and Khorasanis.

Those who were goaded to kill the Arabs against Banu Umayyah became the greatest threat to the Abbasids. The Khorasanis power continued to rise until the regime of Mansoor Abbasi. Only for the short span of a few years during Mahdi's caliphate the Khorasanis rise stood still and the Arabs were honored. During Hadi and Haroon's regimes, the Khorasanis continued to increase their power. In the last years of his caliphate, Haroon realized that by weakening the Arabs they had harmed the caliphate considerably. He tried to correct the situation but death did not allow him to do so.

During Ameen's reign, the center of strength for the Arabs was Ameen and Mamoon for the Khorasanis. In other words, the clash between the two races Arabs and Iranians manifested itself through Ameen and Mamoon. Because Ameen was personally incapable and Mamoon was more capable, the Arab group lost and the Iranians became the masters of the Islamic world. The Khorasanis held Mamoon dear in order to bring under their control the machinery of the government and hand it over to the Alawiites after Mamoon.

Due to the sequence of events, they did not succeed and the government remained with the Abbasid dynasty. Later, the Khorasanis and newly converted Turks gathered enough courage and power to decimate the power of the Islamic Caliphate and form their own separate kingdoms. The details of which will follow in the next chapter. The substance of the matter is that the curse of the son succeeding his father and inherited rule is the root cause of these evils, troubles and defects in the Islamic Caliphate and it was this innovation that has done the greatest harm to the Muslims and kept the inherent justice of Islamic government from being maintained. The defects of Ameen's regime were the by products of the curse of inherited succession.

It is a coincidence that the three Caliphs Ali (رضي الله عنه), Imam Hasan (رضي الله عنه) and Ameen Rasheed were Hashimiite from both mother and father and the Caliphate did not obviously suit them. That is, the entire regime of Ali (رضي الله عنه) passed in internal conflicts and civil war among the Muslims and eventually he was martyred. Imam Hasan (رضي الله عنه) renounced the Caliphate and he still was poisoned to death. Similarly, Ameen's entire period of rule was dominated by internecine fights at the end of which he too was killed.

Mamoon Rasheed

Mamoon Rasheed bin Haroon Rasheed's given name was Abdullah. His father gave him the title "Mamoon." His kunya (father of, generally followed by the name of the first son) was Abul Abbas (father of Abbas). He was born on Friday in the middle of Rabi-al-Awwal 170 A.H. The night Mamoon was born Hadi, his uncle who preceded his father as Caliph, died. His mother's name was Marajil. She was a Zoroastrian slave girl and died within forty days of his birth. She was born in Badighais in Herat. Ali bin Isa, the governor of Khorasan, had presented her as a gift to Haroon Rasheed. Mamoon did not have the opportunity of being brought up in the lap of his mother. However, Haroon Rasheed paid special attention to his upbringing and training. At the age of five, he was put under the tutelage of Kasai Nahvi and Yazeedi. They taught him Quran and Arabic literature.

At 12 when Mamoon achieved understanding and intellectual ability by virtue of his divine gifted intelligence, he was made the apprentice of Jafar Barmuk. In the same year 182 A.H., Haroon nominated him to be the heir apparent after his half brother Ameen. Besides these teachers there were many religious scholars and those blessed with deep knowledge of Islam at Haroon's court and they were requested to educate him from time to time. Mamoon memorized the entire Quran and was a great scholar. He was eloquent and clever. He was slightly older than his brother Ameen. He had studied Islamic Law and Hadith under the guidance of great scholars of these subjects. Haroon had both his sons educated and trained with great interest and attention however, the impact this produced in Mamoon was not shared by Ameen.

Although Mamoon Rasheed had been the ruler of the eastern countries including Khorasan since Jumad-al-Thani 193 A.H. when Haroon died, the period of his caliphate begins from Muharram 198 A.H. when Ameen was killed. Ameen was killed on the night of 25 Muharram and the oath for Mamoon's caliphate was taken on Friday 26 Muharram 198 A.H.

When Mamoon was informed about Ameen's murder and the capture of Baghdad by his army and his recognition as caliph by the people of Baghdad, he gave the governorship of Jabal Faras, Ahwaz, Basra, Kufa, Hijaz, and Yemen, to Hasan bin Sahal, the brother of his minister Fadal bin Sahal and sent him to Baghdad. Harsimah bin Ayun and Tahir bin Husain had conquered these territories and it was by virtue of their courage that the people of Baghdad recognized Mamoon as caliph and Ameen was defeated.

Tahir who did the most to achieve the victory expected that he would be given the governorship of the newly conquered territories. Contrary to his expectations it was given to Hasan bin Sahal. Hasan bin Sahal then made Tahir bin Husain the governor of Jazirah, Mousil and Syria and sent him to fight with Nasr bin Sheeth bin Aqeel bin Kab bin Rabia bin Amir who had taken the oath of allegiance to Ameen and had collected a huge army to fight against Mamoon's forces and he continued to conquer territory in Iraq. When Hasan bin Sahal was appointed governor and next to the caliph, the civilians were sure that he would completely dominate Mamoon and the Iranians would be the dominant force in the government. The Arab leaders were worried about these developments and they felt discouraged and disappointed. They were convinced that Mamoon would retain Merv as his capital in deference to Fadal bin Sahal's wishes and would not come to Baghdad.

When Hasan bin Sahal sent Tahir to face Nasr bin Sheeth bin Aqeel, he only had limited success. He stayed at Riqqah and continued to engage in light skirmishes with Nasr bin Sheeth. While in Riqqah, Tahir received the news of his father Husain bin Zuraiq bin Mus'ab's death in Khorasan and Caliph Mamoon's participation in it. Hasan bin Sahal ordered Harsimah bin Ayun to go to Khorasan. Nasr bin Sheeth bin Aqeel rebelled simply because the non-Arabs were given priority over the Arabs. Tahir did not concentrate on defeating Nasr, as he himself disliked the domination of the Arabs by the non-Arabs. Harsimah bin Ayun, who was one of the old devotees of the Abbasid dynasty, looked at the rise of the non-Arabs with apprehension.

Tahir’s Conquests, Siege of Baghdad, and the Death of Ameen

2026-10-12T03:25:01.719-07:00

Tahir's Conquests

While Baghdad was witnessing these destructive events, Tahir bin Husain handed over the conquered territories to Harsimah bin Ayun in Halwan and proceeded to Ahwāz on the orders of Mamoon. Before his departure he sent Husain bin Omar Rustami to intercept any armies coming from Baghdad. Following the return of Abdullah bin Humaid bin Qahtabah and Ahmad bin Mizyad, Caliph Ameen sent Muhammad bin Yazid bin Hatim from Baghdad to defend Ahwāz. Hearing that Muhammad bin Yazid was coming from Baghdad with an army, Tahir dispatched a few divisions of his army to reinforce Husain bin Omar Rustami and issued orders for them to join Husain bin Omar Rustami as soon as possible. When Muhammad bin Yazid reached Mokarram, he was informed of the reinforcements sent by Tahir. He did not think it proper to face them before he first captured Ahwāz. He arrived at Ahwāz where he faced Tahir. Following a bitter battle Muhammad bin Yazid was killed. Tahir captured Ahwāz and sent administrators to Yamama, Bahrain and Oman. Then he went to Wasit. Its ruler ran away and Tahir easily captured it. Then he sent his forces to Kufa. The governor, Abbas bin Hadi, quickly announced Ameen's deposition and took the oath for Mamoon's caliphate and wrote a letter to Tahir to that effect. The governor of Basra, Mansoor bin Mahdi also followed suit. Kufa and Basra were the most important and strategic locations in Iraq. The governors of both these places were related to the family of the caliph. They preferred Mamoon to Ameen and recognized the overthrow of Ameen and the caliphate of Mamoon and thereby set an example to be followed by others. Dawood bin Isa, the governor of Hijaz who was also from the family of the caliph also took the oath for Mamoon in the Hijaz as has been mentioned above. Even the governor of Mousil, Muttalib bin Abdullah bin Malik announced Ameen's overthrow and recognized Mamoon as caliph and took the oath. Tahir retained them all in their posts. He camped at Jarjaraya and sent Harith bin Hisham and Dawood bin Musa to Qasr bin Hubairah. This event took place in Rajab 196 A.H. when Baghdad was witnessing the deposition and accession of Ameen caused by Husain bin Ali bin Isa as mentioned previously.

Assuming power again after being removed Caliph Ameen sent Muhammad bin Sulaiman and Muhammad bin Hammad Berberi to Qasr bin Hubairah and Fadal bin Musa to Kufa. Harith and Dawood fought with Muhammad bin Sulaiman and Muhammad bin Hammad and after a hard fight forced them to flee back to Baghdad. Tahir then deputed Muhammad bin Ala to face Fadal bin Musa. When they met each other on the way, Fadal said to Muhammad bin Ala, "You have unjustly come to fight with me. I have come as an obedient man to Mamoon." At night Fadal attacked Muhammad's troops. However, Muhammad bin Ala anticipated a possible night attack, and was on his guard. He gave Fadal a tough fight, defeated and forced him to flee to Baghdad. Then Tahir turned his attention to Madain where Caliph Ameen's biggest army was deployed and reinforcements and supplies from Baghdad continued to reach there uninterruptedly. As soon as Tahir had arrived there, Ameen's entire army fled to Baghdad. He captured Madain and camped at the Sarsar River and had a bridge constructed there. When Caliph Ameen sent his armies to Qasr bin Hubairah and Kufa, he had also sent Ali bin Muhammad bin Isa bin Naheek to fight Harsimah bin Ayun. The battle took place at Nahrwān. Harsimah defeated Ali bin Muhammad's army and put them to flight, captured Ali bin Muhammad and sent him to Mamoon at Merv. He himself came to Nahrwān instead of Halwān and camped there.

The Death of Ameen

Every army deployed by Ameen was defeated by Mamoon's commanders and his two powerful generals Tahir bin Husain and Harsimah bin Ayun continued to march towards Baghdad from two different directions. After the provinces of Mousil, Wasit, Kufa, Basra, Hijaz and Yamama, went out of Ameen's control his caliphate was confined to Baghdad and its outskirts. Following the continual failures of his armies, a very critical and dangerous period started for Ameen from Ramadan 196 A.H. Being compelled Ameen sent secret messages to the soldiers in Tahir's army and conspired to win them over in exchange for gifts.

By this method, 5,000 soldiers from Tahir's army stationed at the Sarsar River went over to Ameen in Baghdad. Then some military commanders also joined Ameen. He honored them and bestowed on them gifts and rewards in accordance with their qualifications and status. He was able to form a huge army and sent it to face Tahir. The battle raged from the morning to the evening resulting ultimately in the defeat and collapse of Ameen's army. The runaways arrived in Baghdad and Ameen formed a new and fresh army that did not include any of the defeated soldiers and sent it again to Sarsar. It also met the same fate.

Now Tahir and Harsimah left Sarsar and Nahrwān respectively and set out for Baghdad. Tahir camped at Ambār and Harsimah made fortifications at the river. Abdullah bin Waddah camped at Shamasiyah and Musayyub bin Zuhair at the palace of Kalwāze. In this way, Mamoon's generals encircled Baghdad and put the civilian population to great difficulty. Meanwhile, Ameen sold his gold and silver ornaments, utensils and precious goods and disbursed salaries to his army and spent all he had on defense.

The siege continued for about one year and three months. Whatever difficulties and inconveniences the people of Baghdad and Ameen's generals had to undergo and the bravery with which they fought are undoubtedly worthy of praise but all those acts were fruitless and unwise. Sayeed bin Qadim received security and pardon and joined Tahir who entrusted him with the task of digging moats and finishing the fortifications.

The besiegers included Harsimah and Tahir, two great generals, but Tahir by virtue of his conquests and fighting ability was more popular and he was regarded as the Commander-in-chief of the entire army. Ameen had deputed a few chiefs at Qasr Saleh and Qasr Sulaiman situated outside of Baghdad and next to the Tigris River. They were engaged in launching fireballs and stones with the help of catapults in order to break the dikes and fortifications of the besieging army.

Tahir was replying in kind by shooting stones and fireballs. The besieging army advanced and quickly dug moats and more fortifications. They reached the city wall by narrowing the circle of the siege and entered by the city gate and by pulling down and over running the battlements. Then they had to fight in every district and at every step until they surrounded Ameen in Madinat al-Mansoor (the royal district). There was a ban on the import of grain and other necessities of life, criminals were released from the jails and the wicked and evil ran rampant in the city. Influential and brave generals continued to leave Ameen and join Tahir due to his efforts to bring them to his side.

The nobility of the city kept leaving and many districts were deserted. Muhammad bin Isa, Yahya bin Ali bin Isa bin Haman and Muhammad bin Abi Abbas Tai joined Tahir one after another. The places they were defending also surrendered to Tahir. Ameen stood like a rock in defense. At last he entrusted all the war operations to Muhammad bin Isa bin Naheek. The newly recruited Baghdad army attacked on the side where the army of Abdullah bin Waddah was camped and defeated him and captured Shamasiyah. Harsimah rushed to aid him. He was also defeated and taken captive. His men through trickery were able to release him. When Tahir was informed of the setbacks, he himself went to that side, led a very fierce attack and made Ameen's army retreat and had Abdullah bin Waddah reestablish the front. By degrees, Tahir distributed his army all over the city and besieged Ameen in the royal district. Ameen stood the hardships of the siege with great perseverance. From among the officials of his governments only Hatim bin Saqr, Hasan Huraishi and Muhammad bin Ibrahim bin Aghlab Afriqi accompanied him. Muhammad bin Ibrahim Aghlab said to Ameen,

"Even in this deteriorating situation 7,000 cavaliers are ready to carry out your every order. You should select the sons of the nobility and the officials of the government and appoint an officer to lead them leave through a gate when the enemies are off their guard and go to Jazirah and Syria and found a new government. It is possible that after some time the people may be inclined towards you and a good way to achieve your goals may emerge."

If Ameen had acted upon this advice, he would not have met the fate he encountered. When Tahir came to know of Ameen's intention he wrote to Sulaiman bin Mansoor and Muhammad bin Isa bin Naheek that if they did not stop him from doing so, it would not be good for them. Afraid of Tahir both went to Ameen and said, "It is not proper for the Amir al-Muminin to surrender to Ibn Aghlab and Ibn Saqr. They are untrustworthy and unreliable. It is better to receive pardon and safety from Harsimah bin Ayun." When Ibn Saqr came to know that Caliph Ameen was ready to seek pardon and safety from Harsimah bin Ayun and hand himself over to him, he said, "O Amir al-Muminin! If you want pardon and safety you must ask Tahir for it.

Don't go under Harsimah's security. But Ameen said, "I will not seek pardon and safety from Tahir." Therefore, the message was sent to Harsimah and he gladly agreed. When Tahir was informed, he was determined to stop it thinking that the credit for the victory would go to Harsimah. He placed Ameen's palace under strict surveillance to thwart his attempt to escape. Harsimah had proposed to Ameen that at night he should leave his palace, step into his boat just under the palace and come under his protection. When Harsimah saw preparations on Tahir's side to stop him, he sent a message to Ameen requesting him to postpone that night because he had seen some activities on the riverside that indicated danger.

Ameen sent back the reply, "All my supporters and sympathizers have parted with me. I cannot stay here even for a moment. I feel apprehension that if Tahir finds out, he will capture and kill me." Eventually on 25 Muharram 198 A.H. at night, Ameen hugged his two children, kissed them, departed and came to the riverside weeping and sat in the boat. Harsimah who was present in the boat received him respectfully, kissed his hands and ordered the crew to move. As they started, Tahir's war boats surrounded them and began to attack their boat. Tahir's divers made holes in the boat and his men showered arrows from all four sides until it was flooded and sank. The crew caught Harsimah by his hair and saved him.

Ameen began to swim and Tahir's men caught him. Ahmad bin Salim swam to the bank when he came out of the water, he was also arrested by Tahir's men. Ahmad bin Salim says I was arrested and presented before Tahir who threw me into captivity. A short time later Tahir's soldiers opened the door of the prison pushed Ameen in closed the door and then left. He was in his pajamas with a turban on his head and an old cloth over his shoulders. 1 read انا لله و انا اليه راجعون (To Allah do we belong and to Him is our return) and began to cry. He recognized me and asked me to hug him. I was over wrought and nervous.

I hugged him. When he came to his senses after some time, he asked me about Mamoon. I told him that he was alive and safe. Ameen said, "His advocate told me that Mamoon was dead. He probably thought that I might become indifferent to him." I said to him, "May Allah's curse be on your ministers who betrayed you." Then he gave vent to a cold sigh and said, "Why brother! Will these people not honor their word of pardon and safety? I said, "Inshallah they will keep it." As we were talking, Muhammad bin Humaid came, stood at a distance watching, recognized Ameen and went back.

At midnight, a few non-Arabs entered the prison with naked swords in their hands. Ameen began to move backward slowly to see them. One of them rushed forward, caught hold of him, threw him on the ground, slaughtered him, chopped off his head and returned with it. When morning came, they took away his dead body.

Tahir had Ameen's head publicly displayed. When the people had seen it fully, he sent it with the Caliph's ring, staff and coverlet to Mamoon through his cousin Muhammad bin Hasan bin Zuraiq bin Mus'ab and made a proclamation in the city to this effect. On Friday, he read the sermon in the name of Mamoon at the central mosque and condemned Ameen. He sent Ameen's sons, Musa and Abdullah to Mamoon. He then sent Ameen's mother Zubaidah Khatoon to a place near the river Zab. Tahir's army demanded their allowances. When they were not met, they rebelled. Tahir had to leave Baghdad to save his life. Then he called all his leaders, formed a group, entered Baghdad and forced the soldiers and the inhabitants of the city to obey him.

Tahir’s Victories, Ameen’s Deposition, and the Struggle for Abbasid Caliphate

2026-10-12T03:23:57.614-07:00

To, Amir al-Muminin

Respectfully, I beg to state that I am writing this letter in such a situation that Ali bin Isa's head is lying before me, his ring is on my finger and his army is under my command.

The letter took three days to reach Fadal bin Sahal in Merv. He carried it to Mamoon and congratulated him on his victory and the officials of his government saluted him as the Amir al-Muminin. After two days Ali's head also arrived which was taken around the country and shown to the people.

When Baghdad received the news of Ali bin Isa's death, Ameen gave an army of 20,000 men to Abdur Rahman bin Jablah Ambari to fight with Tahir. Ambari was bestowed with the letter of governorship of Hamadan and Khorasan urging him to go, capture and form his government. Abdur Rahman bin jablah arrived at Hamadan and besieged its fort. When Tahir received the news, he took his army and marched towards Hamadan. Abdur Rahman Jablah left Hamadan to fight him. In the very first assault, Tahir defeated and forced them to flee. Abdur Rahman went back to Hamadan and made preparations to fight again, they clashed and Abdur Rahman's forces suffered defeat again and he entered Hamadan and took refuge their. Tahir moved forward and encircled the city and the siege became prolonged. During this period, Tahir conquered Qazwin making its administrators flee. The prolongation of the siege caused great inconvenience to the civilians and Abdur Rahman apprehended a night attack by the civilians themselves. He begged Tahir to grant him pardon and safety. Tahir granted it and brought Hamadan under his control. Tahir's granting Abdur Rahman pardon and safety allowed Abdur Rahman to live in Hamadan freely. One day Abdur Rahman found an opportunity, collected his men and launched a sudden attack on Tahir when he was off his guard. Tahir defeated and killed Abdur Rahman. His companions who survived fled and met Huraishi's sons, Abdullah and Ahmad who were coming from Baghdad to help him. Both were overawed at the prospect of fighting Tahir and they returned and went back to Baghdad without fighting. Tahir began to conquer city after city. He reached Halwan and made fortifications and had trenches dug. After these conquests, Mamoon made a proclamation that the oath for caliphate should be taken in every city and his name should be mentioned in the Friday sermon. It was at this point that he appointed Fadal bin Sahal as his Prime Minister. Under Fadal bin Sahal, Ali bin Hisham was made the Defense Minister and Naim bin Khazim Finance Minister and superintendent of the office of letters and composition. Fadal bin Sahal's brother Hasan bin Sahal, was made an officer in the Ministry of Taxes.

Disturbances in Caliph Ameen's Government

When Baghdad received the news of Abdur Rahman bin Jablah's death while fighting with Tahir, there was an uproar in the city. The Caliph called Asad bin Yazid bin Mizyad and sent him to confront Tahir. Asad bin Yazid said to him, "Please give my army salaries for a year in advance in addition to arms and equipment and promise that you will leave under our control any of the countries we capture. Give me veteran and brave fighters sorting out the weak ones." Ameen flew into a rage when he heard these conditions and sent him to jail. Then he sent for Abdullah bin Humaid bin Qahtabah and asked him to go and fight with Tahir. He also laid down similar conditions. He was also punished. Then Ameen called Asad bin Yazid's uncle Ahmad bin Mizyad and begged him to excuse him for imprisoning Asad and asked him to face Tahir. Ahmad bin Mizyad recommended to him to release Asad and he was freed. Ahmad bin Mizyad then left Baghdad with 20,000 fighters. Seeing this, Abdullah bin Humaid bin Qahtabah expressed his willingness to go fight with another 20,000 soldiers. Both set out for Halwān together. They both camped at Khafeqeen near Halwān with their forces. Tahir learned of their position and he also arrived there with his army. He spread his spies among the Baghdad army in disguise and they spread the rumors that the treasury in Baghdad had become empty and the soldiers were going without salary. The soldiers began looting whatever they could. This created confusion and anarchy. Some of the spies contradicted the rumor while others confirmed it. The situation deteriorated and there was dissension and quarrels among the troops and they returned to Baghdad without fighting. Tahir moved forward and occupied Halwān. Meanwhile Harsimah bin Ayun came to Tahir at Halwan with a huge army and letter from Mamoon from Rayy. The letter said:

"You must hand over all the territory you have conquered to Harsimah and march towards Ahwāz."

Tahir complied and marched to Ahwāz with the army.

Deposition and Appointments of Caliph Ameen

It has been stated above that Caliph Haroon Rasheed had imprisoned Abdul Malik bin Saleh for his complicity with the Barmuk family. Immediately after assuming power, Ameen set him free. When the Baghdad armies began to suffer repeated defeats at the hands of Tahir, Abdul Malik bin Saleh went to the Caliph's court and said, "The Syrians and not the Iraqis should be sent to fight with the Khorasanis for they can fight more valiantly and I stand surety to their obedience and loyalty." Caliph Ameen gave him the letter of governorship for Syria and Jazirah and sent him there. He reached Riqqa and entered into correspondence with the nobles of Syria and formed a large army of Syrians. Husain bin Ali bin Isa was also with Abdul Malik heading the part of the army that consisted of Khorasanis. Abdul Malik fell ill and died during this period. A civil war broke out between the Syrians and the Khorasanis. The Syrians proceeded towards their homes. Husain bin Ali bin Isa took the Khorasani army with him and went to Baghdad. The civilians and the nobility of Baghdad welcomed him. Ameen called him to his court at night but Husain refused to go. The next morning having persuaded his men to depose Ameen, he came to the bridge leading into the city. There was a confrontation with Ameen's army, which was defeated. Husain bin Ali attacked the Caliph's palace, arrested Ameen and his mother Zubaidah Khatoon and imprisoned them in Mansoor's palace and took the oath from the people for Mamoon's caliphate. The next day they demanded their daily allowances but they did not receive as much as they required and that began gossip among the people. Slowly and gradually, the inhabitants of Baghdad began to express their sorrow at Ameen's deposition and arrest. They united and clashed with Husain bin Ali bin Isa. Husain bin Ali bin Isa fought a very fierce battle with them in which Husain bin Ali bin Isa was defeated and captured. The citizens went to Mansoor's palace and freed Ameen and Zubaidah Khatoon. They had Ameen sit on the throne of the Caliphate and took the oath with him again and they brought Husain in chains before Ameen. Ameen reproached him and then pardoned him and said to him, "Make amends for your mistake by going to fight with Tahir and defeat him and gain respect and fame." He was then invested with a robe of honor and sent off with great respect. The civilians of Baghdad accompanied him to the bridge congratulating him. When the crowd thinned, Husain crossed the bridge and ran away announcing that he was still a rebel. Ameen sent some cavalry after him. They caught him at a distance of three miles from Baghdad and after a light skirmish he was killed. His head was cut off and brought to Ameen. This occurred on 15 Rajab 196 A.H. The same day Fadal bin Rabi who was Ameen's Prime Minister, disappeared mysteriously and no one knew his whereabouts. Ameen was very worried over Fadal bin Rabi's disappearance and betrayal.

Ameen and Mamoon’s Civil War: Provincial Revolts and Tahir’s Victory

2026-10-12T03:22:30.090-07:00

Rafe and Harsimah in the Service of Mamoon

It has been stated above that Harsimah had laid a siege to Rafe at Samarkand and Rafe was still at large when Haroon died in Tus. Rafe's brother, Basheer, was arrested and brought to Haroon Rasheed who had him killed.

After Haroon's death Harsimah bin Ayun entered Samarkand by force and occupied it, at the time he was accompanied by Tahir bin Husain. Rafe escaped and ran away from Samarkand and took refuge with the Turks. He came back with a Turkish army to fight with Harsimah but he lost this battle. Rafe became estranged from the Turks and he became very weak. He sent his messenger to Mamoon and begged for pardon and safety. Mamoon granted it to him and he came to Merv in his service. He was given a warm reception. Harsimah visited Mamoon and Mamoon made him an officer of his cavalry. It was during the same period that Mamoon deposed Abbas bin Abdullah bin Malik from the governorship of Rayy.

Ameen and Mamoon as open Rivals

Ameen received the news in Baghdad that Mamoon had made Harsimah an officer of his cavalry and accepted Rafe as his companion with honor and deposed Abbas bin Abdullah as the governor of Rayy. He was justifiably displeased to hear this and expunged Mamoon's name from the Friday sermon and entered his son's name as heir apparent. He then sent Abbas bin Musa bin Isa bin Jafar and Muhammad bin Isa bin Naheek to Mamoon with the message, that said, "Agree to my son superceding you as heir apparent and make an announcement to the effect that Musa bin Ameen is the heir apparent in your place." Mamoon rejected this and Fadal bin Sahal took advantage of the situation. He converted Abbas bin Musa to his camp secretly and persuaded him to remain stationed in Baghdad and work as to spy and communicate any important information. Ameen had asked Mamoon to withdraw from the governorship of a few states in Khorasan, which he refused immediately. When Mamoon was informed that his name had been removed from the Friday sermon in Baghdad, he also deleted Ameen's name from sermons is Khorasan. Ameen tore up the document that was hung on the Ka'bah by Haroon. This occurred in the beginning of 194 A.H. From this point forward Mamoon Rasheed had the right to oppose Ameen openly. Mamoon very carefully sealed Khorasan so that no letter or messenger of Ameen's could enter it and create any unrest or revolt there.

Unrest in the Provinces

When the news of the enmity between the two brothers caused by the removal of the document from the Ka'bah and tearing it into pieces, and the removal of their names from their respective sermons became common knowledge, forces that breed on dissension began to appear. Khagan, Tibet, the lands of the Turks and Kabul territories that paid their taxes and were loyal to the Islamic authority, began to revolt. The news upset Mamoon however, on the advice of Fadal bin Sahal he wrote mild letters to the Kings of those lands, excused the taxes of some and allowed concessions to some and thereby strengthened the bond of reconciliation with them. Mamoon's worries were short lived and no disturbances inside his territory were created because most of the Khorasanis supported Mamoon wholeheartedly and wanted to defeat Ameen who was supported by the Arabs. Negative forces of dissension caused unrest, and disturbances surfaced in the provinces under Ameen and they proved more dangerous to him. Only one man from among the Banu Umayyad dynasty had survived named Ali bin Abdullah bin Khalid bin Yazid bin Muawiya. His mother was Nafisah bint Obaidullah bin Abbas bin Ali bin Abi Talib. He was known as Siffenane. He used to say, "I am the son of the chiefs of Siffen, that is, Muawiya's and Ali's son." He was educated and wise. Seeing Ameen and Mamoon preparing to confront each other he revolted in Syria and the Syrian tribes, which had connections with Banu Umayyad, joined him. Ameen sent his army to Syria and it was defeated. Syria remained unstable for several years. At last in 198 A.H., Siffenane was defeated by some other Syrian tribes and he fled from Syria and the Syrians captured Damascus. When Ameen had the document of Ka'bah torn into pieces, Dawood bin Isa refused to obey him and contended to the inhabitants of Madinah and the Hijaz, "Ameen is unjust to Mamoon. What we have promised before to Haroon Rasheed, we should keep it and we must never take the oath of succession for Musa who is only a baby." His efforts bore fruit and all the inhabitants of the Hijaz recognize Mamoon as Caliph and removed Ameen's name from the Friday sevations. Dawood bin Musa then left Makkah for Merv via Basra, Persia and Kerman and apprised Mamoon of the situations in the Hijaz. Mamoon was very pleased with him and appointed him governor of Makkah. That occurred in 196 A.H. In brief, disobedience and rebellions damaged Ameen considerably. Mamoon suffered no damage or loss and that was a pointer to the fact that Ameen was wanting in his capability of governing the land.

The Romans

Just a few days before Haroon Rasheed's death the Roman emperor Nagfoor was killed in the battle of Barjān. His son succeeded him after his death. He also died after two months. Then his sister's son-in-law Michael bin Jarjees sat on the throne. When the Romans rebelled against him the next year 194 A.H., he left the capital and joined a band of ascetics. Then the Romans chose their commander in chief as their King. In short, at the time when internal riots and disturbances were taking place in Haroon's government, the Roman Empire was not free from similar complications.

The Tug of War between Ameen and Mamoon

During the last days of 194 A.H., Ameen removed Mamoon as heir apparent and Mamoon expunged Ameen's name from the Friday sermon. After that, Ameen not only replaced Mamoon by his own son as heir apparent but also deposed his brother Motamin and replaced him by his other son Abdullah as second heir apparent. Now Musa and Abdullah's names were read in the sermons. There was nothing to stop Ameen and Mamoon from fighting with each other for superiority. Mamoon conferred the title of Dhurriyasatain on Fadal bin Sahal and appointed him as the Prime Minister. Tahir bin Husain bin Mus'ab bin Zaraiq bin Asad Khaza'i was made commander-in-chief of the army. Fadal bin Sahal went to the border state of Rayy and recruited veteran soldiers and by recruiting the people of the border regions formed an army and gave it to the commander. Tahir bin Husain appointed Abul Abbas Khazai the Commander of the army of Rayy, Abul Abbas equipped and fully armed his troops. On the other side, Ameen Rasheed sent Esmat bin Hammad bin Sālim with an army of infantry to Hamadan and ordered him to stay there and send the vanguard to Sadah, then he prepared a huge army under commandership of Ali bin Isa bin Mahan and sent it to Khorasan to face Mamoon. It was a great mistake on the part of Ameen and his Minister Fadal bin Rabl to send Ali bin Isa as commander to Khorasan because the inhabitants of Khorasan had been displeased with Ali bin Isa when he was governor there. As soon as they heard about his approach, they became determined to fight even more. Ameen handed over to Ali bin Isa Nahawand, Hamadan, Qum and Isfahan as feudal estates for him and gave him cash and equipment for more than his needs, he sent him a 50,000 man cavalry. He issued commands to all the administrators and officials to send reinforcements and every type of aid to him. When Ali bin Isa came to Ameen's mother Zubaidah Khatoon to say good-bye to her, she instructed him to refrain from showing disrespect to Mamoon if he was captured. In Sha'bān 195 A.H. he set out from Baghdad. Caliph Ameen along with officials of the government went with them for a little distance. The army was so large and impressive that the people of Baghdad had not seen the like of it before. When Ali bin Isa arrived near Rayy, his companions advised him to make fortifications and assign a vanguard. But Ali said, "Fortifications and vanguards are not needed to fight a man like Tahir." Hearing the news of Ali approaching near, Tahir also left Rayy and at a distance of five miles from Rayy, they clashed. Ali bin Isa had more than 50,000 fighters while Tahir had only 4,000 men. The distinction of strength between the two armies was so great that Ali bin Isa said to his men at the time of forming lines. "They need not be killed. They should be surrounded and captured." Seeing the huge army some of Tahir bin Husain's men fled at the time of marshalling of the troops in battle array and came to Ali bin Isa to reap the benefits of belonging to the victorious side and be safe from defeat. However, Ali bin Isa broke the rebels up and turned some out and captured others. This benefited Tahir considerably making every soldier in his army, ready to fight for his life. Tahir bin Husain's right and left flanks were defeated by Ali bin Isa's right and left flanks and they fled. Tahir, taking the center of his army, launched such a fierce attack on the middle part of Ali bin Isa's army that they had to withdraw. Seeing this, the defeated right and left flanks of Tahir's army returned and courageously joined him. A very fierce clash took place and during the turmoil of battle, an arrow pierced Ali bin Isa's neck and killed him. As he fell, his army began to retreat. Tahir's men chopped off Ali bin Isa's head. His victorious army chased the runaways for two miles and kept killing and capturing the Baghdad troops. The darkness of night intervened and saved them from further death and captivity. Tahir bin Husain came back to Rayy and sent a victory letter to Mamoon:

Ameen and Mamoon’s Rivalry: Succession Disputes After Haroon Rasheed’s Death

2026-10-12T03:21:20.296-07:00

Ameen Rasheed bin Haroon Rasheed

Muhammad Ameen bin Haroon bin Mahdi bin Mansoor Abbasi was born to Zubaidah Khatoon. Ameen and Mamoon were the same age. Haroon had set Ameen to be Caliph after him and making Mamoon the permanent ruler of Khorasan and other eastern countries. He exhorted Ameen not to depose Mamoon from the governorship of Khorasan and advised Mamoon not to disobey Ameen. When Haroon Rasheed died as Tus, Mamoon was in Merv and Ameen was in Baghdad. Saleh was with Haroon Rasheed. The day after his death the 4th of Jamad-at-Thani 193 A.H. the chiefs and soldiers of Haroon's army took the oath at Saleh's hands in Tus for Ameen's caliphate.

The officer of the Postal Department Hamwaih at once informed his deputy in Baghdad of the incident. He therefore conveyed to Ameen the news of Haroon's death and Ameen's succession. Saleh bin Haroon also reported the matter to his brother Ameen and congratulated him on becoming Caliph and sent to him the caliph's ring, staff and coverlet. At that time Haroon Rasheed's wife and Ameen's mother Zubaidah Khatoon was in Riqqah and the caliph's treasury was under her procession. At the receipt of this news, Ameen went to the central mosque and delivered a sermon to the people. He narrated how Haroon died and took the oath from the people.

At this news Ameen's mother along with the royal treasury left Riqqah for Baghdad. Ameen went to Ambar to receive her and brought her to Baghdad with great honor. When Mamoon in Merv heard the news of his father's death, he assembled all the Amirs and commanders and sough their views as to what he should do. Notables among them were Abdullah bin Malik, Yahya bin Maaz, Shabeeb bin Humaid bin Qahtabah, Allamah Hajeb Abbas bin Zuhair, Ayyub bin Abi Sameer, Abdur Rahman bin Abdul Malik bin Saleh and Fadal bin Sahal. Mamoon and all these leaders had been with Haroon Rasheed on the journey from Baghdad to Jurjan.

During the journey, Fadal bin Sahal tried to attract the commanders and other leaders to Mamoon and many of them assured him that they would join Mamoon's supporters. However, Fadal bin Rabi who was Ameen's supporter arrived in Tus and after Haroon's death and due to Fadal bin Rabi's efforts all who were present in Tus, took the oath for Ameen and went to Baghdad without thinking that they should have paid a visit to Mamoon in keeping with Haroon's will that Mamoon was the owner of all the armies and provisions of the journey. All the chiefs who were with Mamoon supported him as the ruler of the eastern countries. Some of them advised him that Fadal bin Rabi was still on the way and he could be brought back with the help of the army.

But Fadal bin Sahal disapproved it saying, "If they are brought back in this way, there is apprehension that they will play false and prove harmful. Although, it is certainly proper that those who professed obedience and promised help and sympathy should be contacted through messenger and be reminded of their promises they made to Haroon Rasheed in response to his will." So two messengers were sent. When they visited Fadal and the others, they found them to be their adversaries. Some abused Mamoon openly. They barely escaped, with their lives and returned with great difficulty then they reported all they had seen with their eyes. Mamoon was sure that he would not be allowed to bring under his control the eastern countries, this made him very worried and thoughtful.

Fadal bin Sahal, in the east, took up the gauntlet to make Mamoon the caliph. There were people among Mamoon's men who disliked him to be the caliph but wanted him to remain in power the eastern countries. But Fadal bin Sahal and his friends did not like Ameen's caliphate and were in favor of Mamoon to be the caliph. Fadal bin Sahal's father Sahal was a new Muslim who was originally a Zoroastrian who embraced Islam in Haroon Rasheed's times and it was Haroon who appointed his son Fadal as clerk to his own son Mamoon. Because of his cultural preferences, he wanted to make Mamoon the Caliph.

The fact was that Ameen's mother, Zubaidah Khatoon, was a Hasimiite which gave him the support of the Arabs. Mamoon's mother was Iranian by race therefore, the Iranians and the Khorasanis supported Mamoon. Ameen was present among the Arabs in Baghdad and Mamoon was among his supporters the Iranians in Merv. Zubaidah Khatoon hated Mamoon. The Arab leaders who supported the Abbasids disliked the Alawiites. However, in Khorasan the supporters of the Alawiites were found in large number. Jafar Barmuk, who supported the Alawiites, was Mamoon's tutor.

Therefore, Mamoon was more popular in the eastern countries like Khorasan. Fadal bin Rabi who hated the Barmuk family was displeased with Mamoon. In brief, Mamoon and Ameen's intentions were not clear and not without selfish concerns and they were surrounded by leaders, who were divided into two groups both antagonistic to each other. Therefore, immediately after Haroon's death both these groups under the leadership of Ameen and Mamoon started a trial of strength and were not pleased with each other. In order to win the hearts of the Khorasanis one quarter of their taxes were excused in addition to promising them a grant of honor and promotions for the Khorasani leaders.

The Iranians were overjoyed and said, "Mamoon Rasheed is our sister's son. He will definitely raise our status and authority." On the other side Mamoon called the scholars and legal experts of Merv and said, "Please influence the people through your sermons and keep the situation under control." Under the prevailing conditions, the wisest step that Mamoon Rasheed took was that he wrote to Ameen Rasheed fervently trying his best to assure him of his respect and loyalty.

If Caliph Ameen Rasheed had been patient and far-sighted, Mamoon Rasheed would have probably become involved in something illegal and uncalled for and would have been declared guilty and blameworthy in the eyes of the people and probably would not have succeeded. However, Fadal bin Rabi and the other counselors did not prove worthy and Ameen did not show any trace of wisdom. All his activities convinced the people that he was not capable to run the caliphate. As soon as he assumed power, he committed the first mistake. He deposed his brother Qasim, Motamin, from the governorship of the Jazirah leaving him with the provinces of Qansareen and Awasim only in the beginning of his caliphate and deputed Khuzaima bin Khazim to Jazirah.

The same year, on the advice of Fadal bin Rabi, he wanted to replace Mamoon by his own son Musa bin Ameen as the heir apparent and this gave Mamoon a chance to oppose him justly. At the time when Haroon Rasheed was going to Khorasan, he had announced that the army and the entire supply of weapons and provisions would be under the authority of Mamoon and that he would be in charge. However, Fadal bin Rabi took the entire army, weapons and the provisions which were present at the time of Haroon's death, to Baghdad leaving Mamoon very weak. Fadal bin Rabi had the apprehension that if Mamoon succeeded Ameen as Caliph, he would deal harshly with him. He tried to have Mamoon deposed from the succession to protect himself. Ali bin Isa, the governor of Khorasan, considered himself in the same position so he seconded Fadal's proposal and persuaded Ameen to remove Mamoon.

When the issue was put before Khuzaima bin Khazim, he dissented from it and stopped the Caliph from undertaking this action for the time being. This news continued to reach Mamoon but he kept quiet and waited for the results.

The Death of Haroon Rasheed and the Abbasid Caliphate’s Golden Age

2026-10-12T03:20:04.333-07:00

The Death of Haroon Rasheed

After punishing the Romans, defeating and humiliating Nagfoor and collecting all taxes from him, Haroon Rasheed returned to Riqqah. Here he was apprised of the crimes of Rafe bin Laith and the disloyalty of some Khorasani leaders. He made up his mind to go to Khorasan. He made provisions for the army, left Riqqah in Shaban 192 A.H. and then marched on to Baghdad. While departing, Haroon made Motamin his deputy at Riqqah and Khuzaima bin Khazim his assistant. He then made his son Ameen his deputy in Baghdad and ordered Mamoon to stay with him there. Mamoon's scribe, Fadal bin Sahal, said to Mamoon. "It is not proper for you to remain with Ameen in Baghdad try to accompany the Caliph." Mamoon requested from his father to be allowed to accompany him and he granted it. Just as Haroon was about to leave Baghdad, Fadal bin Yahya Barmuk died in captivity in Muharram 193 A.H. When he was busy fighting the Romans, he became sick and reached Riqqah in the same state of illness. When he came to Baghdad, he was still ill and it was in that condition that he left for Khorasan with the army. The Caliph left Baghdad and reached Jurjan in Safar 193 A.H. His illness took a turn for the worse there. He made an announcement before all the military commanders at Jurjan. "Whatever army and military equipment with me at the moment, it will remain attached to Khorasan and Mamoon. He is the commander and owner of all these armies and all the commanders will obey him." Relieved in this way from Mamoon's position Haroon Rasheed sent him to Merv in the company of leaders like Abdullah bin Malik, Yahya bin Ma'az, Asad bin Khuzaima, Abbas bin Jafar bin Muhammad bin Ash'ath and Naim bin Hazim. After sending Mamoon to Merv, he went to Tus. He was then accompanied by Fadal bin Rabi, Ismail bin Sabih, Mansoor Hajib Husain and Jibrail bin Bakhtishu. At Tus his condition worsened and he was bed-ridden. We have read above about the fight between Harsimah bin Ayun and Rafe bin Laith. Bukhara was conquered and Rafe's brother Bashir bin Laith was arrested. Harsimah sent him to the Caliph's court. When Haroon was in his sickbed, Bashir was led into his presence. Haroon ordered his death and he was killed very mercilessly. After giving the execution order, Haroon became unconscious. When he regained his consciousness, he ordered a grave to be dug in a corner of the home where he was staying. When it was ready, a few Quran readers descended into it and recited the whole Quran. He had his cot shifted to the graveside and lying on it he continued to look at the grave. In that state, he died on the night of 3 Jamad Thani 193 A.H. corresponding to 24 March 808 AD. His funeral service was led by his son Saleh. He had been Caliph for 23 years and two and half months. His grave in Tus is well known.

Haroon Rasheed was married to Zubaidah bint Jafar bin Mansoor. Her kunya was Umm Jafar. Muhammad Ameen was born to her. Ali, Abdullah, Mamoon, Qasim, Motamin, Muhammad Mu'tasim, Saleh, Muhammad Abu Musa, Muhammad Abu Yaqub, Abul Abbas, Abu Sulaiman, Abu Ali and Abu Ahmad all were born to his slave-girls. Among his sons, four are famous Ameen, Mamoon, Mu'tasim and Mohasin. Mohasin was not literate and so Haroon did not regard him fit for succession. However, he became caliph and many of his descendents were Abbasid caliphs and Haroon Rasheed's line continued through him. Just as he left many sons at the time of his death, he left many daughters as well who were all born from his slave-girls.

Haroon Rasheed should be considered as the high point in the Abbasid dynasty. The Abbasid caliphate became powerful and touched its zenith during his administration. The descendants of Abi Talib and other conspiring groups felt discouraged in their efforts. He was a great lover of knowledge and cared very much for Islam. He completely uprooted the evil of atheists. The Christian Empire of Rome paid taxes to him. He left 900,000,000 dinars in the treasury at his death. He was the ruler of the entire Islamic world except Spain and Morocco. It was during his period of rule that the work of composition and compilation of the Islamic sciences was begun in earnest. The Jewish and Christian scholars were honored and patronized in the court of Baghdad. He endowed the Christians with military commands and kept them in his company as friends. During his Caliphate, the Indian scholars reached Baghdad directly or through the Governor of Sindh and they were all honored. Books in Hebrew were translated and the compilation of various sciences and arts were introduced. During his rule, the life of the people was comfortable and they enjoyed a high level of wealth and prosperity. Poetry and music also flourished in Baghdad in this period. Story tellers wrote fictitious and fanciful tales about Haroon, which became popular in the world and created a good deal of misunderstanding about him (this is a reference to 1001 Nights among other works). Haroon Rasheed was a brave and military-minded man. He spent months and years happily in the saddle of his horse. And when he was in the company of the ascetic, he appeared to be an ascetic, and when among the legal scholars, he was a legal scholar of the first order and similarly when sitting with scholars of the Prophet's traditions, he was an excellent scholar in this field as well. He was an enemy to the atheists, with the followers of other religions he dealt kindly and sympathetically. He was extremely fond of three things Hajj, Jihad and charity. He was very sensitive and softhearted. Whenever anybody sincerely lectured him and made him fear hell, he wept bitterly.

One day Ibn Sammak was sitting with Haroon. Haroon felt thirsty and he asked for water and water was brought. When he wanted to drink, Ibn Sammak said: "O Amir al-Muminin! Stop a moment." Haroon Rasheed said, "Yes?" Ibn Sammak said, "If you can't get water when you are most thirsty, how much will you spend to get a bowl of water?" Haroon Rasheed said, "I shall exchange it for half of my realm." Ibn Sammak said, "Now, you may drink." When he finished Ibn Sammak said, "O Amir al-Muminin! If this water remains in your abdomen and does not come out, how much will you spend to take it out?" Haroon Rasheed said, "Half of my realm if need be." Ibn Sammak said, "Enough. Now you must know that the price of your whole realm is equal to a bowl of water and a bowl of urine. You must not be proud of it." Haroon Rasheed burst into tears and continued to weep for a long time.

Once Haroon Rasheed requested a righteous and pious man to advise him. He said, "If your friend is such as makes you fear leading to good results he is better than the friend who makes you careless and indifferent to fear leading to bad results." Haroon Rasheed requested him to explain what he said. He replied, "If anybody who tells you that on the Day of Judgment you will be questioned about your subjects and so you fear Allah much it is better than he who tells you that you are from among the family of the Prophet and that by virtue of your proximity to the Prophet, all your sins will be forgiven." Hearing it he wept so much that those sitting near by began to feel pity for him.

Qadi Fudail says, "Except two Kings there is none who has undertaken a journey for religious knowledge during his student days. One is Haroon Rasheed who along with his sons Ameen and Mamoon went on a journey to listen to the Mu'atta of Imam Malik and the manuscript that was read from is available with the Egyptian Kings. The second is Sultan Salahuddin Ayyubi who traveled to Alexandria to give audience to the Muwatta of Imam Malik."

Haroon Rasheed was interested in polo and archery. He was 45 when he died. Doctor Jibrail bin Bakhtishu committed an error in treating lum and that was why the Doctor was considered pro Ameen and his Hijab, spokesman, Masroor was considered a supporter of Mamoom While Haroon was on the journey, his condition continued to worsen and his son Ameen wrote some letters addressed to Haroon Rasheed's companions and sent them through Bakr bin Al-Motamir. Those letters were purported to have been written for the sake of the oath being taken for his caliphate, presuming Haroon Rasheed dead. One letter was addressed to his brother Saleh to come to him at once with all the army, equipment and the treasury after consulting Fadal bin Rabi. The same types of letters were addressed to other companions of Haroon Rasheed. A similar letter was written to Fadal bin Rabi. The letters assured all the chiefs they would be retained in their respective posts. Haroon came to know of the event and the arrival of Bakr bin Almotamir by chance. He sent for him and questioned him about the purpose of his visits. When he failed to give a satisfactory reply, he was imprisoned.

Haroon Rasheed died after this incident. Fadal bin Rabi had Bakr released from the jail and he distributed Ameen's letters. When the leaders went through them, they had consultations. As all were eager and anxious to go back to their native land Baghdad, Fadal bin Rabi was able to take all of them to Baghdad and the orders left by Haroon and their commitments to Mamoon were all forgotten.

Haroon Rasheed’s Roman Campaigns, Provincial Administration, and Khorasan Rebellion

2026-10-12T03:18:58.318-07:00

Other Events of Haroon's Regime

We have reached 187 A.H. in recording conditions and important events of Haroon Rasheed's regime. After the incident of the Barmuk family, Haroon Rasheed sent his son Motamin to the province of Awasim, Motamin invaded Rome and sent Abbas bin Jafar bin Ash'ath to lay siege to the fort of Sanan. The Romans failed to put up any resistance and by returning 320 Muslim prisoners made a settlement with the Muslims. During the same period, the Romans deposed their queen and made a commander Nagfoor their king. Mention has already been made that the Romans, out of fear of the French king Charlemagne after his capture of Italy made peace with Haroon Rasheed. The first thing Nagfoor did after assuming power was to make an agreement with the French King and after settling the matter of jurisdiction with him wrote a letter to Haroon Rasheed:

The Queen, because of her natural weakness and too much pressure, came to terms with you and continued to pay you the Jizya. This was from her foolishness. Now you must repay all the taxes you have collected from us and promise to give payment as a fine or we will punish you with our swords.

When this letter was received and read by Haroon Rasheed, he flew, into such a rage that the officials and ministers around him had no courage to remain sitting there and left the court silently. Haroon wrote on the back of the same letter:

In the name of Allah who is most Beneficent and Merciful. From Amir al-Muminin Haroon Rasheed to the Roman dog. You, the son of unbelief, I read your letter. You will see its reply with your own eyes. You need not read it. That is all.

He wrote the above reply and sent back the letter. The same day he left Baghdad with the army for the Roman territories, arriving there he besieged its capital Herculah. Nagfoor was at a loss and finding himself powerless to resist, begged him to be excused and promised to pay him the Jizya. Having defeated and humiliated him Haroon returned after exacting a promise from him to pay more Jizya than before. He had hardly reached the city of Riqqah when Nagfoor violated the peace treaty and prepared to rebel. He was sure that due to winter the Muslim soldiers would not dare to launch an attack on them. However, as soon as Haroon heard this news he left Riqqah, entered Roman territory and conquered and destroyed many forts. He continued to capture Roman territory until he confronted Nagfoor, who pleaded for forgiveness again. Haroon collected the full amount of tax and brought most parts of the territory under his control.

The same year, 187 A.H. Ibrahim bin Adham died. (Ibrahim Adham was a prince from Balkh who gave up his worldly power and wealth to become an ascetic.) In 188 A.H., the Roman King Nagfoor gave indications that he was going to rebel again. Ibrahim bin Jibrail from Safsaf invaded Rome. The Roman Emperor himself came out to fight. However, he could not stand the pressure, was decisively defeated and left 40,000 Roman soldiers dead while he escaped. The Islamic army returned victorious.

In 189 A.H., Caliph Haroon Rasheed went to Rayy and made adjustments in the administration by deposing and appointing new administrators in the provinces west of Khorasan. He consoled and encouraged Marzaban Delam by sending him a certificate of pardon and safety. The elders and rulers of the border regions visited him and assured him of their loyalty. He made Abdul Malik bin Malik the ruler of Tabristan, Rayy, Qumas, and Hamadan. The same year another exchange of prisoners between the Romans and the Muslims took place. The same year Imam Muhammad bin Hasan Shibani, Abu Hanifa's disciple died at Al-Zambuwith near Rayy and the same day Kisai Nahvi also died. Both had been in the company of Haroon Rasheed. He joined the burial service and when he returned from the graveyard, he said, "We have buried both Fiqah and Nahw today."

In 190 A.H., Haroon Rasheed made his son Mamoon his deputy at Riqqah, handed over to him all the affairs of the government and invaded Rome with 135,000 soldiers following Nagfoor's violation of the peace treaty. He surrounded the fort and after thirty days, he conquered it and captured and killed the Romans. Then he sent Dawood bin Isa bin Musa with 70,000 soldiers to capture other Roman forts. This army shook up the entire Roman Empire. During the same period Sharjeel bin Maan bin Zaidah captured Saqaliah, Dalbashah and other forts. Yazid bin Mukhlid and Abdullah bin Malik conquered the forts of Qauniyah and Mukhallad respectively. Humaid bin Mayuf, the Admiral, repaired the Syrian and Egyptian fleet and invaded Cyprus, defeated the inhabitants and took the entire island as spoils of war and brought 17,000 men as captives. Then Haroon encircled Tawwanah. In short, the Muslims made up their mind to create an upheaval in the Roman Empire, put an end to and settle the frequent battles once and for all. Nagfoor felt helpless he accepted to pay the taxes and sent a sum of 50,000 Asharfis to Haroon on behalf of himself and on behalf of his son and the bishops. He sent an appeal to Haroon requesting him to return a certain woman from among the captives of Herculah for she was betrothed to his son. The caliph granted his request and sent back the said woman. Taking pity upon Nagfoor for his entreaties and humility, he returned his country to him in exchange for 300,000 Asharfis and the normal taxes. Immediately after his return, the Romans revolted again. The same year 190 A.H. Khalid bin Yazid bin Hatim was made Governor of Mousil and Harsimah bin Ayun was entrusted with the task of constructing the fort of Tartoos. 3,000 soldiers of Khorasan and 1,000 soldiers of Masisah and Antakya were busy constructing the fort of Tartoos. It was completed in 192 A.H. The same year Kharmiyah in Azerbaijan revolted. Abdullah bin Malik with 10,000 soldiers was sent to punish him. He defeated the rebels and killed the captives and put an end to the mischief. The same year on 3 Muharram 190 A.H. Yahya Barmuk died in Riqqah in captivity. He was 71. His funeral service was led by his son Fadal bin Yahya.

In 191 A.H., Haroon Rasheed made Muhammad bin Fadal bin Sulaiman the governor of Mousil. The Governorship of Makkah was given to Fadal bin Abbas.

Rebellion in Khorasan

It has already been mentioned that when Ali bin Isa was appointed governor of Khorasan, the Barmuks incited Wahab bin Abdullah and Hamza bin Atrak to revolt. Wahab was killed but Hamza survived and escaped and he continued to plunder in the area. Ali bin Isa, the Amir of Khorasan, deputed Yahya bin Ash'ath the Administrator of Samarkand and Mawaraunnehr. There was a famous chief in the army of Mawaraunnehr named Rafe bin Laith bin Nasr bin Sayyar who was linked with the organization of the Barmuk family. He hated Caliph Haroon and Ali bin Isa. Yahya bin Ash'ath married a certain woman and Rafe bin Laith became involved with her and she wanted to be divorced from Yahya but he would not divorce her. Rafe suggested a way out saying, "Announce that you have become an atheist and present two witnesses. Your marriage with him will automatically be terminated. Embrace Islam after that and then I shall marry you." She acted upon his advice and by this trickery married Rafe. It was a technique to annul the marriage, this was probably the first time this legal trick was used. Yahya bin Ash'ath sent a detailed report about all these events to Haroon Rasheed. He wrote to Ali bin Isa the governor of Khorasan, to separate the woman from Rafe, and exercise the Islamic law concerning his case, mount him on a donkey and display him in Khorasan. So, in compliance he was separated from her and sent to jail in Samarkand. One day he escaped from the jail and went to Ali bin Isa, the governor, in Balkh. Ali bin Isa wanted to execute him but his son made a recommendation for him and Ali bin Isa ordered him to be sent to Yahya bin Ash'ath in Samarkand. Rafe arrived there and killed the administrator and occupied Samarkand.

At this news Ali bin Isa sent his son Isa bin Ali to Samarkand. Isa bin Ali was killed in the fighting. Then Ali bin Isa, taking his army, left Balkh and came to Merv before Rafe could capture it. This occurred in 191 A.H. Caliph Haroon Rasheed heard about Rafe's crimes, deposed Ali bin Isa from the governorship of Khorasan and deputed Harsimah bin Ayun in his place. The fact was that all the chiefs of the Khorasan army and the members of the Barmuk's group had joined Rafe. Harsimah bin Ayun arrived in Samarkand and besieged Rafe. Rafe's defense continued for a long time.

Haroon Rasheed’s Fall of the Barmuk Family: Conspiracy and Execution

2026-10-12T03:17:40.128-07:00

When meeting Jafar and in the course of their talk, Haroon Rasheed asked Jafar about Yahya bin Abdullah. Jafar told him that he was still under house arrest. Haroon Rasheed asked him whether he could say that under oath. This made Jafar extremely nervous and he realized that the secret was out. He steadied and said, "Yahya bin Abdullah has been living under my care for a long time and I did not apprehend any danger from him. So I did not see any harm in releasing him." This was the most critical point for Haroon Rasheed. If he had shown his displeasure at that moment, the Barmuks would have never come under his control and would then have made use of all those resources, which they had made available both materially and morally.

Confrontation with the Barmuks was no easy job for Haroon Rasheed and probably they would not have given him breathing time and would not have let him make a sign indicative of distress, because 25 persons among Yahya bin Khalid's sons and grandsons were men of letters and sword who remained present at his palace in different posts on the grounds. They had under their possession the keys to the administration and provisions for all territories. All the military commanders were appointed by them and they were all loyal to them. All the administrative officers and high officials were their appointees.

The Scholars, Legal Experts and spiritual leaders were not out of their control because they served them much and obliged them. All the poets were their admirers. They were popular with their subjects by virtue of their generosity and so from the west to the east they had become liked by the people at large. They had made such large scale and fool proof preparations that several Haroon Rasheed would not have succeeded. But Haroon Rasheed steadied himself and after hearing about Yahya bin Abdullah's release from Jafar said carelessly, "I simply asked you about him by the way. That you have let him go is very good. I was myself about to ask you to release him right now."

It is easy to imagine that the release of a person like Yahya bin Abdullah was in reality a shock to Haroon Rasheed. The Alawiites' revolt did not give the Abbasids any rest throughout their reign and Yahya bin Abdullah was not an ordinary man whose freedom from captivity could be insignificant to Haroon Rasheed. Anyway, Haroon Rasheed succeeded on this occasion and concealed his feelings. At that same time, another incident took place. On the occasion of some feast, the officials of the government and Iranian chiefs were present.

Somebody said, "How intelligently Abu Muslim transferred the rule from one dynasty to another." Jafar said, "It was not a praiseworthy piece of work because he did it by killing 600,000 people. It would have been more admirable if it was done quietly." There was someone at the party who heard and narrated the incident to Haroon Rasheed who was sure that Jafar was the man who wanted to do it himself. Then in order to put the Barmuks off their guard he started drafting the documents for distributing the powers of succession and territory among his sons. This was the kind of work that was not expected to be taken up by a caliph who was aware of a serious conspiracy against him.

This was the greatest allusion and trap that Haroon Rasheed led the Barmuks into. He could neither spend much time in the affairs nor could he put the Barmuks off their guard for long. So, in 186 A.H. he came back to Rayy, took bay'at for Motamin's succession, prepared the deed of distribution and had the treaty written and duly signed by Ameen and Mamoon. Then he went for Hajj, gave alms to the needy, came to Madinah, gave away rewards and alms and returned. He then arrived at Ambar and suddenly on the last night of Muharram, he killed Jafar, put his father and brother into captivity and did not give anyone a chance to move against him.

Haroon Rasheed reached Ambâr and one night he sent for his Hajib Masroor and said to him, "Take a reliable body of Sarhangis and go to Jafar's tent, call him to the door and cut off his head and come back." Masroor was horrified to hear it. But Haroon Rasheed said to him silently, "This order of mine must be complied with without any delay." Masroor left at once, went to Jafar's tent and came back with his head. That same night Caliph Haroon Rasheed put Jafar's father and brothers into jail and at once issued an order that Jafar's, Fadal's and Yahya's property wherever it was must be confiscated. Then all the members of the Barmuk dynasty were arrested and sent to jail, and all their appointees were removed from all responsible posts in the government.

Thus, Haroon Rasheed in a single night succeeded in warding off the danger of the Barmuks and heaved a sigh of relief. He achieved this feat in such a manner that no one had time to create any opposition. He very much relied on Yahya bin Khalid's brother Mohammad bin Khalid Barmuk's loyalty and it is possible that he might have revealed some secrets to Haroon Rasheed. He was not arrested. On the other hand a respectable member of Haroon Rasheed's family Abdul Malik bin Saleh bin Ali bin Abdullah bin Abbas who was his grandfather, entered into the conspiracy with the Barmuks because he was promised to be made caliph.

After taking the Barmuks captive, Haroon Rasheed held Abdul Malik bin Saleh captive. Abdul Malik bin Saleh's son Abdur Rahman stood witness against his father and Abdul Malik remained in captivity. Mamoon set him free during his regime. Ibrahim bin Uthman bin Naheek was also an accomplice in the conspiracy and was put to death. Yahya Barmuk and Fadal Barmuk died in captivity in 190 A.H. and 193 A.H. respectively.

As the Barmukis gave money to the people thoughtlessly and patronized the poets, the people in general who were unaware of the reality, felt shocked and they declared Haroon Rasheed a tyrant. The poets wrote elegies, the storytellers narrated their generosity and qualities with exaggeration. Haroon Rasheed did not make any discussion about the conspiracy public and issued strict orders against the Barmuks. During his regime, the public in general never found out the real cause of the removal of the Barmuks.

Had the public come to know about the betrayal and conspiracy of the Barmuks, Haroon Rasheed and the government of the Abbasids would have lost their hold and it would have given rise to new conspiracies. It was his foresight that he did not make any public statement about them and by so doing kept the people terror stricken, overawed and puzzled and this was most suited to keeping the rule of the Abbasids intact. If the common people were allowed to air their views about the fall of the Barmuks, their supporters and admirers who were present everywhere in great numbers might have opened their mouths and the wind of opposition might have started blowing against the Abbasids. In this particular case, no other strategy was more suitable than the one he adopted.

The Barmuks claimed to be the lovers of the Prophet's family and supporters of the descendants of Abi Talib. The Alwiites took their ruin as a personal loss and even today, the partisans of Ali and partisans of Husain are found mourning over their death and destruction. Their love for knowledge and patronage of the scholars is narrated exaggeratedly and colorfully although that Zoroastrian family did not do any extraordinary or significant service to Islam and the Muslims. The cause of their death and destruction is quite evident and there is no room for doubt, in order to save his sultanate Haroon Rasheed killed the Barmuks as a king who destroys his enemies to safeguard his kingdom. He held also grand father a captive with Barmeeks. There is no need to mix speculative and nonsensical theories with a matter that is clear.

The Barmuk Family’s Downfall: Political Rivalry, Conspiracy, and Betrayal

2026-10-12T03:16:43.414-07:00

The Reality Behind the Extermination of the Barmuks

Power and kingdoms are objects that create enmity between two brothers and between father and son. The histories of governments and kingdoms bear witness to this. The Abbasids killed without any hesitation anyone whom they thought to be harmful to their authority. When Caliph Mansoor saw that Abu Muslim wanted to capture power, he put him to death at once. Sometimes the companions and officials of kings and rulers take advantage of this habit and nature and they attempt to prove a man, who they want to be harmed by the king, to be a rebel. The officer of Mansoor's bodyguards was Rabi bin Yunus who descended from Uthman bin Affan's servant Kisan. He was the greatest confidant of Mansoor and he also was his advisor.

He wielded much power and authority during Mansoor's regime. It was Rabi who is said to have advised him to kill Abu Muslim. Mansoor made Abu Ayub his minister in place of Khalid Barmuk but in 153 A.H., he appointed Rabi bin Yunus instead. At Mansoor's death, it was he who managed the oath of Mahdi's caliphate. During Mahdi's caliphate, he retained his post as minister but since he was known as the Hajib (literally the covering or in the political sense one who speaks for the caliph without actually involving him), Mahdi made Abu Abdullah Muawiya bin Yasar his minister also and assigned to him most of the departments of the government. After some time, Rabi had Abu Abdullah censured, deposed and jailed. Then Mahdi appointed Yaqub bin Dawood. He was also censured and removed after some time.

Then he selected for the job Faiz bin Abi Saleh who came from a Christian family in Nishapur. In short, Rabi bin Yunus did not let any minister succeed and he remained the only important minister. When Hadi's caliphate was established after Mahdi's, authority reached its pinnacle because Hadi had invested him with all powers. It was at his insistence that Khaizran was distanced from dabbling in state affairs. Hadi and Rabi died almost at the same time. Rabi's son Fadal bin Rabi expected to be appointed to a high post but soon after coming into power Haroon handed over the entire administration of the caliphate to Yahya bin Khalid. Yahya bin Khalid belonged to Abu Muslim's group as has been mentioned above. He hated Rabi bin Yunus because it was he who was instrumental in having Abu Muslim murdered and doubt cast upon Yahya's father Khalid bin Barmuk and had him deposed as minister and had his own friend Abu Ayub appointed.

Yahya bin Khalid did not let Fadal bin Rabi get a post and by retaining the post of Hajib for himself, he snatched away all his powers and reduced him to being totally ineffectual. It is clear that there existed old and strong enmity between the Barmuk family and Fadal bin Rabi. With the rise of the Barmuk's power, Fadal bin Rabi's enmity and hatred also increased. However, since Haroon fully relied upon the Barmuks, Fadal could not harm them. In such a situation, there was only one alternative for Fadal and that was to find real proof of the Barmuks' disloyalty, betrayal and rebellion and then guide the Caliph against them and thus serve his purpose. Since Barmuk was very experienced, clever and alert, Fadal bin Rabi could not find any opportunity to have him accused but he continued to study all his activities minutely.

The Barmuks had collected so many supporters by virtue of their generosity and endowments of wealth that Fadal bin Rabi found it difficult to find a confidant. Haroon wanted to give him a post in view of his old and ancestral connections but since his mother Khaizran was angry with Fadal and his father Rabi for trying to limit her influence in the time of Hadi, she insisted that her son stop trying to assist Fadal bin Rabi and. Yahya supported her on this point. When she died in 174 A.H. Haroon recruited him as the head clerk of his accounts office and then Fadal bin Rabi had a bit more influence than before.

When Yahya bin Abdullah came from Delan with Fadal bin Jafar, Haroon Rasheed wanted to imprison him despite the treaty he had written. First, he sought a fatwa (religious decision) from some scholars. Hearing this the Barmuks recommended Yahya bin Abdullah to the Caliph because the latter shared Abu Muslim Khorasani's faith and supported the partisans of the Prophet's family internally. Haroon Rasheed put Yahya bin Abdullah under Jafar bin Yahya's charge and asked him to keep him under his custody. Jafar kept him with respect and comfort.

When Haroon Rasheed sent Ali bin Isa as the governor of Khorasan in 180 A.H., Yahya bin. Khalid as stated earlier, opposed that appointment. That was perhaps Haroon Rasheed's first act that he did in defiance of Yahya bin Khalid's intentions and wishes. As Yahya, his sons and relatives had been dominating all the countries, the Barmuks did not give Ali bin Isa any rest. Yahya's son Musa bin Yahya pooled up all his resources and started inciting rebellions and breaches of the law one after another. Ali bin Isa came upon it by chance as to who engineered all the disturbances in Khorasan.

He dispatched a letter to Haroon briefing him on the situation and complaining against Musa bin Yahya. This complaint and the contrary complaint of Yahya's created a doubt in Haroon Rasheed's mind. As a result when news after news regarding Ali bin Isa's preparation for revolt started pouring into the caliph's court, Haroon Rasheed did not send any Amir or commander to him. Rather he himself marched to Khorasan with his army. He encamped at Rayy in 186 A.H. He had a slight doubt and he never doubted the Barmuks. He did know that the Barmuks disliked Ali bin Isa living in Khorasan. When Ali bin Isa sent letters against Musa bin Yahya and Yahya bin Khalid's other sons and relatives that they created mischief in Khorasan, Haroon Rasheed's attention was seriously drawn towards the problem of Khorasan. He did not disclose to the Barmuks nor could they know by themselves how curiously and minutely the Caliph was watching them.

They had the letters of complaints against Ali sent to Haroon Rasheed. Had they realized that Haroon Rasheed was casting doubtful eyes towards them, they would never have sent them and would never have accused Ali bin Isa of revolt. When Haroon Rasheed arrived at Rayy, Ali bin Isa paid a respectful visit to him and told him in detail about the situations in Khorasan. He informed him that the whole of Khorasan and all its provinces were in the grip of the Barmuks and they were completely ready to avenge Abu Muslim Khorasani's death. Understanding this one can well imagine how seriously Haroon Rasheed was affected by this shocking news. Knowing how dependant he was on the Barmuks and realizing the implications of their activities in Khorasan was a nightmarish scenario for him to contemplate. He encouraged Ali bin Isa and sent him to Rayy and he returned with his emotions fully suppressed and buried in his heart. After Ali bin Isa had left, Fadal bin Rabi, who finally had concrete evidence against Jafar Barmuk, communicated the shocking news to Haroon Rasheed that Jafar Barmuk had released Yahya bin Abdullah who had gone somewhere to prepare to lead a revolt.

The Truth Behind Jafar Barmuk’s Death and Abbasah Marriage Controversy

2026-10-12T03:15:11.626-07:00

The Advent of Nadir Khan in India

When Nadir Shah Irani landed on Indian soil and the Indian king brought him to Delhi as a dear guest with peace and friendship, someone in an intoxicated state at a bar said, "Ha! What a magnificent work Mohammad Shah has done by bringing Qazalbash into the fort and having him killed by female guards!" This mindless group with these words let the heads of the Iranians in Delhi get chopped off. At last being compelled Nadir Shah ordered a general massacre in Delhi and it was of such a magnitude that Delhi had not seen the like of it until date. So, it is in the same vein that someone has narrated the cause of Jafar Barmuk's death and said:

"Haroon Rasheed Abbasi had a sister named Abbasah bint Mahdi. He loved her very much. Similarly Jafar bin Yahya, the Prime Minister was also his companion and friend who always lived with him. Haroon used to drink with Jafar and Abbasah. Just as he wanted his sister to participate in drinking, similarly he wished his Prime Minister Jafar to keep company with him. So, he had Abbasah married to Jafar so that their meeting and seeing each other without a veil might be lawful. But Jafar and Abbasah were sternly warned that they should not establish physical relations with each other. But they failed to abide by it. When Haroon came to know of it he had him murdered and thus ruined his entire family."

When the novelists and educated ignorant of our times laid their hands on such nonsense, they polished it and propagated this falsehood so much that he who reads these books reposes more faith in it than Quranic verses and Hadith and does not like to hear anything to the contrary.

This canard was authored hundred of years after Jafar's death and Tabri has mentioned it in his book. As the incident contains novelty and was uniquely narrated, wonder loving minds were inclined to it and no one has missed recording this rumor since and we too unfortunately have to refer to this unpleasant story. Tabri and other historians have given other causes as well. But few of them have tried to use wisdom and common sense by discriminating and selecting genuine incidents.

1. Haroon Rasheed is the fifth caliph among the Abbasids. The Abbasids prided themselves on being superior to all Arabs in respect of family honor and race. The entire Arab world recognized their ancestral superiority. It was their family honor that propelled them to rise against Banu Umayyah and they met with success. When they came into power as ruler and caliph of the entire Islamic world, their pride of race increased even more. Arab prejudice and the sense of respect were deeply ingrained in them. In this case, how was it possible for a caliph like Haroon Rasheed to have his sister married to a man that he regarded as a Zoroastrian slave's son and grandson of a man of an unknown father? Admitted, he addressed Jafar as his brother and his father as "respected father" because he was his tutor. But at the time of marrying his sister, he could not overlook nation. family and race. If he had turned liberal minded in respect of marriage like the modern people, his relatives who had a single lineage and were in good numbers, could not remain mute spectators at this familial dishonor. Similarly, Abbasah too could not have tolerated such humiliation.

2. It is beyond comprehension that a religious minded man like Haroon Rasheed who went on Hajj and Jihad every alternate year and who was the chief and caliph of the Islamic world could have held drinking parties. If a caliph in Banu Umayyah had taken date juice wine, it created a stir in the whole world and historians have continued to mention this evil act in particular until the present. However, Haroon Rasheed who visited the meetings of the scholars and Allah-fearing devotees while alone and sat on tattered mats and wept bitterly while listening to their sermons, how could he have anything to do with wine an impure and dirty thing like urine? Elders like Fudail bin Ayad, Ibn Sammak and Sufyan Thauri were his friends and companions. A man who performs his Salat five times a day with great regularity, with humility and piety especially the pre-dawn prayer which is performed an hour and a half before sunrise, coupled with hundreds of supererogatory prayers daily, how shameless and injustice it is to call such a man drinker of wine. How can a man who attended a wine party in the night participate in the pre-dawn prayer? How can humility and piety be found in the prayer of a man who is in the habit of taking wine?

3. The scholars in Iraq had given a fatwa about the legality of nabeedh, a mixture of dates and water, and some wealthy people used it but it cannot be connected with the intoxication found in wine. It has never been proved that Haroon Rasheed ever used date-juice or held such a party as mentioned in these false narratives. Until Haroon Rasheed's regime the simplicity and military life of the Arabs persisted which did not include taking wine. The Arab nobility claimed by Haroon Rasheed always condemned wine as an evil so much so that the nobles in the days of ignorance (the period before Islam) never touched it nor did they consider it a proper act of the nobility. That was why the Prophet, Abu Bakr and many others of the nobility of the Arabs never touched it even during the days before Islam. Haroon Rasheed could not accept this lowness and depravity in violation of the Islamic instruction.

4. Even in the present irreligious condition nobody, however mean and low and addicted to taking wine in public he might be, would like his sister to drink with him. The drinkured people even they would not like to start a drinking session with other men taking their sisters with them. How could Haroon Rasheed Abbasi who had Tabiyyen, (those who were with the companions of the Prophet) and Taba-Tabiyeen, (those who were with the Tabiyyen,) at his court have committed such a shameless act without dying of shame?

5. Those who are addicted to adultery, theft and drinking, generally try to prevent their relatives from doing such things. If Haroon Rasheed had been habituated to it, he could not have persuaded his sister to follow suit. Probably his beloved wife Zubaidah, whom he loved very much, would have been the first to partake it with him. But none has indicated anything of this kind about her and her life is impeccable on this matter. How surprising is it that there were regular and constant recitations of the Qur'an at her palace while her dear husband was drowned in wine?

6. The historians have written with confidence that there was a Jewish doctor named Jibrail at Haroon Rasheed's court. He partook a meal with the caliph and when he saw harmful things, he stopped him from eating it. Once fish was served to the caliph and he wanted to eat it but the doctor requested him not to and asked the cook to take it away. By chance, one of the caliph's servants found Jibrail eating the same fish at his residence. Then it was suggested that the doctor himself wanted to eat it and so prevented the caliph from consuming it. The servant communicated this to Haroon. It was a small incident and Haroon Rasheed could have said nothing to him except laugh it off. When the doctor came to know that the caliph was informed of the incident, he put three pieces of the fish into three separate bowls. He put meat and other things eaten by the caliph into a bowl and mixed them. He put ice water in the second bowl. He then poured wine in the third bowl. Then he presented the three bowls before the caliph and said, "The first two bowls contain what you have eaten and the third contains what I have eaten." When he looked into them, he found that the contents had rotted and were giving off a bad smell. However, the bowl that contained the wine and fish had not rotted. The doctor saved himself from being put to shame and explained to the caliph, "As I take wine, the fish was not harmful to me. And as you do not take wine, I stopped you from eating it." This episode bears proof that Haroon Rasheed abstained from wine.

7. Actually, Abbasah was married to Mohammad bin Sulaiman. When he died and she became a widow, she was then married to Ibrahim bin Saleh bin Ali who was Haroon Rasheed's close relative and descendent from Abbas. To attribute such a falsehood to such a noble and pious lady is a proof of the lowness of the liar. He who tries to prove falsehood to be a fact is certainly a man of devilish nature. The strangest point in this allegation is that Haroon took care of following the Islamic law in finding a legal way to allow Jafar and Abbasah to look at each other but he forgot the Islamic law concerning drinking.

The Barmuk Dynasty’s Rise, Political Power, and Growing Influence

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He had cleverly positioned himself to be the tutor of Mahdi. He survived Mahdi's accession to the throne and Mansoor's death. This added more to his honor and status. He died during Mahdi's regime, in 163 A.H., at the age of 77. The second half of his life was spent in watching the birth and death of caliphates and he had himself worked as a dominant figure in ruining caliphates and founding new ones. At the time of his death, his son Yahya was 54 or 50 and he had also seen all these games and disturbances soon after he came of age.

He had inherited from his father all thoughts, wishes, precautions and had heard with reverence and sadness the stories of the ruin of his ancestors, the honor of his family and the Iranian empire. He regarded himself as the representative and religious leader of his nation. He knew it fully that a slight error on his part might put an end to the respect and influence he commanded in the Islamic caliphate and bring him down to total destruction. On the other side, he and his father were fully conversant with the internal and family affairs of the caliph. The constant participation in the Caliph's court had kept his heart from being overawed and shattered by the awe of authority.

Khalid Barmuk's deepest plot was this that in 161 A.H. he advised Mahdi to make Yahya the tutor to Haroon Rasheed. As Mahdi himself had remained under his tutelage, he thought it natural to give his son to Khalid's son to be coached and trained. Even before that when Haroon Rasheed was born of Khaizrân at Rayy, Khalid was with Mahdi there.

It was Khalid again who was instrumental in making Haroon Rasheed his foster grandson, Yahya's son Fadal, foster brothers by letting him suck Yahya's wife's milk and Fadal suck Khaizrân's milk. If all these wise steps of Khalid are studied deeply it becomes apparent that he was able to protect his family very intelligently and beautifully for he wanted to achieve a grand feat, that is, to avenge Abu Muslim's murder and bring the ruling power back to the Iranians.

Yahya bin Khalid had educated and trained Haroon. He had impressed Haroon so much that even after being caliph he used to address him as "Respected father" and was shy of talking informally in his presence. Caliph Hadi's caliphate was not in consonance with the plans of the Barmuk family and Yahya had limited influence on Hadi. Yahya thought out such a diabolical plan that Hadi's own mother Khaizrân turned against him. Their mother wishing to save.

Haroon's life along with Yahya did away with Hadi by joining together and Hadi was only able to rule for a little more than a year. Yahya's bid for having Haroon accede to the throne was naturally a bid in his own interest. As expected soon after being caliph, Haroon made Yahya his Prime Minister and in charge of all the expeditions. Yahya was not a fool to keep Haroon's mother Khaizrân displeased. He began to do everything in consultation with her and always consulted her on every issue. After a short time, she died and Yahya no longer had to perform even that formality. He worked with so much concentration, sincerity and efficiency in the affairs of the caliphate and expeditions that his love and respect in Haroon's heart kept growing. He took great care and precaution not to make Haroon feel constrained in any way in the expression of his free mind and fulfillment of his heart's desire. It appeared that Yahya's only duty was to try his best to see Haroon's wish and intention fulfilled and that was all.

The greatest strategic move he made was that he appointed and assigned quite imperceptibly his relatives, brothers, nephews and like-minded Iranians to responsible posts in the important states of the provinces and appointed many of them to be leaders of the army. He had managed to make his sons Fadal and Jafar brothers to Haroon Rasheed and Haroon called them his brothers and loved them very much. Haroon had put his sons under the guardianship and protection of Fadal and Jafar and when Yahya grew old in 174 A.H. he made his son Fadal his assistant in the ministry of expeditions.

When Yahya bin Abdullah rebelled in 176 A.H. at Delam, it was Fadal bin Yahya who settled it and had landed estates given to him. Haroon entrusted Yahya bin Abdullah to Jafar bin Yahya to keep him under his custody. Haroon had also made Fadal the governor of Khorasan, Tabristan, Rayy and Hamdân in 178 A.H. He had made Fadal the tutor to his son Ameen. During his governorship of Khorasan Yahya prepared a strong and well-armed Iranian army of 500,000 men. After a year, Haroon recalled him from there and appointed him Prime Minister. Yahya was always consulted in all important matters, that is, he continued to partake in all expeditions of the government.

Yahya's second son Jafar had been Haroon Rasheed's chief companion and a very close friend. He always accompanied him at home and on journeys. He was very sweet-tempered and methodical. In 176 A.H., he was entrusted with the governorship of Egypt in addition to his being the inspector of Police of the royal palaces. Jafar sent Imran bin Mehrân to govern Egypt on his behalf and he lived in the service of Haroon. When rebellions broke out in Damascus and Syria, it was Jafar who went and put them down. Then Haroon made him the governor of Khorasan. Hardly a month had passed when he was made governor and city Magistrate of Baghdad itself.

Jafar entrusted this task to Harsimah bin Ayun and he himself continued to be Haroon's companion. Haroon Rasheed sent for Yahya bin Khalid and said to him, "Please tell Fadal to hand over the portfolios of the prime minister to Jafar because I feel shy to tell Fadal to hand over the job of prime minister to Jafar." So, Yahya, their father, conveyed Haroon's intention to Fadal and thus Jafar became Prime Minister. This shows how much hold this family had on Haroon.

During the period of his ministry Jafar bin Yahya dominated over all the posts and departments of the government so much that he came to be regarded as the real owner and ruler of the government. All the police and palaces of Baghdad were under him. It was he who had brought and appointed the administrators of the states, governors of the provinces and the commanders of the armies. He was the master and superintendent of the treasury to such an extent that when Haroon required money he used to ask Jafar for it. Yahya bin Khalid had other sons too who were officers in the army. He and his sons took great advantage of their authority and influence seamlessly and intelligently.

That is, they spent government money lavishly and generously on gifts and rewards besides giving big revenues from estates and setting salaries. Consequently, his generosity made him as popular as Hatim. (This is in reference to Hatim Tai who is considered the proverbial example of generosity in Arabic culture. Editor) There was no one who was not an admirer and supporter of the Barmuk family. They earned large amounts of money and spent the same lavishly in purchasing their reputation and fame until not only in Khorasan and Iraq but also in Syria, Egypt, Arabia, Yemen and far-off countries the people eulogized their generosity and gifts in their odes.

The honor, popularity and power of the Barmuk dynasty had touched the zenith. Except for the fact that they had no accession to the throne of caliphate, they had all the rest at their disposal. But in spite of all this, they could not do anything against the intention of Haroon Rasheed. Haroon Rasheed and his supporters had no chance to question their power and grandeur. However, if hidden under this handling of power was an evil design or rebellion, then there would be no enemy greater and more formidable for them than Haroon Rasheed.

In the beginning of 187 A.H., it was suddenly witnessed that Haroon Rasheed meted out to the dynasty of Barmuk the treatment which is generally meted out to enemies. So we must observe and try to find out whether the Barmuk family had really starting hatching a conspiracy against his caliphate or not and whether Haroon Rasheed came to know about it or not. If the Barmuk family had really an evil intention against Haroon Rasheed and the Abbasid caliphate then however he treated them in the end was absolutely right and lawful. But if the Barmuk family was the same both internally and externally and they were sincerely loyal to him, then none can be a worse judge and tyrant than Haroon. For those who are accustomed to probe superficially, the ruin of the Barmuks may be insoluble and they have covered this knotty problem with the babblings of the inebriated and propped it up to look like a reality.

The Barmuk Family: Origins, Rise, and Early Political Influence

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The Barmuk Family and Their Downfall

While recording the conditions of Caliph Haroon Rasheed's caliphate, we have reached 187 A.H. In the beginning of this year, Haroon Rasheed had his minister killed and his brother Fadal and father Yahya imprisoned. In the lives of kings and caliphs killing a minister and imprisoning their family is not an extraordinary or unusual event. The histories of kings are replete with such incidents. The feats of kings are written in blood. The ordinary events of the downfall of the Barmuk family and Jafar's murder have assumed ugly proportions due to the machinations of the lovers of tumult, tellers of false tales, novelists and the ignorant worshippers of fantasies. Because there are many educated yet misinformed persons and many fools giving the impression of being wise who have misunderstand Mahmood Ghaznavi and Aurangzeb Alamgir and lead others to follow them and in the process damage the cause of Islam, it is necessary to expose the falsehoods about Mahmood and Alamgir and present the facts. Similarly false propaganda against the murder of Jafar and the downfall of the Barmuk family should be narrated in detail in order to separate reality from fantasy. Therefore, a detailed narration of the events of 187 A.H. is in order. First of all a short history of the Barmuk family will be followed by those false and unfounded narratives which have found publicity among the ignorant and misinformed, which have been quoted by and alluded to by many educated people and then finally the real facts will be given.

The Barmuk Family

The oldest religion of the Iranians was Mah-âbâdi, which entailed worship of the stars more than fire-worship. A number of reformers as revivers came one after another after Mah-âbâd. The last of them was Zoroaster. The religious legal system, which he brought into practice, Allah alone knows. But from what is gathered, it shows that his religion contained five-worship more than worship of stars. In his lifetime, his religion became the royal religion and spread to most parts of Iran. Asfandyar's wrestling spread it to Afghanistan and the Punjab. The greatest of the Indian scholars Sangrachah Biyas visited.

Zoroaster in Balkh, took an oath of obedience, returned to India and started propagating fire-worship, which survives among the Hindus in the form of hawan even today. Zoroaster's and his true devotee and the renouncer of his kingdom, King Lahrasab's, final resting place was Balkh. Balkh is as important in relation to Zoroastrianism as Jerusalem is in relation to Christianity or Buddhism is to Gaya (in India). Alexander of Greece destroyed Astkhar, Samarkand, Kangrah, Karachi and Kabul by assault and plunder. This area was part of the Zoroastrian kingdom of the Kyani family and it was this region where fire-worship was in practice. The influx of Greeks not only put an end to the Kyani kingdom but it also put out fire-worship. After some hundreds of years the Iranians were able to shake off the Greek yoke and Sâsân I unified the multiple kingships and anarchy of Iran, picked the sparks out of the Zoroastrian ashes and lighted its hearths. Balkh had been made desolate by the Chinese during Zoroaster's time but it was repopulated very soon and remained their holy city and their direction of prayer.

Alexander's flood had diminished the markets of Balkh but it remained the place of hope of the steadfast Zoroastrians. It regained its youth again during the regime of the Sasanids. When the Sasanids breathed their last on the battlefields of Qadsiyah and Nahawand, the light of the hearths of Balkh increased all the more because the defeated emperor of Iran and the rest of the escaping leaders' place of assembly was in Balkh and it was to Balkh they turned and worshipped Yezdân in the hearth known as Naubahar. The spiritual leader of a hearth was called Mugh and the chief of the Mughs, the superintendent of all hearths of his province and the Mugh of this central hearth was known as Barmugh. Mugh the great spiritual leader of the Naubahar hearth at the sight of the ruin and helplessness of the greatest patron of fire-worship, the Iranian emperor, must have been moved and thought that the religion of which he was one of the leaders, was about to be humiliated and ruined and with it he and the honor of his family would vanish.

The hearth of Naubahar was one of the four central hearths. This hearth commanded the greatest popularity and grandeur for Balkh was considered to be the place of Lahrasap's slaughter, Zoroaster's place of residence and the center of Zoroastrians. The Barmugh of Naubahar commanded the greatest respect among the fire-worshipers and the Iranians. In 31 A.H., the flood of the Muslim victors moved on to Merv sweeping the plain and rolling off the mountains until they reached Balkh and the fire, which was said to have been burning for thousands of years became extinct. Neither the fire-worshippers survived nor the fireplace was needed any more. No group was there to honor Barmugh nor was there income for his luxuries. However, they maintained their title, Barmugh and the victorious Arabs pronounced it as Barmuk.

It is incorrect to conclude that the Arabs put a stop to the fire worshipper’s prayer and converted them to Islam by force by demolishing Naubahar. Had the Muslims converted the fire worshippers to Islam by force, they would have first converted Barmuk. They did not disturb him rather the fire worshippers kept renouncing their religion and embracing Islam by themselves. It was due to this conversion that the Muslims scored victories wonderfully fast. Their arrival in Balkh meant the arrival of Islam there and consequently, it led to the ruin of the hearth of Naubahar and its Barmugh. Because Barmuk was the religious leader, he did not accept Islam for the advent of Islam in the country had damaged him in all respects. He looked on the Muslims in anger.

The Mongols and Turkish tribes along the Chinese border, who had nothing to do with the Iranian nation and their religion but were terrified of attacking Balkh, now began to raid. Consequently, the same Mongol chiefs who promised to pay Jizyah to the Muslims began to rule over Balkh and later on proved inconvenient to the Muslims when they gained power. The Mongols removed all traces of fire worship from Balkh and brought the Barmuk family to the level of the lowest section of the society by dishonoring it. The Arabs did not stay there long and internal quarrels did not let them turn their attention to the borders much and thus Balkh remained the target of attacks by the Mongols. The Barmuk who had seen the good and prosperous days of Naubahar hearth and the Zoroastrian kingdom, died.

His son, who was a follower of Zoroaster, came to be known by the same name. Barmuk II had not seen the golden days of Naubahar. In 86 A.H. when Qutaiba bin Muslim, the governor of Khorasan, invaded Balkh, a few women were brought into captivity and became slaves. Barmukh II's wife was among those who came into the share of Qutaiba bin Muslim's brother Abdullah bin Muslim. After a short time there was reconciliation with the people of Balkh, all the women and captives were returned. So, Abdullah bin Muslim had also to return the women. At the time of her departure she said to him, "I have been made pregnant by you." When she reached Barmuk, she gave birth to a child who was Ja'far Barmuk's grandfather named Khalid.

This narration may also be lumped with the same fictitious and imaginary stories which are generally written by wonder loving and wonder worshiping authors. However, Khalid was born at the residence of Barmuk II either in 86 or 87 A.H. In 124 A.H., Imam Ibrahim Abbasi sent Abu Muslim Khorasani as the officer and superintendent of his propagation. Abu Muslim enrolled Khalid bin Barmuk in his group when he was forty. Abu Muslim loved him very much and paid special attention to his training and raising his status. When Abu Muslim sent a man from Khorasan and had Abu Salmah Khâlal alias minister to the family of Mohammad murdered, he wrote to Saffah to make Khâlid Barmuk his minister. Khalid Barmuk remained in that capacity until Saffah's death. After Saffah when Mansoor Abbasi succeeded to the throne, he retained him as his minister. In the first year of his caliphate, Mansoor had Abu Muslim who was Khalid's patron, killed. Khalid did not show his resentment or sorrow at his death.

But Mansoor taking precautionary measures sent him out on the plea of stamping out a rebellion and appointed Abu Ayub as his minister. Since Khalid did not show his stubbornness and disloyalty in any respect, Caliph Mansoor did not neglect to utilize the services of such an efficient and capable man. Khalid's future actions and attitude satisfied Mansoor. Khalid had the experience of being a true disciple of a conspiring and courageous man like Abu Muslim and was well versed in political matters. He harbored dedication and love for Iran in his heart, he had seen with his own eyes the end of Abu Muslim and while his heart was shedding tears of blood, he assumed the posture of a man deeper than Abu Muslim and succeeded in concealing his real intentions from an alert and discerning man like Caliph Mansoor. He remained the ruler of the state of Mousil and the tutor to Mansoor's son. He maintained his status until the end of his life. To be the tutor of Caliph Mahdi proved highly beneficial to him and to his family.

Haroon Rasheed’s Reign, Ibrahim Aghlab’s Rise, Succession Plans, and Barmakid Downfall

2026-10-12T03:09:38.888-07:00

Ibrahim bin Aghlab and the city of Abbasia

It has been stated above that Haroon Rasheed sent Mohammad bin Muqatil bin Hakam as governor after Harsima bin Ayun's resignation. Muhammad bin Muqatil was Haroon's foster brother. He put down the rebellion in Africa, which was caused by Harsima bin Ayun's departure from Africa. Mohammad bin Muqatil cleverly and intelligently disciplined them into obedient subjects but their silence and obedience was under compulsion. They were ready to revolt at any time, displeased as they were with Muqatil. The main cause of rebellion was that he always consulted the administrator of the state of Zâb, Ibrahim bin Aghlab, who was in a secret conspiracy with the chiefs of the rebels and helped them and misguided Muqatil. Due to the repeated rebellions in North Africa, 100,000 dinars from the Egyptian treasury had to be spent annually on the upkeep, expenses and defense of the North African government. Africa, instead of creating revenue, had become a liability with the expenditure of 100,000 dinars per annum. Though Mohammad bin Muqatil restored peace expenses to the Egyptian treasury continued as usual. Now Ibrahim bin Aghlab requested Haroon Rasheed to make him the governor of North Africa and in exchange not only would he eliminate the 100,000 dinars per annum expense but would also send him 400,000 dinars per tax. He consulted his advisors. Harsimah bin Ayun said that there was no harm in making him the governor of Africa. So, Haroon Rasheed sent the certificate of governorship to Ibrahim in Muharram 184 A.H. Soon after arriving in North Africa he arrested all the ring leaders of the rebels who he knew well and sent them to Baghdad. That put an end to all disturbances at once. Then he founded a city near Qirwân and called it Abbasia. He made it the capital. His descendants continued to rule over it, which will be recorded later on in the narrative.

That same year 184 A.H. Haroon Rasheed handed over the governorship of Yemen and Makkah to Hammâd Berberi and sent Dawood bin Yazid bin Hatim as the governor of Sindh. Similarly, he gave the governorship of Qahistan and Tabristan to Yahya Huraishi and Maharaya Razi respectively.

In 185 A.H., the inhabitants of Tabristan attacked and killed Maharaya. Then In his place Abdullah bin Sayeed Huraishi was sent. The same year saw the death of the governor of Azerbaijan and Armenia, Yazid bin Mizyad Shebani. His place was taken by his son Asad bin Yazid.

As has already been stated, Ali bin Isa was able to stamp out all rebellions in Khorasan and restore peace after Wahab bin Nisai's death in 186 A.H. Ali bin Isa was not lucky enough to enjoy peace for long. A new intrigue was created against him in Khorasan. The Khorasanis continuously sent letters of complaints to the Caliph's court. Yahya bin Khalid was not pleased with Ali bin Isa as the governor of Khorasan. Yahya's younger sons Musa and Mohammad who commanded respect and influence in Khorasan had incited Wahab bin Abdullah and Hamza Khwarji to rebel. And it was due to their covert activities that Khorasan continued to reel under the impact of unrest and riots for years. During this period Haroon Rasheed's attention was drawn by Yahya and Jafar to the necessity of removing Ali bin Isa from the governorship of Khorasan. But he did not listen to them on this point. When peace was restored, paper horses started running. It was the result of instigation by the Barmuk family that the Khorasanis began to write letters of grievances against Ali bin Isa. When these letters became countless and the complaints started pouring in that he not only crossed all limits by torturing and persecuting civilians, he also was busy trying to topple the caliphate. Haroon Rasheed, under compulsion, left Baghdad and camped at Rayy. Hearing of the Caliph's arrival Ali bin Isa left Merv with gifts and reached Rayy and called on him and offered proof of his loyalty and sincerity. Being pleased, Haroon Rasheed retained him as the governor of Khorasan and included Rayy, Tabristan, Nahawand, Qomas and Hamdân under his jurisdiction.

Motamin as Crown Prince

The same year, in 186 A.H. Caliph Haroon Rasheed made his third son Qasim as the third heir apparent. He took the oath from the people that Qasim would succeed Mamoon as caliph and on that occasion, he honored him with the title Motamin. While making Motamin the third successor following Mamoon, the condition included in the oath was that if Motamin proved himself capable, he would succeed Mamoon otherwise Mamoon would be entitled to remove him and make someone else the successor. He handed over the reins of Iraq, Syria and the Arab countries to the first crown prince. Mamoon was given the Eastern countries and Qasim was entrusted with Saghoor, Jazirah and the Province of Awasim. Ameen, the first crown prince, was made to write an agreement that read:

"I shall fulfil my commitments to Mamoon" Similarly he made Mamoon write one: I shall fulfill my commitments to Ameen." These arrangements were duly signed by men of repute, the elders, leaders of the army, officials of the government and the elders of Madinah and Makkah and it was hung on Ka'bah. They were made to swear to remain content with what they were given and avoid usurping the other brother's territories. This was an order only concerning the matter of succeeding to the caliphate.

First Ameen would be the caliph of the Muslims and Mamoon would obey him. But Ameen would not have any authority to remove him from the governorship of those territories, which were chosen by Haroon. Mamoon would become caliph after Ameen and so on.

There were clarifications of these agreements, which were duly signed by Ameen, Mamoon and the others, which were also hung up on Ka'bah. Thus by dividing his sultanate among his sons Haroon Rasheed wanted to rule out the possibility of any quarrel among them in future. But this was not a wise step on his part and it probably was his paternal affection that compelled him to do such a thing, which was fated to end in failure.

A Remarkable Hajj of Haroon Rasheed

Caliph Haroon Rasheed was very fond of performing Hajj. He never missed any except under the most compelling circumstances. It was his regular practice to go for Hajj and Jihad every alternate year.

No caliph ever performed Hajj as many times as he did but the Hajj he performed in 186 A.H. is specifically remarkable because it was during this pilgrimage that the particular agreement mentioned above was hung on the Ka'bah, and it was after this Hajj that he destroyed the power of Barmuk family.

Haroon left Ambâr for Makkah with the intention to perform Hajj. He was accompanied by his three sons Ameen, Mamoon and Motamin. Jafar bin Yahya, the Prime Minister, was also with him. Finishing the Hajj, he left Makkah for Madinah. He enriched the people of both the places with gifts and rewards. He distributed 10,500,000 dinar (gold coins) as charity on behalf of himself and his sons. He returned from Madinah and camped at Ambâr. At this place, he had Jafar bin Yahya Barmuk killed at the end of Muharram 187 A.H.

Haroon Rasheed’s Caliphate, Regional Rebellions, Byzantine Campaigns, and Succession Struggles

2026-10-12T03:08:13.633-07:00

Unrest in Syria

In 176 A.H., the civil wars between Banu Mudar and the Yemeniayah tribes took a dangerous turn. When the governor of Damascus Abdus Samad bin Ali failed to stamp out the trouble, Haroon Rasheed deposed him and replaced him with Ibrahim bin Saleh. Ibrahim supported and helped the Yemeniayah tribes with the result that the disturbance continued for a long time. Then the Mudar tribe captured Damascus and dethroned and suspended the governor. Finally, Haroon Rasheed sent Jafar bin Yahya Barmuk to Syria. He brought the riots under control and came back to the capital Baghdad.

Rise of Attâf bin Sufyan

In 177 A.H. Attâf bin Sufyan staged an uprising and captured Mousil and the surrounding states. He besieged and imprisoned the governor of Mousil in the governor's headquarters and started collecting taxes using 4,000 warriors who were with him to convince anyone who doubted his right to collect taxes. Hearing of this Haroon Rasheed took an army from Baghdad and went towards him. Attâf fled to Armenia. Haroon Rasheed pulled down the city walls of Mousil. But he had to return to Baghdad upon receiving the news of uprisings in both Egypt and Khorasan. Attâf left Armenia and went to Raqah, settled there and began to live a life of seclusion. The same year Abdur Razzaq bin Humaid Dhâlbi invaded the Romans and returned after punishing them.

Uprising in Egypt

At the end of 177 A.H., the news came that in Egypt some tribes were ready to rebel. The Egyptian governor Ishaq bin Sulaiman tried to stamp it out but in 178 A.H. the rebels fought and defeated him. In those days, Harsimah bin Ayun was the administrator of Palestine. Haroon Rasheed wrote to him to go to Egypt with his army and curb the unrest. He went there and defeated and forced them into obedience. Haroon Rasheed then entrusted the governorship of Egypt to him. However, after one month he was deposed and replaced by Abdul Malik bin Saleh.

The Mischief of the Khwarij

The periods during which there were rebellions in Egypt, Syria, and Mousil Qais bin Dhalbah's liberated slave, Haseen Khwarji, had rebelled in Khorasan and created unrest there. The governor of Khorasan Khalid bin Ata Kindi had made Dawood bin Yazid the administrator of Sistan. He sent Uthman bin Ammarah to confront Haseen Khwarji. Haseen defeated and made him flee. Then he looted and plundered Badghais, Busanj and Herat. Then Khalid Kindi deployed a 12,000 man army to capture him. Haseen dealt a crushing defeat to that army with his 600 men and continued to create disorder and unrest. Repeated confrontations took place but every time the Khorasani army suffered defeat. At last, in the beginning of 178 A.H., Haseen Khwarji was killed and peace was restored in Khorasan. The same year saw Zafar bin Asim invading the Roman Empire.

In Ramadan 179 A.H., caliph Haroon Rasheed performed Umrah, (the small pilgrimage,) combined with Hajj, (the great pilgrimage,) with the same Ihram (the state in which a pilgrimage performs the rituals of Hajj). He went on foot from Makkah to Arafat. The same year Malik bin Anas died on 7 Rabia Thani at the age of 84 followed by Imam Abu Hanifah's son Hammâd in Dhul Qada 179 A.H.

In 180 A.H., armies were sent to Mawaraunnahar to declare Jihad on the Turks and the Mongols. Ali bin Isa bin Mahân was made the governor of Khorasan. This appointment was disapproved by Haroon Rasheed's Prime Minister Yahya bin Khalid Barmuk who drew his attention to Ali bin Isa's hard temperament. But Haroon Rasheed did not agree with him and sent Ali bin Isa to Khorasan. Naturally, Yahya bin Khalid did not like anybody to unleash a reign of terror on the inhabitants of Khorasan, which was his native land. On the other hand, repeated rebellions in Khorasan demanded Haroon to depute a strict man to govern and deal with Khorasan. The same year 180 A.H. there was a big earthquake, which caused the minarets of Alexandria to fall down. The same year the ruler of Spain, Hisham bin Abdur Rahman died and his son Hakam took the throne. The same year Abu Bishr Amr bin Uthman known as Sibwaih who was the foremost scholar of syntax and an inhabitant of Baizia in Persia died.

In 181 A.H., Caliph Haroon Rasheed invaded the Roman Empire and conquered the fort of Safsâf. The same year Abdul Malik bin Saleh captured territories up to Ankara. The same year the Muslims and the Romans agreed to exchange their prisoners of war. This was the first treaty the Abbasids made with the Romans. The scholars and officials of the two governments and 30,000 soldiers along with the inhabitants of the border areas assembled at Lamas, which was situated at a distance of twelve miles from Tartus. The ruler of Tartus also came and under the aegis of Haroon Rasheed's son Qasim popularly known as Motamin and a grand assembly was held. The Romans came with 3,700 Muslim prisoners and in exchange, Motamin handed over the Christian captives to them. The same year Harsamah bin Ayun was deposed as the governor of North Africa. He came to Baghdad and was appointed officer of Haroon Rasheed's cavalry and in his place Mohammad bin Muqatil was sent to North Africa.

Mamoon as Heir Apparent

It has been stated above that Haroon Rasheed in 175 A.H. had made Ameen his son from Zubaidah Khatoon his heir-apparent. At that time, both Ameen and Mamoon were five years old. No Muslim had ever made his heir apparent a boy of such young age. Now Haroon Rasheed declared his son Mamoon bin Marajal, then 12 years old, heir apparent after Ameen. He took the oath from the people that Mamoon would follow Ameen as heir to the caliphate. Mamoon's real name was Abdullah and Ameen's was Mohammad. When Mohammad was made successor in 175 A.H. he was given the title Ameen and when Abdullah was made the second successor he was given the title Mamoon. Haroon made him governor of Khorasan and its adjoining territories up to Hamdan. Then he sent for Isa bin Ali and giving him the certificate of governorship of Khorasan on behalf of Mamoon, sent him back to Khorasan. The same year on 27 Rajab 182 A.H. Imam Abu Yusuf whose name was Yaqub and had the credit of being Abu Hanifa's disciple and judge of judges of Baghdad, breathed his last.

The Rebellion of Wahab bin Abdullah Nisai and Hamza Khawarji

When Ali bin Isa visited Baghdad on the occasion of the celebration of Mamoon Rasheed's succession, Abu Khaseeb Wahab bin Abdullah bin Nisai revolted and began to loot and kill people in Khorasan. When Isa bin Ali returned and pursued him, Wahab was terrified and asked for pardon and safety which he was granted, he settled down quietly. Immediately, after this incident the news broke that Hamza bin Atrak Khwarji revolted in Badghais and started conquering city after city. Herat was then ruled over by Amrwiyah bin Yazid Azdi. Taking 6,000 men with him, he attacked Hamza. Hamza defeated him and killed many of his cavalry leading ultimately to Amrwiyah's death in the stampede. Then Ali bin Isa gave 10,000 soldiers to his son, Hasan bin Ali, and sent him to face Hamza. But Hasan did not fight with Hamza. Then Ali bin Isa deputed his next son, Isa bin Ali. Hamza defeated him and forced him to flee. Ali bin Isa gave Isa bin Ali a fresh army and sent him to face Hamza. The fighting took place at Nishapur and Hamza lost and fled to Qahistan. His 10,000 men were killed in the battle and only 40 men were left who fled to Qahqistan with him. Isa bin Ali deputed his warriors at Adaq, Jowin and those towns and villages which helped Hamza and then caught and killed the Khwarij until 30,000 men was put to death. Then he left Abdullah bin Abbas Nasfi at Zaranrj to collect the spoils of war and marched on to Kabul and Zablistan. Abu Khaseeb Wahab bin Abdullah who had received pardon and safety and had settled down quietly in the town of Nisa, saw the field empty and made up his mind to violate the treaty. He was able to gather a group of rebels to rally round him and occupied Abyuro, Nisa, Tus and Nishapur. On the other hand, Hamza started making night attacks on the villages and towns and looting travelers. In short, Hamza and Wahab did not allow Ali bin Isa and his soldiers to take any rest for four years. In the mean while Wahab at times besieged Merv. At last with Wahab's death in 186 A.H. there was peace in Khorasan. Then Ali bin Isa began to deal harshly and violently with the inhabitants there.

The same year in 182 A.H. Abdur Rahman bin Abdul Malik bin Saleh along with the summer forces left for the Roman Empire to make Jihad. The Romans after the death of their king Constantine had his mother Rebi succeed to the throne with the title Atshah. Haroon Rasheed had created fear inside the court of Constantinople the Roman queen eventually made endeavors to make peace with him and drew the attention of the Muslim commanders to peace through correspondence. It was at this time that the French King Charlemagne conquered Italy and Western Rome and had an eye on Eastern Rome, the kingdom of Constantinople. The Eastern Roman queen very intelligently made a compromise with Haroon Rasheed and in exchange for paying the Jizyah, she protected herself from the danger of Charlemagne.

The Riot in the Province of Armenia

In 183 A.H., King Khakan's daughter Khazar was sent to Fadal bin Yahya. She died at Baroa. When her men returned they told her father that the Muslims had killed her treacherously. Khakan collected a huge army and rebelled at Babol starting the invasion of the Islamic territories. The Armenian governor Sayeed bin Muslim was not able to defeat him. Khakan killed 100,000 Muslims, captured thousands of them with their women and children and tortured them to such a degree that the description of these tortures is horrifying. This is regarded as one of the greatest tragedies of the Islamic world. Haroon Rasheed sent Yazid bin Mizyad to Armenia as governor prior to which, he was the administrator of Azerbaijan. Armenia was also annexed to his jurisdiction. He appointed Khuzaima bin Khazim at Nasibeen to help the Armenians. As soon as Yazid bin Mizyad's and Khuzaima bin Khazim's armies entered Armenian territory the inhabitants of Khazar fled and the Islamic forces recaptured it.

Haroon Rasheed obliged Imam Musa Kazim bin Imam Jafar Sadiq to remain in Baghdad as a precautionary measure and did not allow him to leave it for fear that the Aliwiites would make him their leader and rebel. On Friday Rajab 25 183 A.H., Imam Musa Kazim died. He was buried in Baghdad. He is regarded as the seventh Imam of the Shiites. His and Imam Mohammad Taqi's graves are located in Baghdad under a dome and are known as Kazimiah.

Haroon Rasheed’s Caliphate, Idrisiy Independence, Crown Prince Ameen, and Revolts

2026-10-12T03:05:59.117-07:00

Abu Jafar Haroon Rasheed bin Mahdi

Abu Jafar Haroon Rasheed bin Mahdi bin Mansoor bin Mohammad bin Ali bin Abdullah bin Abbas was born of Khaizran at Rayy in 148 A.H. A week before Yahya bin Khalid's son Fadal bin Yahya was born, Haroon's mother Khaizran suckled Fadal and Fadal's mother suckled Haroon, by Islamic law this made them foster brothers. Haroon Rasheed succeeded to the caliphate on Sunday 14 Rabia al-Awwal 170 A.H. after his brother's death. The same night his son Mamoon was born. It is strange that the same night a caliph died, the second caliph ascended to the throne and the third one was born. Haroon Rasheed's familiar name, kunya, was Abu Musa followed by Abu Jafar later on. He was a tall and handsome man.

Soon after coming into power, Haroon Rasheed made Yahya bin Khalid Barmuk his Prime Minister. He not only entrusted him with the portfolio of this ministry but also gave him the caliph's ring and this made him the most important man in matters of expeditions of the government. Khaizran who had been living in isolation from all administrative activities in Hadi's time, again resumed her involvement in matters of government. Assumption of authority by Yahya and Khaizran does not signify that Haroon Rasheed remained unconcerned with the business of the state. He rather wanted to encourage and honor both Yahya and Khaizran. He believed them to be his real supporters and relied upon their opinion. It was very wise and intelligent on the part of a 23-year-old youth that he selected for his minister a man who was very suited for that high post.

After taking the reigns of the caliphate in his hands, Haroon Rasheed put all his efforts into strengthening the system of government by means of dismissals, appointments, changes and transfers. He replaced Omar bin Abdul Aziz bin Obaidullah by Ishaq bin Sulaiman as the governor of Madinah. He sent Ruh bin Hatim to North Africa as its governor. He separated the border areas from Jazirah and Qansareen and formed a new Province named Awasim. In the first year of his caliphate, he went for Hajj when the season came. He made a parade of his generosity in Holy Cities.

He deputed Ruh bin Saleh to collect Zakat, the wealth tax, from Banu Taghlab in 171 A.H. There cropped up dissension between Ruh and Banu Taghlab. Ruh collected an army to punish them but Banu Taghlab launched a night attack on Ruh and killed him.

Idris bin Abdullah has already been mentioned and his fleeing from the battle of Fakh to the western territories during Hadi's regime. He started propagating his leadership among the Berbers, revolted in the city of Dalilah in 172 A.H., took the oath from the people openly and founded his own government the Allawiites were able to establish, and they succeeded in Morocco - Andulus (Spain) in the Islamic world was a separate country beyond the jurisdiction of the Abbasid caliphate. Now another country Morocco also went out of their control. At the receipt of the news Haroon Rasheed sent his slave Sulaiman bin Jareer popularly known as Shumakh to Morocco alone to kill Idris bin Abdullah. Shumakh reached there, took the oath for his caliphate, endeared himself to him by criticizing and abusing Haroon Rasheed and waited for a chance. In 177 A.H., he poisoned him to death and returned. However, the government Idris founded continued. After his death, a son was born to his slave girl who was also named Idris by the Berbers and they made him their leader. The details about the Idrisiy government will follow later. After a short time, the Abbasid authority was destroyed in Tunis and a separate government was established there. The Abbasid caliphate remained there only as a figurehead. In this way, a large part of their territory went out of the control of the caliphate of the Abbasids.

In 172 A.H. Mohammad bin Sulaiman, the governor of Basra died. Haroon Rasheed confiscated all his property and deposited it in the treasury. Prior to this, Mohammad bin Sulaiman's brother Jafar bin Sulaiman usurped much of the Muslims' wealth and accumulated huge amounts of money for himself. After Mohammad bin Sulaiman's death, Jafar staked his claim to the legacy, Haroon Rasheed deputed Ishaq bin Sulaiman as the governor of Sindh and Makran, and appointed Yusuf bin Imam Abu Yusuf to the post of judge in the lifetime of Abu Yusuf.

Ameen as the Crown Prince

Haroon Rasheed's son Mamoon's birth has been recorded above, he was born at the time of Haroon Rasheed's ascension to the throne in 170 A.H. But Mamoon was born of Marjal, a Zoroastrian slave girl. The same year his second son Mohammad Ameen was born to his wife Zubaidah Khatoon bint Jafar bint Mansoor bin Mohammad bin Ali bin Abdullah bin Abbas. Ameen's tutor was Fadal bin Khalid bin Barmuk and Mamoon's tutor was Jafar bin Yahya bin Khalid bin Barmuk. Fadal wanted Haroon Rasheed to make Ameen his heir apparent and Jafar wanted Mamoon. Because Ameen was born of a woman from Banu Hashim, Zubaidah Khatoon, Haroon Rasheed's beloved wife also exerted all her effort in Ameen's favor. So, in 175 A.H. while Ameen was only five years old, Haroon Rasheed took the oath for his succession.

The same year Haroon Rasheed deposed Abbas bin Jafar bin Mohammad bin Ash-ath, the governor of Khorasan, and appointed Khalid bin Ata Kindi in his place.

The Revolt of Yahya bin Abdullah

Mention has been made above that Idris and Yahya, sons of Abdullah bin Hasan and brothers of Mohammad Mahdi (Nafs Zakiya) had fled from the battle of Fakh, Idris went to the western territories and occupied Morocco as has been mentioned above. Yahya bin Abdullah all sides rallied round him and took the oath for him, making him a formidable power. Haroon Rasheed was frightened on hearing about it and sent Fadal bin Yahya along with a 50,000 man army to put down that trouble. Along with the army, he endowed him with the governorship of Jurjân, Tabristan and Rayy. Fadal bin Yahya left Baghdad and reached Talqân and wrote a letter to Yahya bin Abdullah and asked him to obey the caliph and assured him of rewards and landed estates if he reconciled with him. Yahya replied wrote the treaty of peace with Haroon Rasheed provided he scholars and judges and the chiefs of Banu Hashim as witnesses. Fadal bin Yahya informed Haroon Rasheed of all these details. Haroon Rasheed was very glad. He wrote the treaty with his own hand duly signed by the persons requested and sent it to Fadal with gifts. Fadal sent it to Yahya bin Abdullah and both Yahya and Fadal left for Baghdad. In the peace treaty the ruler of Delam who extended his hospitality to Yahya bin Abdullah by lodging him at his fort and helped him in all possible ways, was promised 1,000,000 dirhams if he persuaded Yahya bin Abdullah to sign the treaty of compromise. When Yahya and Fadal reached Baghdad, Haroon Rasheed received Fadal warmly, fixed landed estates for him and gave him a reward. Fadal was given a promotion and Yahya bin Abdullah was entrusted to Fadal bin Yahya and he began to live in Baghdad under the care of Fadal.

In 176 A.H., Haroon Rasheed received news that the Egyptian governor Musa bin Isa was influenced by the Alwiis propaganda and that he was busy maneuvering a revolution against the caliphate. So, he made Jafar bin Yahya the supervisor of Egypt. Jafar bin Yahya proposed Omar bin Mehran whose familiar name was Abu Hafs be named governor of Egypt. He accepted it on the condition that when he completed the arrangements for Egypt and deposited all the arrears of taxes with the treasury, he would be at liberty to return and that he would not have to seek permission to do so. Haroon Rasheed agreed to the condition and wrote the certificate of governorship and handed it over to him. He went to Egypt, took charge from Musa bin Isa and after collecting all the taxes came back to Baghdad. Haroon Rasheed then sent Ishaq bin Sulaiman to Egypt as its governor.

Hadi’s Caliphate, Revolt of Husain bin Ali, and Succession Struggles

2026-10-12T03:04:40.889-07:00

Hadi bin Mahdi

Hadi bin Mahdi bin Mansoor's mother was Khaizrân. He was born in Rayy in 147 A.H. Khaizran was a Barber salve girl owned by Mahdi. After Hadi and Haroon were born of her, he freed her and married her in 159 A.H. When Caliph Hadi ascended to the caliphate he punished the apostates in deference to his father's will and did not hesitate in eliminating them. At the time of Caliph Hadi's ascension, the following were the administrators of the provinces and states:

In Madinah: Omar bin Abdul Aziz bin Obaidullah bin Abdullah bin Omar bin Khattab. In Yemen: Ibrahim bin Muslim bin Qutaiba. In Makkah and Taif: Abdullah bin Qatham. In Yamamah and Bahrain: Sowaid Qaid Khorasani. In Oman: Hasan bin Sulaim Hawari. In Kufa: Musa bin Isa. In Basra: Ibn Sulaiman. In Jurjân: Caliph Hadi's liberated slave Hajjaj. In Qomas: Zeyad bin Hasan. In Tabristan: Saleh bin Sheikh bin Omairah Asadi. In Mousil: Hashim bin Sayeed bin Khalid.

Hadi had deposed Hashim for his rude behavior and deputed Abdul Malik bin Saleh bin Ali Hashmi in Mousil.

The Revolt of Husain bin Ali

Husain bin Ali bin Hasan Muthallath bin Hasan Muthanna bin Ali bin Abi Talib and Hasan bin Mohammad bin Abdullah bin Hasan, his uncle Yahya bin Abdullah bin Hasan and other descendants of Abu Talib had joined hands in revolting against the Abbasid government and it was agreed that the season of Hajj in 159 A.H. was the most suitable time for the revolt. But before the Hajj season came there was a quarrel between them and the governor of Madinah Omar bin Abdul Aziz bin Obaidullah. They rebelled, encircled the governor's house and began to take the oath at Hasan bin Ali bin Hasan Muthallath's hands and the people of Madinah joined it. In the meanwhile, Khalid Yazidi arrived with 200 men. On the other side Omar bin Abdul Aziz also came out of the siege and taking a group with him came to the mosque where the oath for Hasan bin Ali's was going on. Those who were inside the mosque fought. In this fight, Khalid Yazidi and Idris were killed at the hands of Abdullah bin Hasan's sons. With his death, all were defeated and Husain bin Ali's group broke open the door of the treasury and looted the government funds. The next day the supporters of Banu Abbas rallied and fought again. The fighting continued in Madinah for several days. At last, Husain bin Ali expelled all his opponents and took full control of Madinah. He stayed in Madinah for 21 days and then left for Makkah. After arriving in Makkah, he made a proclamation that those slaves who came to him, would be freed. This induced a group of slaves to rally round him. That same year Sulaiman bin Mansoor bin Sulaiman bin Ali, Abbas bin Mohammad bin Ali, Musa and Ismail (Isa bin Musa's sons) all belonging to the Abbasid dynasty had come for Hajj. After their departure, Hadi came to know about Husain bin Ali's revolt. Hadi immediately wrote to Mohammad bin Sulaiman to fight Husain bin Ali with his men. Mohammad bin Sulaiman had brought a small army with him. He marshaled the troops in battle array at Towa and reached Makkah and performed Umrah, (the small pilgrimage). All the Abbasid chiefs who came from different provinces and territories joined Mohammad Sulaiman, they arrayed and fought at Fakh on 8th Dhul Hijja. Many men were killed. At last, Husain bin Ali suffered defeat and his men fled. After some time a man brought Husain bin Ali's head. About 100 heads of his men were collected that included Sulaiman's (Mohammad Mahdi's brother). The defeated took to flight and joined the pilgrims. Mohammad bin Sulaiman proclaimed pardon and safety for all. Hasan bin Mohammad bin Abdullah was arrested after the proclamation. He was killed by Musa bin Isa. Mohammad bin Sulaiman was angered by this because it was contrary to the promise he had given. When Hadi was informed, he confiscated Musa bin Isa's property. During this fight, Idris bin Abdullah bin Hasan bin Hasan bin Ali bin Abi Talib (Mohammad Mahdi's brother) escaped and went to Egypt. There Saleh bin Mansoor's liberated slave Wazeh, who was the officer of the Postal Department and sympathized with the descendants of Abi Talib, gave him a fast horse and sent him to the western territories. Idris reached the city of Dalilah located on the outskirts of Tangier and started propagating to the Berbers. The account of his descendants will be taken up separately later on in the narrative. A few days later Caliph Hadi was informed that Wazeh had allowed Idris to escape to the western territories. So, Hadi had Wazeh and his men arrested and killed. Idris bin Abdullah's second brother Yahya bin Abdullah escaped from Fakh and went to Delam.

Hadi's Death

Soon after taking over as caliph Hadi became busy trying to depose his brother Haroon from succession and install his own son Jafar in his place. Yahya bin Khalid bin Barmuk was Haroon Rasheed's tutor, the Prime Minister and in charge of all expeditions. He tried to make Hadi see reason and abstain from this act. He succeeded in preventing him from doing so several times but Hadi's other companions repeatedly insisted on his deposing Haroon and replacing him with his son Jafar.

Yahya convinced him saying, "Your son is still underage. If you die today, the officials of the sultanate will never recognize his caliphate and government and there will follow disturbances. Your father, Mahdi nominated Haroon as crown prince after you. If you make Jafar the heir apparent after Haroon, there will be no danger. If Jafar comes of age in your life time and displays his capability, I shall persuade Haroon to abdicate in favor of Jafar." Hadi was satisfied with the argument. But the officials of the government who were against Haroon continued to try to persuade Hadi until Haroon was subjected to persecution. When Yahya came to know about it, he advised Haroon to go somewhere on the pretext of hunting and maintain a distance from Hadi. So, Haroon secured the permission for hunting and went to the palace of Muqatil. When Hadi wanted to recall him, he said he was ill and could not come to him. During the same period, Hadi totally stopped his mother Khaizran from intervening in matters of the administrators and deprived her of all the powers she had enjoyed since Mahdi's regime. The estrangement between the mother and the son took such an ugly turn that they became mortal enemies to each other. When she came to know through Yahya that Hadi was after Haroon's life to make his own son Jafar heir apparent, she became a formidable enemy to Hadi for love of Haroon. Now instead of one supporter Yahya, Khaizran also became Haroon's supporter. When Haroon refused to present himself before Hadi, he left for Mousil. When he returned, Haroon was with him. Hadi fell ill on the way and died after three days on Sunday night 14 Rabia al-Awwal 170 A.H. corresponding to 786 AD at Isabad. He ruled for one year and three months. Hadi's sudden death led the people to believe that Khaizran had Hadi poisoned to death by her slave girl. Since Hadi was ill, poisoning did not find any credibility. Yahya bin Khalid was her accomplice in the matter and it is Allâh who really knows.

Hadi introduced postal service in between Jurjân and Baghdad. He was generous, even tempered and had a tendency towards oppression. He was not unmindful of statecraft and politics. He was stout and strong and soldier-like. He had a short span of life and the duration of his caliphate was also very short. So his habits and nature were not fully exposed.

Caliph Mahdi’s Roman Campaigns, Haroon’s Victories, Succession Crisis, and Death

2026-10-12T03:02:05.280-07:00

The Roman Expedition and Haroon's attack

In 163 A.H., Mahdi collected soldiers from Khorasan and other provinces and left Baghdad with the intention of declaring Jihad against the Romans on 1 Rajab 163 A.H. On the previous day Mahdi's uncle Isa bin Ali died. He left Hadi in Baghdad as his deputy and took Haroon with him. He passed through Mousil and Jazirah, deposed and imprisoned the governor of the province Abdus Samad bin Ali. He then made his son Haroon the ruler of Azerbaijan, Armenia and all the western territories and gave the authority of Jazirah to Abdullah bin Saleh. The cause that led to the invasion of the Romans was that in 162 A.H. the Romans made incursions into Islamic territory and destroyed some Muslim cities. Caliph Mahdi himself launched the attack. During the journey when he came in front of Maslama bin Abdul Malik's fort, Mahdi's uncle Abbas bin Ali said to Mahdi, "Once when your grandfather Mohammad bin Ali passed this way, Maslama had invited him to a feast and presented 1000 dinars to him."

When Mahdi heard this, he sent for Maslama's sons, slaves and all his relatives and gave them 20,000 dinars and fixed salaries for them. He reached Halab and stopped there and sent Haroon with the military commanders ahead. Haroon was accompanied by Isa bin Musa, Abdul Malik bin Saleh, Hasan bin Qahtaba, Rabi bin Yunus and Yahya bin Khalid Barmuk. Haroon was entrusted with the command and also the supply and provision of foodstuffs. He moved forward and laid a siege to the Roman forts and conquered several of them in succession. In the mean time, Mahdi searched for and killed apostates who left Islam and invented various heresies to promote their political power in the vicinity of Halab. Haroon returned victorious. Mahdi went to Jerusalem on pilgrimage with Haroon. They perform their Salat in the Aqsa Mosque and returned to Baghdad. When Mahdi had made Haroon portfolios of finance and foreign affairs to Hasan bin Thabit and Yahya bin Khalid Barmuk respectively.

Haroon's Second Invasion Against the Romans

In 164 A.H., Abdul Kabeer bin Abdur Rahman led an attack on the Romans, religious leaders like Michael and Tara Armani faced him with a 90,000 men and Abdul Kabeer returned back without combat. This incident ended the terror, which the Muslim's invasion on the Romans had created in 163 A.H. When Mahdi heard the news, he imprisoned Abdul Kabeer, and in 165 A.H., he sent his son Haroon to invade the Romans and asked his chief of security and confidant Rabi to accompany him. Haroon attacked the Romans with a 100,000 man army and continued defeating the Romans and destroying their cities until he reached Constantinople.

At that time, Constantinople was ruled over by Ghustah, the widow of Emperor Elevik who ruled on behalf of her underage son. The Romans agreed to a compromise and paid 70,000 dinars annually as Jizyah for three years and it was agreed that the Muslims would be allowed to transact business in the markets of Constantinople. Prior to that reconciliation, the Muslims had killed 56,000 Romans and captured 600. That year Mahdi made Haroon the administrator in charge of all the Western territories.

In 166 A.H., Caliph Mahdi made his son Haroon heir apparent after Hadi and took the oath from the people for Haroon's succession and gave him the title Rasheed, the guide. The same year he inaugurated postal services using mules and camels to receive information and communicate instructions to those territories. The same year he appointed Abu Yusuf the chief justice of Basra.

In 167 A.H. Isa bin Musa died in Kufa. The same year saw the rise of apostates who left Islam and invented various heresies to promote their political power in various places. First Mahdi silenced them by arguments and then prepared to kill them. Wherever he heard they existed, he hastened to do away with them. In between Yamamah and Bahrain, they grew in power. They became atheists, gave up prayer, cared little for what was lawful or unlawful in religion, committed looting and murder and to accomplish this blocked the roads. Caliph Mahdi had them massacred openly when they engaged in these criminal acts. He pursued them and exterminated them totally. Among his achievements, the extermination of this type of criminals was very remarkable. The same year he extended the area around the holy Ka'bah by purchasing the adjoining buildings.

Hadi's Invasion of Jurjân

In 167 A.H., news came that Tabristanis rose in mutiny. The caliph dispatched his son Hadi to punish him. The flag of his army was held by Mohammad bin Jameel. Hadi established peace in Tabristan and Jurjân and punished the insurgents.

In 168 A.H., the Romans committed a breach of the agreement they had with the Muslims four months before the time of its expiry. Hearing this news the ruler of Jazirah and Qansareen, Ali bin Sulaiman, sent Yazid bin Badr bin Batâl with a large army to Constantinople. He returned with a large quantity of spoils of war.

Mahdi's Death

Experience let Mahdi understand that his second son Haroon was more capable and efficient in political affairs than Hadi. In 168 A.H., he made up his mind to supersede Hadi in the matter of succession and put Haroon in his place by deposing Hadi and to take the people's oath for Haroon. At that time, Hadi was in Jurjân. Mahdi sent a messenger to bring him to Baghdad. Hadi was rude and impertinent to the messenger, beat him up and turned him out of his court and did not start to prepare to leave Jurjân for Baghdad to comply with his father's orders. Hearing of this Mahdi left for Jurjân but as soon as he reached Basbazân, he breathed his last on 22 Muharram 169 A.H. corresponding to August 785 AD. Haroon Rasheed accompanied his father on the journey and led the funeral prayer and sent news of their father's death to his brother at Jurjân. Hadi took the oath from the soldiers for his own caliphate and a circular regarding Mahdi's death and Hadi's accession to the caliphate was sent to all the administrators. Twenty days later, he left Jurjân and arrived in Baghdad and took his seat on the throne of the caliphate he invested Rabi, the chief of security, with the robe of minister. Rabi died a few days later.

Caliph Mahdi was very noble hearted, pious, generous, even tempered, brave and gentle among the Abbasid caliphs. During his father's caliphate, he had seen with his own eyes the bloodshed of the Aliwiites, which he did not consider as good for the government. By his good behavior and works of public welfare, he wanted to endear himself to the masses and thereby strengthen his authority. He regarded fear, opposition, violence and fury as quite unnecessary. So, he began to sit in the company of his courtiers and companions without any inhibition. During Mansoor's regime, the courtiers and companions used to sit behind a curtain and the caliph heard their voices and they heard his.

They were not visible to others. During his regime, Caliph Mahdi did not pass the death sentence against any Hashmiite. He used to imprison those from Banu Hashim who deserved capital punishment. He was a formidable enemy of the apostates and never spared one from death yet Yaqub bin Fadl, a Hashimite turned apostate who confessed himself to be so was only imprisoned by him and Mahdi said to his heir apparent Hadi, "When you take over as caliph, you may kill him. I am committed to my oath and so I cannot kill him." As soon as Hadi became caliph, he killed him. Mahdi cared very much for the traditions and deeds of the Prophet (SAW). He had all the special constructions in the mosques designed for the caliphs demolished as they were against the Prophet's way. Wherever there were pulpits higher than that of the Prophet's it was brought down. He devoted most of his time in prayer. He was very tolerant and eloquent.

Everybody could enter his court freely. In administrative affairs, he was extremely active and clever. He used to visit his slaves and servants when they were sick. Sometimes people filed cases against him and in response to the judge's order he had to appear before the judge as a defendant and implemented the judgment passed against himself. A scholar of repute, Shareek, visited him. Mahdi said to him, "You have to accept either of the three things. Accept the post of judge or teach my sons or take your meal with me." Qadi Shareek thought over it a little and then said, "Eating with you is much easier." So a cloth was spread and a variety of dishes were served. When the eating was over, the royal cook said, "Now you are trapped." and it happened accordingly. After listening to the caliph, he not only accepted the post of the judge but also trained his sons. Whenever Mahdi visited Basra, he led the prayer at the Central Mosque. One day the people stood up for prayer. Then an Arab beduine came late and he missed the congregational prayer. He said to Mahdi, "I wanted to perform my prayer behind you but it was not possible." Mahdi ordered that they should wait for that beduine at the time of every prayer. So, at Asr time Mahdi stood up under the arch and did not allow the prayer to be started until the beduine turned up. The people were astonished at this courtesy. Mahdi was the first caliph to have recited the following verse in his sermon:

(إِنَّ اللَّهَ وَمَلَائِكَتَهُ يُصَلُّونَ عَلَى النَّبِيِّ يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا صَلُّوا عَلَيْهِ وَسَلِّمُوا تَسْلِيمًا)

Allâh sends His Salât (Graces, Honors, Blessings, Mercy) on the Prophet and also His angels. O you who believe! Send your Salât on (ask Allâh to bless) him, and greet him with the Islamic way of greeting. (Q.33:56)

After him, the scholars and preachers of sermons subsequently declared it as integral part of the sermon.

Mahdi’s Administration, Indian Expedition, Hadi’s Succession, Hajj, and Spanish Conflicts

2026-10-12T03:00:22.905-07:00

Change, Deposition and Appointment of Administrators

In 155 A.H. Mahdi deposed his uncle Ismail from the government of Kufa and appointed Ishaq bin Sabah Kindi Ash-athi. He removed Sayeed, Da'laj and Obaidullah bin Hasan from the government of Basra and appointed Abdul Malik bin Dhubyan Numairi. Similarly the same year he deposed Qasam bin Abbas from the government of Yamama and appointed Fadal bin Saleh, deposed (Mansoor's liberated slave) from the government of Egypt and appointed Abu Hamza Mohammad bin Sulaiman, removed Abdus Samad bin Ali from the government of Madinah and appointed Mohammad bin Abdullah Kasiri.

Soon after Mohammad bin Abdullah was also removed and replaced by Zafar bin Asim Hilali. The same year Mahdi sent Mabad bin Khalil as the governor of Sindh. When Humaid bin Qahtaba who was the governor of Qahistan died the same year, that is 159 A.H. its government was handed over to Abu Aun Abdul Malik bin Yazid. At the end of the same year Sayeed bin Khalil died and the government of Sindh was taken over by Ruh bin Hatim.

In 160 A.H., Abu Aun Abdul Malik was deposed as a punishment. His place was taken by Mu'az bin Muslim. Sistan was assigned to Hamza bin Yahya and Samarkand to Jibrail bin Yahya. During his regime, Jibrail built the fort and erected fencing in Khorasan. The same year Sindh was taken over by Bustam bin Amr. In 161 A.H., Mahdi gave the governorship of Sindh to Nasr bin Mohammad bin Ash-ath. The same year Abdus Samad bin Ali was sent to Jazirah. Isa bin Luqman to Egypt and Bustam bin Amr to Azerbaijan after being deposed from the governorship of Sindh. The same year he appointed Yahya bin Khalid Barmk as the tutor of his son, Haroon and he sent Sulaiman bin Raja to Egypt as governor in place of Mohammad bin Sulaiman.

The expedition of Barbad

It was during the regime of caliph Mahdi that a naval expedition was sent to India. Abdul Malik bin Shahab Masmai with an army boarded the ships in the Persian Gulf and moved along the Indian coast. They landed in Barbad and waged a battle and many Barbad men were killed. Only 20 Muslims lost their lives but an epidemic broke out among the Muslim soldiers leading to the death of 1000 of them. They then turned their boats towards Persia. They met with a violent storm near the Persian coast that shattered several boats and many soldiers were downed.

Hadi bin Mahdi as Crown Prince

As has previously been mentioned, Isa bin Musa lived at Rahbah adjacent to Kufa, visited Kufa to perform his Friday and Eid prayers and spent all his time at his village quietly and without involving himself with the affairs of others. It has also been recorded that Abdullah Saffah had made Isa heir apparent after Mansoor and Mansoor made his son Mahdi supersede Isa. Isa bin Musa was the rightful heir apparent after Mahdi but in the first year of his caliphate Mahdi's advisers and supporters advised him to nominate his son Hadi as his heir-apparent in place of Musa. Mahdi requested Isa to visit Baghdad but Isa refused. Mahdi issued standing orders to the governor of Kufa to harass him but as Isa had already been leading a secluded life, the governor did not get an opportunity to carry out his orders. Then Mahdi wrote a strict letter to Isa but he did not reply.

Then Mahdi sent his uncle Abbas to him to bring him into his presence. Even then, Isa refused. At last, Mahdi deputed two commanders to go and bring him. Compelled in this way, Isa came to Baghdad and lodged with Mohammad bin Sulaiman. He visited Mahdi's court from time to time but he went there silently, kept silent while there and returned silently from there. At last, they started torturing him and Mohammad bin Sulaiman himself wanted to compel him to abdicate. Isa made excuses about the pledge, which he had taken at the time of succession. Mahdi called the legal scholars.

They gave a religious verdict that Isa might retire from the succession after paying compensation for breaking his oath. Mahdi gave him 10,000 dirhams and estates at Zab and Kaskar in lieu thereof. Isa retired from the succession on 26 Muharram 160 A.H. and took the oath for Hadi as the heir apparent. The next day Mahdi held an open court, took the oath from the officials of the government, went to the Central Mosque and delivered a sermon informing the people of Isa's abdication and Hadi's succession. Isa admitted his retirement from the succession and the people took oath for Hadi as the heir apparent.

Mahdi's Hajj

In Dhul Qada 160 A.H., Mahdi made preparations for Hajj and left his son Hadi as his deputy in Baghdad. He had Hadi's maternal uncle Yazid bin Mansoor live with Hadi and arranged for his second son, Haroon and a few relatives, to live in Hadi's company. He himself left for Makkah along with his minister Yaqub bin Dawood. After arriving in Makkah, he had all the old covers of the Ka'bah removed and covered it with a new and expensive cover (Arabic: Kiswah). He distributed clothes to 150,000 paupers and extended the Prophet's Mosque. On his return journey, he brought 500 families from the Ansars to Iraq with him, settled them there, gave them estates, fixed salaries for them and deployed them as his bodyguards. He had rest houses constructed along the roads to Makkah. Every house was fitted with a cistern and a well. He entrusted the supervision of all this work to Yaqteen bin Musa. He issued orders for the extension of the Basra mosque and reconstruction of its pulpit.

Skirmishes in Undulus (Spain)

The governor of North Africa representing Mahdi was Abdur Rahman bin Habib Fahri. He took a group of Berbers, landed at Murcia, on the southeastern portion of the Spanish Mediterranean coast. Abdul Rahman Fahri invited the governor of the province, Sulaiman bin Yaqtan, to follow the Abbasid caliphate, he did not reply to the letter of invitation. Abdur Rahman Fahri attacked Sulaiman's territory but was defeated and pushed back. In the meantime, Amir Abdur Rahman the Umayyah ruler of Spain arrived with an army. First, he burned Abdur Rahman Fahri's boats on the coast so he could not get away. Then he turned his army to face him. Abdur Rahman Fahri became nervous and climbed up Mount Valencia. Amir Abdur Rahman announced that whosoever brought Abdur Rahman Fahri's head to him he would be given 1000 dinars. The news reached the ears of one of Abdur Rahman Fahri's Berbers. He cut off his head in a state of greed, took it to Amir Abdur Rahman and received the reward. Amir Abdur Rahman was agitated at the invasion of the Abbasids. He decided to retaliate by invading the Syrian coast and punish the Abbasid caliph for his intrusion into Spain. But during that same time Hasan bin Yahya bin Sayeed bin Sad bin Uthman Ansari revolted in Spain and as a result Amir Abdur Rahman had to turn his attention to him and postpone his plan to attack Syria. The dynasty of Banu Umayyah ruled in Spain from the time of Caliph Mansoor Abbasi and it was the second headquarters of the Islamic authority. The period of Abbasids has been begun in our narrative and we will finish recording the details of the rulers of the Abbasid Caliphate as they continued to rule over the entire Islamic world except for Spain. The political conditions of Spain will be narrated separately from its beginning in a following section.

Mahdi’s Caliphate, Political Reconciliation, and the Rise of Hakeem Muqanna

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Mahdi bin Mansoor

Mohammad Al-Mahdi bin Mansoor's familiar name (kunya) was Abu Abdullah. He was born in Edaj in 126 A.H. His mother's name was Umm Musa Arwa bint Mansoor Himyari. Mahdi was very generous, widely admired, true in faith, popular and a handsome man. His father put him under the charge and tutelage of a number of scholars. When Mahdi was 15 years old, Mansoor sent him to put down the mutiny caused by Abdul Jabbar bin Abdur-Rahman. In 141 A.H., he was sent to Khorasan. When he returned from there in 144 A.H., Mansoor had him married to his niece, Saffah's daughter. He made him the heir-apparent in 144 A.H. and sent him to Rayy as the administrator of the Southern and Western parts of Khorasan. He appointed him Amir al-Hajj (leader of the pilgrimage) in 153 A.H. and following his father's death in 158 A.H., he ascended the throne of the caliphate in Baghdad. When the people took bay'at (pledge or oath of allegiance) with him in Baghdad, he climbed up the pulpit (the pulpit in mosques is generally raised so the whole congregation can see the Imam) and delivered the following sermon:

"The man whom you call Amir al-Muminin (Leader of the true believers) is nothing but a slave. When somebody calls him, he responds and complies. It is Allah Who is the Protector of the Amir al-Muminin. It is from Allah only that I seek help in order to run the work of the caliphate. Just as you express your sense of obedience with your tongue, co-operate with me with your soul also so that you might become the beneficiaries of welfare in this world and in the world hereafter. Don't oppose those who propagate justice. I shall remove obstructions from your way and dedicate my whole life serving you and punishing those among you who are criminals and wrongdoers."

The first thing that Mahdi did after taking over as caliph was to release all the captives in Mansoor's jail. Only those who were rebels, usurpers and murderers were not freed. Among the captives set free was Yaqub bin Dawood. Those who were not released included Hasan bin Ibrahim bin Abdullah bin Hasan bin Hasan. As mentioned earlier, both Hasan and Yaqub were arrested in Basra together following Ibrahim's death and imprisoned. Yaqub's father Dawood was from among the liberated slaves of Banu Sulaim. He was Nasr bin Sayyar's head-clerk in Khorasan. Dawood had two sons, Yaqub and Ali. Both were scholars and extremely clever and wise. When Banu Abbas came into power, Banu Sulaim was subjected to humiliation. Yaqub and Ali who were from Banu Sulaim were neglected though they merited serious attention by virtue of their qualifications.

When Mohammad Mahdi and Ibrahim began to invite the people to support them against Banu Abbas, Yaqub joined them and invited people to support Mohammad Mahdi and Ibrahim, until he was imprisoned along with Hasan bin Ibrahim. After his release from the jail, Yaqub was found out that Hasan bin Ibrahim was trying to escape from jail. He informed caliph Mahdi. Mahdi transferred Hasan to another jail but he escaped anyway. Mahdi called Yaqub to him and consulted with him about Hasan. Yaqub said, "If you grant safety and pardon to him, I can present him before you." Mahdi granted it and Yaqub brought Hasan before him. He had the assurance from Mahdi that Hasan would be able to visit the caliph in court and out of court. The occasion arose and Mahdi made Hasan his friend and gave him 100,000 dirhams. After a few days, Mahdi deposed Abu Abdullah, his minister since the time he was declared heir-apparent, and replaced him with Yaqub.

Mahdi displayed a sense of justice and recognition of merit by honoring Yaqub and Hasan and established their love for him in their hearts even though they were his former enemies. The greatest danger to the caliphate of the Abbasids was from the members of Mohammad Mahdi and Ibrahim's group who had joined hands with Yahya bin Zaid and they all were intent on bringing about the fall of Banu Abbas. By making Yaqub his minister, Mahdi avoided all of these dangers, for Yaqub had links with both of these groups. He appointed them to high posts in the government and thus kept them from opposing the caliphate and dampened their enthusiasm for opposition.

The Rise of Hakeem Muqanna

In 159 A.H., the first year of Mahdi's caliphate an inhabitant of Merv named Hakeem Muqanna made a mask of gold and put it on his face. He claimed that he was Allah. He believed that Allah created Adam and entered his body, then entered Noah's body, then entered Abu Muslim's body and Hashim's body. He believed in transmigration and said, "Allah's soul is within me, He has entered my body." His belief was the same as held by the people of Ravind who had created perversions in the religion at Hashmiyah in the time of Mansoor. They were all members of Abu Muslim's group and were the aberrations of his strange and deviant form of propagation.

Whoever Abu Muslim met, he presented his peculiar form of propagation to him adapting it to the demands of the situation and the person concerned. Abu Muslim's ultimate motives were political and not religious and he bent everything to suit those ends, even Allah's religion. All these deviated sects were the consequences of using the Prophet's family for political ends in different forms. Hakeem Muqanna also believed that Yahya bin Zaid (who was from the Prophet's family) was not killed but went into hiding and was expected to reappear to take revenge and exterminate his enemies. Many Khorasanis became his followers and began to make prostration to him (in Islam the act of prostration is due only to Allah and not to any creation).

He stayed in the fort of Basam and Sanjar (in modern day Uzbekistan). The people of Bukhara, Safhad and Turkistan supported him and started slaughtering the Muslims. The administrators of those regions like Abu An Noman, Junaid and Laith bin Nasr bin Sayyar fought against them. Laith's brother Mohammad bin Nasr and nephew Hasan bin Tamim were killed in the fight. When Mahdi came to know of it, he sent Jibrail bin Yahya to help them. He deputed Jibrail's brother Yazid to punish the insurgents of Bukhara and Safhad. First Bukhara and Safhad were invaded. After 4 months of fighting the forts of Bukhara were captured by the Muslims.

700 rebels were killed and the rest fled to Muqanna. After a short time, Mahdi dispatched Abu Aun to attack Muqanna but those commanders could not defeat Muqanna. Then Mu'az bin Muslim was sent to defeat him. The officer of Mu'az bin Muslim's vanguard was Sayeed Huraithi. Then Oqba bin Muslim was also ordered to join him. These commanders led a very bitter attack on Muqanna and put him to flight and encircled him in the fort of Basam. During the fight, there appeared some differences between Mu'az and Sayeed. Sayeed wrote to Mahdi and secured his permission to do away with Muqanna all alone. Muqanna was besieged along with 20,000 of his men. The besieged asked Sayeed Huraithi for a guarantee of safety. Sayeed granted it and they came out of the fort leaving only 2,000 men with Muqanna. When Muqanna was certain of his failure, he made a fire and pushed all the members of his family into it and then he himself jumped into it and died. The Muslims entered the fort, took Muqanna's dead body out of the fire, cut off his head and sent it to Mahdi.

Mansoor’s Reign, Rosafah’s Construction, Political Strategies, and Final Days

2026-10-12T02:58:22.819-07:00

The Building of Rosafah

When Ustad Sees revolted, Khorasan was governed by Mahdi. He lived at Merv. Khazim bin Khuzaima also lodged with him and attacked at the instance of Mansoor. Becoming free from this trouble, Mahdi went to Mansoor. At that time, the dominating elements of power were the Arab tribes and they alone were responsible for all the territorial victories. The non-Arabs and Khorasanis did not claim to be equal to the Arabs in military expertise. The Arab tribes were feared because if they united in opposition, they could topple the government at any time. Imam Ibrahim was the first to realize this fact and adopted the policy of strengthening the non-Arabs and utilizing them to his advantage. His successors also followed suit. Following this strategy, Abdullah Saffah had Abu Sulamih killed, and appointed Khalid bin Barmak as his minister, who was originally a Zoroastrian from Nawbahar, a new Muslim and a military chief of Abu Muslim. After a short time, he was made the governor of a state. Abu Ayyub replaced him and Mansoor made him the minister again. The Zoroastrians were assigned as military chiefs and governors of various states and their power continued to rise but the military element of the Arabs was still dominant.

This policy reminds us of the Indian King Akbar and his dual policy, which he had adopted to safeguard himself against the powerful and influential Pathans, in India. He thought it essential to breathe a new life into the dead Hindu community and make them powerful in order to avert and lessen the danger from the Pathans so much so that he made Man Singh the commander-in-chief of India and continued his efforts to weaken the Pathans everywhere. The Abbasids also reduced the power and Arab tribes and replaced them by the fire-worshippers and the Iranians so that no Alawiite would dare to rise in revolt with the support of the Arab tribes. On the occasion of Mahdi's return from Khorasan and appearance before Mansoor, the Arab soldiers, in order to receive compensation, behaved in such a way that exhibited their independence of mind and strong will.

They were not in the habit of showing respect to their king or caliph unnecessarily like the fireworshipping Zoroastrians. This kept the Abbasids in perpetual fear. Perhaps it was this independence of mind that never deterred them from joining every new movement and every new claimant to the caliphate. Qasam bin Abbas bin Obaidullah bin Abbas, after watching and studying the condition of the army, cleverly created a rivalry and animosity between two Arab tribes, Rabia and Mudar. Then he advised Mansoor, saying, "As there is enmity between the tribes of Mudar and Rabia, it is reasonable that you divide the army into two parts. Keep the Mudar tribe under Mahdi because the Khorasanis are their supporters and keep the Rabia tribe under you because all the Yemenis are their sympathizers. With two army headquarters set up on different sides they will be kept afraid of each other, ruling out any possibility of mutiny."

Mansoor liked the idea and for the living quarters of his son Mahdi he ordered Rosafah to be constructed to the north of Baghdad in 151 A.H. and to set up a separate cantonment for his forces there. That same year 153 A.H. Mohammad Ash'ath died on his return journey from the Roman territories.

In 153 A.H., Mansoor made a proclamation to the effect that all his subjects should put on high caps that were made of bamboo and leaves. These caps were generally used by Africans. In 154 A.H. Zafar bin Asim invaded Rome. In 155 A.H. the Roman emperor, becoming exhausted from repeated invasions by the Muslims, requested for reconciliation and agreed to pay the Jizyah.

The Death of Mansoor

In 158 A.H., Mansoor wrote to the administrator of Makkah to arrest Sufyan Thouri and Abbad bin Katheer and send them to him. The people apprehended that he might murder them. The season of Hajj was approaching and Mansoor had made up his mind to go to Hajj. This caused concern among the Makkans even more. Only Allah knew how many people would be arrested and killed. But the Makkan's prayer was granted and Mansoor died before reaching Makkah. The details of the incident are as follows. In the month of Dhul Qada 158 A.H., Mansoor left for Baghdad with the intention of Hajj. At the time of departure he made his son Mahdi his deputy there and made the "Protect the box containing my dairies and look for solutions to your problems therein. Safeguard the city of Baghdad and don't change or shift the capital. I have accumulated treasure that will suffice to pay the salaries of the soldiers and meet other administrative expenditures even if no tax is collected for 10 years. Deal with your relatives kindly, honor them and appoint them to high posts. I exhort you to treat the Khorasanis well for they are your helpers and your right hand and have sacrificed their lives and material for establishing the government and rule of your family. I think you will not be able to forget their love. Excuse their mistakes and please them with gifts and rewards for their remarkable achievements. Beware! Don't seek help from anybody belonging to Banu Sulaim. Don't allow your women to poke their noses into your affairs. Protect the community of the Prophet (SAW). Don't shed unnecessary and unlawful blood. Abide by the limits prescribed by Allah. Attack the atheists and stamp out alterations in the religion or any schism. Do justice and don't be immoderate. Leave the spoils for the soldiers for I have left you a huge treasure. Protect your borders and see that the roads are safe and peaceful. Take care of the peoples' property. Don't part with the group. Always be ready with cavalry and foot soldiers in as large numbers as possible. Don't postpone your work for the morrow. Be firm in times of adversity and misfortune. Don't be lazy. Make it easy for the people to visit your court. Beware of the doorkeepers and see that they are not strict with the people."

Mansoor left Baghdad and arrived in Kufa. He entered in the state of Ihram (the rituals) for Hajj and Umrah and sent ahead the sacrificial animals. He had hardly traveled two or three stages from Kufa when he was taken ill. During that illness, he kept his liberated slave Rabi, who was his doorkeeper and officer of his bodyguards, in attendance. He died on 6 Dhul Hijjah 158 A.H. at Batan, a place three miles from Makkah. No one except his chief attendants and Rabi were present at the time of his death. They concealed the news of his death that day. The next day Isa bin Ali, Isa bin Musa bin Mohammad, Mohammad bin Sulaiman, Ibrahim bin Yahya, Qasim bin Mansoor, Hasan bin Zaid Alawi, Musa bin Mahdi bin Mansoor, and Ali bin Isa bin Mahan who accompanied him on the journey, were called to appear in the court. Rabi announced the news of the caliph's death. He then read out a paper written by Mansoor, which said:

In the name of Allah, the Most Beneficent and Merciful. From Abdullah Mansoor to those who remain of Banu Hashim, Khorasanis and the general Muslims. I am writing this will during my lifetime, the last day of this world and the first day of my hereafter. I offer you the greeting of peace and Pray Allah not to put you into any mischief nor to divide you into sects nor give you a chance to taste civil war. You have admitted to obey my son Mahdi, abide by it and refrain from breach of trust and betrayal.

Having read the paper Rabi beckoned Musa bin Mahdi bin Mansoor to take the oath on behalf of his father Mahdi as his deputy. He first caught hold of Hasan bin Zaid's hands and asked him to get up and take the oath. Hasan complied, and the others followed suit one after another. Isa bin Musa refused. Ali bin Isa bin Mahan said, "If you refuse to take the oath, I shall chop off your head." Thus forced Isa bin Musa also took the oath then the chiefs of the army and the general public followed. Then Abbas bin Mohammad and Mohammad bin Sulaiman visited Makkah and standing near to the Ka'bah, they took the oaths of the people for Mahdi. Then Isa bin Musa led the funeral prayer. He was buried in the 'Mu'alla' graveyard in between Hajoon and Maimoon well. Then Rabi sent the news of Mansoor's death, his ring and the Prophet's coverlet and staff to Mahdi. The news reached Mahdi in Baghdad on 15 Dhul Hijjah 158 A.H. The inhabitants of the city came to Mahdi and took the oath.

Mansoor was Caliph for 22 years less one week. He left seven sons and one daughter. The names of his sons were: Mohammad Mahdi, Jafar Akbar, Jafar Asghar, Sulaiman, Isa, Yaqub, and Salim. The name of his daughter was Aliyah who was married to Ishaq bin Sulaiman bin Ali.

Somebody asked Caliph Mansoor, "Have you any wish that has remained unfulfilled?" He said, "Only one wish is left to be fulfilled. And that is: I am sitting on a platform and the seekers of the Ahadith are sitting around me." The next day when the ministers came to him with papers, registers of litigation and writing utensils, the man who had put the question to Mansoor was also present at the time. He said, "Lo! Your wish has also been fulfilled." Mansoor said, "These are not the people I wish for those, that I long for have torn clothes, bare feet and long hair and they narrate Ahadith."

When Mansoor persuaded Imam Malik to compile the Muwatta, he said to him, "O Abu Abdullah! You know that none except you and I are left in Islam who know the Shariah best. I am engaged in the wrangling of the caliphate and its authority. You are free. Write a book for the benefit of the people. Don't fill the book with the justifications of Ibn Abbas and the violence and prudence of Ibn Omar and set an example of composition and compilation for the people." Imam Malik says, "By Allah! Mansoor did not say these things but taught me how to write."

Abdus Samad Mohammad said to Mansoor, "You have girded your loins to punish people so much that none has the inkling that you know how to forgive." He replied, "The blood of the descendants of Marwan has not dried up and the swords of the descendants of Abi Talib are still bare. This is the time when their hearts are not overawed by the caliphs and this awe cannot be established unless they forget the meaning of forgiveness and always expect to be punished." Zeyad bin Abdullah Harithi wrote to Mansoor to increase his salary and property rights a little. He used all his art of eloquence in its presentation. Mansoor replied, "When prosperity and eloquence come to a man, they make him self-conceited.

I apprehend this danger in you. It is better if you give up eloquence." The African Rahman bin Zeyad had been Mansoor's friend since his student days. Once during his caliphate he paid a visit to him. Mansoor said to him, "How do you find my caliphate compared to that of Banu Umayyah?" Abdur Rahman bin Zeyad said, "The atrocities that are perpetrated in your regime, were non-existent in that of Banu Umayyah." Mansoor said, "What should I do? I don't find helpers." Abdur Rahman said, "Omar bin Abdul Aziz (رضي الله عنه) said, "If the king is pious, he will get pious people. If he is wicked, the wicked will come to him." Once Mansoor was fed up with some houseflies. He sent for Muqatil bin Sulaiman and said, "Why has Allah created these flies?" Muqatil said, "To humiliate the oppressors through them."

During Mansoor's regime translations of Suryani and Non-Arabic books began to be made into Arabic. Geometry and 'Kalilah Dimnah' were translated during his times. He made the palmists and astronomers live near him. It was during his caliphate that the Abbasids and Alawiites fought otherwise prior to it they were united.

In respect of his nature and habits and his deeds and remarkable achievements Mansoor Abbasi resembled Abdul Malik Umayyah. Abdul Malik was the second caliph of the Marwan dynasty and Mansoor was also the second caliph of the Abbasid dynasty. Abdul Malik saved the Umayyah caliphate from ruin. Similarly, Mansoor saved the Abbasid caliphate from Mohammad Mahdi and his brother Ibrahim. Abdul Malik was an Alim (scholar), a Faqih (an expert on Islamic law) and a Mohaddith (he related the traditions of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم)). Similarly Mansoor was an Alim and Faqih, Abdul Malik was accused of being extremely economical and a miser. Mansoor was also notorious for these same two characteristics. Both of them ruled for almost the same duration. The only difference between them was the fact that while Mansoor killed people even after granting them aman (peace and safety), Abdul Malik remained spotless on this point.

Mansoor’s Reign: Scholars’ Persecution, Succession Politics, and Ustad Sees’s Revolt

2026-10-12T02:53:55.273-07:00

Miscellaneous Events

After getting free from the killing of Mohammad Mahdi and his brother, Mansoor assigned the governorship of Basra to Salim bin Qutaiba Bahli and that of Mousil to his own son Jafar. He sent Harith as Commander of the armed forces with him.

Imam Malik (رضي الله عنه), who had induced people to take the oath for Mohammad Mahdi, was lashed. Imam Abu Hanifa (رضي الله عنه), who gave a fatwah (religious judgment) in favor of Ibrahim bin Abdullah was arrested and brought before Mansoor who imprisoned him in Baghdad where construction work on the city was still in progress. It is said that Mansoor wanted to appoint him to the post of chief justice. When he refused, he was assigned to count and keep the records of the bricks used in the construction. In that state of captivity he died in 150 A.H. Besides these famous scholars other scholars like Ibn Ajlan, Abdul Humaid bin Jafar and others who gave religious judgments to take the oath for Mohammad Mahdi and his brother Ibrahim were persecuted like wise.

In 146 A.H., the Turks in Khazar revolted and marched from Babul Abwab to Armenia killing and slaughtering Muslims. That same year the Muslims launched a naval attack on Cyprus. When the Khwarij rebelled in Sistan, Mansoor transferred Ma'an bin Zaidah from the governorship of Yemen to Sistan where he ended the disorder and fighting. He remained there until 151 A.H. until he was eventually murdered treacherously by the Khwarij.

Abdullah Ushtar Ibn Mohammad Mahdi

When Mohammad Mahdi revolted, the governor of Sindh was Mansoor's man Omar bin Hafs bin Uthman bin Qabisah bin Abi Sufrah. After the revolt, Mohammad Mahdi had sent his son Abdullah alias Ushtar to his uncle Ibrahim in Basra. From there Ushtar at the instance of his uncle, took a swift-paced she-camel and set out for Sindh because sympathy and possible reinforcements were expected from the governor. Abdullah Ushtar reached Sindh, invited Omar bin Hafs to their cause and he accepted, recognized Mohammad Mahdi's caliphate, defaced the symbols of the Abbasids and incorporated Mohammad Mahdi's name into the Friday sermon. During the same period, news of Mohammad Mahdi's death reached the governor. He informed Abdullah Ushtar of the incident and offered his condolences. Ushtar said, "Now my life is in danger. Where should I go and what should I do?" There were many kings in Sindh who had converted to Islam during Omar bin Abdul Aziz's regime and who ruled according to their directives in their jurisdictions. They recognized the reigning caliphs but followed all the supporters of Islam and stuck to the rights of their rule. Omar bin Hafs told Ushtar to go to a certain state of a Sindhi King. He loves the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم) and is known for the fulfillment of his commitments. He will surely treat you kindly, affectionately and respectfully. Abdullah Ushtar expressed his willingness. Omar received a written pledge from that king for Ushtar through correspondence and sent Ushtar to him. The Sindhi king married his daughter to him. He lived there until 151 A.H. and during that period about 400 Arabs drawn from the adjoining areas collected at Ushtar's place. By chance, Mansoor came to know that Abdullah Ushtar was living with the King of Sindh and a small group of Arabs were with him. Mansoor recalled Omar bin Hafs from the governorship of Sindh and sent him to Egypt in the same capacity. He dispatched Hisham bin 'Amr Taghlibi to Sindh as governor. At the time of departure, he ordered him to arrest Ushtar at any cost. If the Sindhi King refused to hand him over, he should attack him. Hisham bin 'Amr tried his best to recover Abdullah Ushtar but the Sindhi King would not give him up. At last, they prepared to fight. The part of the country where Ushtar was staying was attacked by Safih, Hisham bin 'Amr's brother. One day it so happened that Ushtar in the company of 10 horsemen went along the Sindh River for sightseeing. They came across Safih's army. Safih tried to arrest him. Ushtar and his men fought. At last, Ushtar and his men were killed. Hisham bin 'Amr informed Mansoor of the incident. He wrote back to him that the country of that king must be destroyed. So a chain of battles began. Hisham eventually captured his whole country. Ushtar's wife along with her son were caught and sent to Mansoor. He sent them to Madinah to be under the guardianship of the deceased's family.

Mahdi bin Mansoor's Succession

At the time of his death, Abdullah Saffah had made Mansoor his heir-apparent to be followed by Isa bin Musa after him. Now according to the will Isa bin Musa was to be the caliph after Mansoor. However, when Mansoor was relieved from the dangers of Mohammad Mahdi and Ibrahim and no longer needed Isa bin Musa's help, he wished to make his own son Mahdi his successor. First, he mentioned it to Isa but Isa refused to accept it. Mansoor then manipulated to allow Khalid bin Barmak and some other non-Arab chiefs participate in the consultations and support his stand and then he deposed Isa bin Musa from the governorship of Kufa, in which capacity he had been serving since Saffah's time and sent Mohammad bin Sulaiman as governor in his place. The dismissal from the governorship of Kufa led to the liquidation of his power and he realized his mistake of disagreeing with Mansoor.

In short, by rendering Isa powerless Mansoor, by virtue of his cunningness, deceit, allurement and hypocrisy took from the people the oath for the succession of Mahdi. He tried to console Isa bin Musa too by making him the successor after Mahdi. Khalid bin Barmak gave publicity to the statement that Isa abdicated in his presence and so the Amir Al-Muminin made his son his successor. For this act, Mansoor had spent money lavishly and pleased the people by giving away gifts and rewards to them on the occasion. Isa bin Musa had contributed most to strengthening and saving Mansoor's government. It was Isa who defeated and killed Mohammad Mahdi and Ibrahim and relieved him of a great danger. In exchange for these services he rendered he was rewarded with dismissal from the succession and Mahdi bin Mansoor superseded him. After the deposition from the governorship of Kufa, he went to Rahba in Kufa, settled down there and began to pass a quiet life.

Slowly and gradually all the obstacles in Mansoor's way were cleared except Spain, his government was firmly established in all the Islamic countries by 148 A.H. In 149 A.H., the construction of Baghdad was also completed. Because of the above situations and incidents, the Muslims did not have time to declare Jihad on the Romans. In 149 A.H., Abbas bin Mohammad, Hasan bin Qahtaba and Mohammad bin Ash'ath invaded the Romans and scored many victories against them.

Ustad Sees's revolt

In 150 A.H. Ustad Sees claimed to be a prophet in Khorasan. Thousands of people accepted his prophethood at once. The inhabitants of Herat, Badghais, and Sistan assembled under his flag and the greater part of Khorasan fell to him. Mansoor was extremely concerned and pensive on hearing this. The ruler of Mardrood named Jasm, observed the situation and attacked him with all his might. Jasm was defeated and killed. Then Khazim bin Khuzaima used strategy and surrounded Ustad Sees's army and attacked him on two flanks. 70,000 men of Ustad Sees were killed. He was besieged along with 14,000 remaining men in a mountain. After a prolonged siege, he surrendered along with his men to Khuzaima and Mansoor was informed of Ustad Sees's capture.

Ibrahim bin Abdullah’s Rebellion, Victories, and Defeat Against Mansoor

2026-10-12T02:52:32.966-07:00

The Rebellion of Ibrahim bin Abdullah

When Mansoor had come on a visit to inspect the building of Baghdad, Ibrahim bin Abdullah, Mohammad Mahdi's brother, was with him in disguise. He escaped to Kufa and Mansoor sent out spies to hunt him down. When he thought that Ibrahim was in Basra, he sent a spy to every house there, though Ibrahim was with Sufyan bin Hibban Qammi at his house in Kufa. It was a well-known fact that Sufyan was a close friend of Ibrahim. Sufyan was horrified to see how tight the surveillance was. He mapped out a plan to allow Ibrahim to leave safely.

He went to Mansoor and said to him, "Give me in writing a permit for free passage for me and my slaves and a small body of soldiers so that I may arrest Ibrahim wherever we find him." Mansoor did accordingly. Sufyan returned home he had Ibrahim put on his slave's clothes, took him with them and left Kufa with his small force. He came to Basra, deployed the soldiers to search each house. When the soldiers had left, he sent him to Ahwaz and he himself went into hiding. Sufyan bin Muawiya was the Amir of Basra at that time.

When he found out, he collected the deployed soldiers and started searching for Ibrahim bin Abdullah and Sufyan bin Hibban but without success. Mohammad bin Haseen was the Amir of Ahwaz. When Ibrahim reached Ahwaz, he stayed with Hasan bin Habeeb. His spies informed the Amir of Ahwaz that Ibrahim was in Ahwaz. He began searching for him. Ibrahim remained hidden in Habeeb's house for a long time and continued to let people participate in the propagation for his cause. In 145 A.H.

Yahya bin Zeyad bin Hibban Nabti called Ibrahim to Basra and enthusiastically began to invite the people to take the oath for Mohammad Mahdi. A large group of learned and influential people took the oath. 4000 people were enrolled in the Basra Register as having taken the oath. During this period, Mohammad Mahdi revolted in Madinah and wrote to Ibrahim to revolt in Basra. Mansoor had sent a few commanders to Basra as a precautionary measure so that they might help the Administrator of Basra, Sufyan bin Muawiya, if there was any sign of mutiny. If Ibrahim had risen in revolt then as Muhammad Mahdi had requested, Mansoor would have been quite helpless and both the brothers would have gathered strength. However, at that time, Ibrahim was sick in Basra and so he temporarily delayed his revolt.

When Mansoor sent the army to fight with Mohammad Mahdi, Ibrahim rebelled in Basra on 1 Ramadan 145 A.H. Jafar and Muhammad, the sons of Sulaiman bin Ali, Mansoor's cousins had been lying in wait along with 600 men outside of Basra by the orders of Mansoor. As soon as the brothers heard the news of Ibrahim's rebellion, they attacked and only 50 men were sent out to face those 600 men yet they defeated them and forced them to flee. Ibrahim captured all of Basra and took the oath from the people in general and proclaimed a general amnesty and pardon. He then withdrew two hundred thousand dirhams from the treasury and distributed it at the rate of 50 dirhams to each of his men.

Then he sent Mughira to Ahwaz along with 100 soldiers. The administrator of Ahwaz, Mohammad bin Haseen, came out with 4000 soldiers to fight the small force but they defeated the 4000 soldiers and Mughira captured Ahwaz. Ibrahim sent Amr bin Shaddad to Persia where the Governor Ismail bin Ali bin Abdullah bin Abbas bin Abdul Muttalib and his brother Abdus Samad clashed with him but they suffer a defeat and Amr bin Shaddad occupied Persia. Similarly, Haroon bin Shams Ajli was ordered to march towards Wasit and he defeated Mansoor's Governor Haroon bin Humaid Ayadi and captured Wasit. In short, the day Mohammad Mahdi and Isa bin Musa clashed with each other leading to Muhammad Mahdi's martyrdom, Basra, Persia Wasit and a big part of Iraq had gone out of Mansoor's control. Syria was soon to go out of his hands and the Kufans had also been waiting and watching.

Mansoor's government stood no chance of survival. Ibrahim revolted in Basra on 1 Ramadan and continued the series of victories until the end of the month. Immediately after the end of Ramadan Ibrahim received the news of Mohammad Mahdi's death. He offered the prayer for the Eid at the end of Ramadan and in the sermon announced the news. When the news was heard by those who were engaged in fighting with Mansoor's administrator, their spirits were dampened. It encouraged Mansoor's commanders and administrators. When the people of Basra received the news, they recognized Ibrahim as their caliph in place of Mohammad Mahdi and were ready to show their readiness more than they did before. There were many Kufans among Ibrahim's men in Basra.

The people from Basra wanted Basra to be the capital and command center for deploying troops in the surrounding areas. But the Kufans disagreed with them and suggested that Ibrahim should take his army towards Kufa where the inhabitants were waiting for him. Ibrahim agreed with them and made up his mind to go to Kufa after making his son his deputy there. When the news reached Mansoor, he was very disturbed. Immediately he sent a messenger to Isa bin Musa asking him to come at once to him at Kufa. He wrote to Mahdi in Khorasan and asked him to invade Persia immediately. So all the administrators who were safe from danger were called. He asked those who were near to Mansoor's commanders not to lose heart.

Troops from all sides began to pour in fast until a one hundred thousand man army collected in Kufa. When he had received the news of Ibrahim's attack, Mansoor did not change his clothes for 50 days. He often kept sitting on his prayer mat. Ibrahim bin Abdullah with a one hundred thousand man army camped at a distance of 30 or 40 miles from Kufa, and Isa bin Musa arrived in Kufa with his own army. Mansoor sent Isa bin Musa to confront Ibrahim and deployed Humaid bin Qahtaba at the vanguard. Ibrahim was advised to dig a moat around the military camp but his men said that they were not the attacked but the attackers so no moat was needed. His men advised Ibrahim to send soldiers to fight in divisions so that in case of the defeat of one division of the army another fresh division might be sent in as reinforcements.

However, Ibrahim disapproved of the suggestion and ordered the soldiers to stand and fight by arraying themselves according to the traditional way. Humaid bin Qahtaba fled after being defeated. Isa tried to stop him by rebuking him but he did not stop. Isa then threw himself into the battle. However, most of his men could not stand the pressure and started fleeing. Isa still stood firm on the battlefield but when there was no doubt of his imminent defeat, Jafar and Muhammad, Sulaiman bin Ali's sons, arrived behind Ibrahim with their army. Ibrahim's soldiers grew nervous at the fresh invasion and diverted their attention towards them. Isa regrouped his men and attacked and the runaway soldiers rallied.

Humaid bin Qahtaba also regrouped and attacked with his men. Ibrahim's army was between the invading armies, which cut the battlefield in size and his soldiers were not able to fight wholeheatedly. At last, they became disarrayed and began to flee. Finally, only 400 men were left with him. They were surrounded by Isa, Humaid, Mohammad and Jafar. An arrow pierced Ibrahim's neck, which proved fatal. His men dismounted him from their horses, made a circle around him and continued defending and fighting.

Qahtaba ordered his cavalry to launch an attack with all their power. He defeated Ibrahim's men, cut off his head and presented it to Isa who sent it to Mansoor. This took place on 25 Dhul Qada 145 A.H. With this victory, he was able to arrest Hasan bin Ibrahim bin Dawood in Basra and imprison him.

Muhammad Mahdi’s Revolt, Battle of Madinah, and Abbasid Victory

2026-10-12T02:50:52.905-07:00

It is understood that in the matter of racial pride Mohammad Mahdi undoubtedly started the rivalry and what Mansoor wrote, he wrote replying to this rivalry. However, Mansoor went beyond the limit in his reply. Mohammad Mahdi wrote nothing negative about Abbas (رضي الله عنه).

But Mansoor unnecessarily used impertinent words about Ali bin Abi Talib (رضي الله عنه). He has also slandered Ali (رضي الله عنه) when he said that the latter took out Fatima Zahra during the day time for the sake of increasing his chances of getting the caliphate. He also was very rude regarding the Hasan (رضي الله عنه). The fact is that Hasan bin Ali (رضي الله عنه) did not sell out the caliphate rather he unified and reconciled the two warring factions of the Muslims and thereby he fulfilled the Prophet's prophecy. Abbas (رضي الله عنه) helped Abu Talib without doubt and brought up Aqeel and kept him with him. But to speak of it satirically and ironically does not befit a person of noble bearing. Actually to mention such favors is considered to be a sign of meanness and by mentioning such things, he has displayed his lowness.

After making the administrative arrangements for Madinah, Mohammad Mahdi sent Mohammad bin Hasan bin Muawiya bin Abdullah bin Jafar to Makkah, Qasim bin Ishaq to Yemen and Musa bin Abdullah to Syria as Amirs. So Mohammad bin Hasan and Qasim bin Ishaq left Madinah together. The Abbasid administrator of Makkah fought and lost and Mohammad bin Hasan occupied it.

After dispatching the above mentioned letter, Mansoor sent Isa bin Musa to fight with Mohammad Mahdi. Isa was accompanied by Mohammad bin Saffah, Katheer bin Haseen Abdi and Humaid bin Qahtaba and at the time of departure Isa bin Musa and other commanders were instructed that if they got the better of Mohammad Mahdi, they should not kill him but give him pardon and safety. If he went into hiding then the civilians of Madinah who know him should be arrested and those from among the descendants of Abi Talib who visited them should have their names record and the commanders should send them to him and those who refused to call on them, the commanders should confiscate their money and property.

When Isa bin Musa reached Feed, he sent for a few people from Madinah by letter. Abdullah bin Mohammad bin Omar bin Ali bin Abi Talib, his brother Omar bin Mohammad bin Ali bin Abi Talib, Abu Aqeel Mohammad bin Abdullah bin Aqeel came out of Madinah and went to Isa. When Mohammad Mahdi was informed of his arrival, he consulted with his men on whether they should fight outside of Madinah or defend by remaining inside. When the counselors disagreed, following the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم), he ordered the same trench to be dug, which the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم) had originally used. Meanwhile Isa bin Musa camped at Awad. Mohammad Mahdi forbade the people of Madinah to fight outside the city and so no one was allowed to go out. When Isa approached near to Madinah, he allowed the people to go out of the city. It was a mistake that he cancelled his first order.

The people of Madinah in large numbers along with their families went to the mountains for safety because of this, only a very small number remained with Mohammad Mahdi in Madinah to fight Isa. It was at that time that he realized his blunder and he sent his men to bring them back but they could not. Isa left Awad and camped at a distance of four miles from Madinah. He deployed a part of the army on the road to Makkah so that Mohammad Mahdi would not be able to escape and go to Makkah. Then he sent word to him, "Caliph Mansoor grants you pardon and safety, invites you towards judgment by the Book and Sunnah and threatens you with the consequences of rebellion."

Mohammad Mahdi sent back the reply that he was a man who never turned his back for fear of being killed. On 12 Ramadan 145 A.H., Isa bin Musa went ahead and camped at Jurf. On 14 Ramadan 145 A.H. he stood at a high place and spoke loudly, "O the people of Madinah! I grant you safety provided you don't intervene between Mohammad Mahdi and me and stay neutral."

The Madinah people heard and began to abuse him and Isa went back. The next day he went to the same place again with the intention of fighting and spread out his commanders around Madinah. Mohammad Mahdi also came out to face him. His flag was held by Uthman bin Mohammad bin Khalid bin Zubair and his saying was Ahad, Ahad (One, One). Abu Ghulmash was the first to come out from his side to challenge the enemies. Several renowned commanders from Isa's side came onto the field to answer his challenge but they all lost their lives. Then the battle began with both sides exhibiting real bravery.

The commanders of both sides displayed wonderful swordsmanship and breached the opposing lines. Then at Isa's instance Humaid bin Qahtaba moved towards the nearest wall of the trench with his troops. Mohammad Mahdi's men tried to prevent them by shooting arrows at them but Humaid continued his forward march firmly and leveled it to the ground, crossed the trench and began hand to hand combat with Mohammad Mahdi's soldiers. This gave Isa the chance to fill up the moat at several places to make a way across it. The cavalry crossed the moat and pounced upon Mohammad Mahdi's army and a fierce battle ensued.

Mohammad Mahdi's army was small and the invaders out-numbered them several times over and they were more fully armed. The battle continued from morning to the time of the mid-afternoon prayer. Mohammad Mahdi granted open permission to his men to save themselves if they liked. His followers requested him repeatedly to save himself and to go to Basra or Makkah and after collecting men and weapons anew to face his opponents again. But he gave the same reply to all, saying, "If you want to save yourselves, you are at liberty to go anywhere you like but I cannot flee because of fear of the enemy." Finally, only 300 men were left with him and at that time one of his men, Isa bin Khudair burnt the register containing the names of those who took the oath with him.

Then he went to the jail and killed Rabah bin Uthman and his brother. Mohammad bin Qasri shut the door of his room and survived. After doing this, he came back to Mohammad Mahdi and began to fight again. His cavalry cut off the legs of their horses, broke into pieces their sheaths, took the pledge of death and attacked the enemies. The attack was so fierce and horrible that Isa's army suffered a defeat and retreated and fled. A few of Isa's men climbed around a hill and went down its other side into Madinah, took a black covering of an Abbasid woman and waved it over the minaret of the mosque like a flag.

Mohammad Mahdi's men were out of their wits when they saw it. They thought that Isa's men had taken possession of Madinah and they moved backward. Isa's fleeing soldiers took advantage of the opportunity they rallied and attacked again. One of the groups entered the city from Banu Ghaffar's side and began to fight with Mohammad Mahdi. The situation was contrary to what he expected. Mohammad Mahdi did not expect that Banu Ghaffar would allow a way for the enemy to enter. Resolving himself to this he moved forward and called out to Humaid bin Qahtaba to single combat but Humaid did not dare to come out to face him. Mohammad Mahdi's men again launched the attack on the enemies. Isa bin Khudair was fighting very valiantly.

Isa bin Musa went forward and called him loudly, "I grant you safety and pardon. Give up fighting." But Isa bin Khudair did not care about this and continued until he fell down exhausted and mortally wounded. Mohammad Mahdi began to fight over his dead body. Isa bin Musa's soldiers attacked him from all sides and he retaliated and pushed them back. He displayed such matchless valor and his martial art was so superior, that none from among Isa bin Musa's soldiers dared to fight with him. At last, some one speared him from behind. As he bent down a little under its impact, Humaid bin Qahtaba rushed forward and pierced his chest with his javelin. When two javelins passed through his chest from the front and the back, he fell dead. Humaid bin Qahtaba quickly got down from his horse and severed his head and brought it to Isa bin Musa. Immediately after the death of this valiant warrior, Madinah fell to Isa bin Musa. He sent his head and the letter of victory to Mansoor by the hands of Mohammad bin Abilkarâm bin Abdullah bin Ali bin Abdullah bin Jafar and Qasim bin Hasan bin Zaid bin Hasan bin Ali bin Abi Talib. This disaster occurred on Monday 15 Ramadan 145 A.H. between the afternoon prayer and the sunset prayer.

Isa bin Musa hanged Mohammad Mahdi's dead body on a cross between Madinah and Thaniyatul wada'. His sister Zainab took permission and buried his dead body in Baqi. In this battle Mohammad Mahdi's brother Musa bin Abdullah Hamza bin Abdullah bin Mohammad bin Ali bin Husain, Ali bin Zaid bin Ali bin Husain bin Ali, Zaid bin Hasan bin Zaid bin Hasan fought on Mohammad Mahdi's side. It is surprising that the fathers of Ali and Zaid were Mansoor's supporters. Similarly, there were other Hashmite and Alawiite fathers and sons who were pitted against one another.

Perhaps they were horrified at the sight of Banu Abbas's killings and annihilation as was Ali bin Husain (Zainul Abedeen) who was so shocked and terrified having been witness to the scene at Karbala that he never did anything against Banu Umayyah and always supported them. In the same way, the influential among the Alawiites considered opposition of Banu Abbas to be the cause of destruction. Mohammad Mahdi defeat simply because his own relatives did not support him and that their lack of support alienated others. So when he took the oath from the people of Madinah and announced his caliphate after imprisoning Rabah bin Uthman, he sent for Ismail bin Abdullah bin Jafar, an old man, to take the oath. He wrote back, "Nephew, you will be killed. How can I take the oath for you?" Hearing his reply some people who had taken the oath retracted it. Hamadah bint Muawiya came to Ismail bin Abdullah and said to him, "Your statement has alienated many people from Mohammad Mahdi but my brothers are still with him.

I am afraid they may also be killed with him." In brief, alienation of his relatives and members of his family kept him from growing powerful otherwise, the caliphate might have possibly come to the descendants of Hasan (رضي الله عنه). If he had escaped and stayed clear of Madinah or had not revolted so soon and had waited for his brother to follow suit and both of them had revolted together, success would have been sure. Mansoor and the Abbasids were lucky that the Abbasid army had to fight Mohammad and Ibrahim one after another while their strength remained undivided.

Abbasid Claims, Alawite Rivalries, and the Debate Over Caliphate Inheritance

2026-10-12T02:49:51.872-07:00

When Allâh sent the Prophet صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم, his four uncles were living. He revealed the verse.

(وَأَنْذِرْ عَشِيرَتَكَ الْأَقْرَبِينَ)

And warn your tribe (O Muhammad صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم) of near kindred. (Q. 26:214)

So, he made them fear Allâh's punishment and invited them to the true religion. Two of the four accepted the true religion and my father was one of them. The other two refused to accept the true religion and one of them was your father (Abu Talib). So, Allâh severed their chain of authority and the Prophet صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم did not allow any relation and inheritance between the two parties of believers and non-believers. You have written about Hasan (رضي الله عنه) that he bears a double relation with Abdul Muttalib and then that you have the same double relation with the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم). My reply is this that the Prophet صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم is Khairul Awwaleen-wal-Akhreen the best of the first and the last. He had paternal relations with Banu Hashim and Abdul Muttalib. You think that you are the best among the Banu Hashim and your parents enjoyed a better reputation and you have no mixture of non-Arab blood nor a trace of a slave-girl in your line. I see that you have made yourself as a matter of pride better than the entire tribe of Banu Hashim. Think a little. How can we not disapprove of your words? How will you answer Allâh tomorrow? You have crossed the limits and declared yourself better than those who are far superior to you in person and traits, that is, Ibrahim the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم). No one from amongst the descendants of your father is better and none of them became great except the sons of slave-girls. After the Prophet's (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم) death none among you was born better and greater than Ali bin Husain (Imam Zainul Abdeen) and he is superior to the slave-girl's sons and they were undoubtedly better than your grandfather Hasan bin Hasan. After him no one among you was born like Mohammad bin Ali. His grandmother was a slave-girl and she is better than your father. His son Jafar is better than you and his grandmother was a slave-girl. Your statement that you are the sons of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم) is wrong. Allâh says in his Book,

(مَا كَانَ مُحَمَّدٌ أَبَا أَحَدٍ مِنْ رِجَالِكُمْ)

Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم) is not the father of any of your men, but he is the Messenger of Allâh and the last (end) of the Prophets. And Allâh is Ever All-Aware of everything. (Q. 33:40)

Yes, you are the son of the Prophet's daughter and undoubtedly this relation is close but it is not entitled to inheritance nor can it be a heir to authority nor is leadership legally theirs. So how can you be an heir by yirtue of this relationship? Your father wanted it most. He made Fatima (رضي الله عنها) come out in the light of day, concealing her illness and buried her at night but the people did not recognize anyone but the sheikhain (two sheiks, Abu Bakr (رضي الله عنه) and Umar (رضي الله عنه).)

[Editor's Note: He is insinuating unjustly that Ali (رضي الله عنه) brought his wife out to be seen by people because it would influence them to choose him as the Caliph because of his close connection to the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم) through his daughter and he buried her secretly so that the loss of this connection would not be established in the peoples mind. He goes on to insinuate that in spite of these efforts the people chose Abu Bakr and Umar over him.]

All the Muslims are unanimous on the point that the maternal grandfather, maternal uncle and mother's sister cannot be heirs. Next, you are proud of Ali's conversion to Islam before others. The answer to that is that the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم) at the time of his death, ordered somebody else to lead the Salât (prayer) and afterwards the people continued to make others the leader and Caliph one after the other and did not pick or choose him although he was also one of the six persons from among those who the Caliph was chosen.

The people took him to be a misfit for this job and spared him and did not consider him to be entitled to it. Abdur Rahman preferred Uthman (رضي الله عنه) to him and he is an accused in the matter. (Editor: Insinuating unjustly that he was involved in the murder of Uthman (رضي الله عنه).) Talha (رضي الله عنه) and Zuhair (رضي الله عنه) fought him and Sa'd (رضي الله عنه) refused to take oath for him. Afterwards he took the oath for Muawiya's (رضي الله عنه). Then your father again wished to be caliph and fought. His friends parted with him. His supporters became suspicious as to his right to be ruler and judge and then they unanimously fixed two persons to decide the matter. Both of those chosen agreed on his dismissal (Editor: He is selectively applying the facts, please refer back to the Vol. I concerning Amr bin Aas and Musa Ashari's judgment concerning Muawiya (رضي الله عنه) and Ali (رضي الله عنه).)

Then Hasan (رضي الله عنه) became caliph and he sold out the caliphate to Muawiya (رضي الله عنه) for clothes and money and presented his supporters to Muawiya (رضي الله عنه) and entrusted the leadership to the incapable (Editor: He means your family sold the caliphate to Banu Umayyah). So, even if you were entitled to it, you have already sold it and received its price. Then your uncle Husain (رضي الله عنه) rebelled against Ibn Marjanah (Ibn Zeyad).

The people joined Ibn Zeyad against your uncle to such an extent that they killed your uncle, cut off his head and presented it to Ibn Zeyad. Then you rebelled against Banu Umayyah. They put you to death, hung one of you on the branches of a date palm, burnt him in the fire, in that way they killed Yahya bin Zaid in Khorasan. Your men were killed and your children and women were imprisoned and made to sit on camels without veils, sent them to Syria like slave girls on sale until we stood up in revolt and we demanded compensation for your blood.

Then we took revenge for the killings and we made you the masters of their lands and property. We venerated your elders. Do you want to declare us guilty on this account? Perhaps you have been deceived because they used to mention your father having a priority over Hamza (رضي الله عنه), Abbas (رضي الله عنه) and Jafar (رضي الله عنه).

The fact is that whatever you have thought is not the reality. They all left the world in the highest state of cleanliness and everyone recognized their virtue and greatness without dispute. However, your father was involved in internal fighting and killing. Banu Umayyah used to curse him as the unbelievers are cursed in the obligatory prayers. So, we quarreled with them, we narrated the virtues of those who were cursed, we adopted strict measures against Banu Umayyah and punished them. Our greatness during the days of ignorance was by virtue of our supplying water to the pilgrims, and this privilege was available to Abbas (رضي الله عنه) only. Your father quarreled with us over it.

Umar bin Al-Khattab (رضي الله عنه) gave his judgement in our favor. So, we have been the owner of this honor both during the days of ignorance and the time of Islam. During the famine in Madinah Umar bin Al-Khattab (رضي الله عنه) prayed to Allâh for rain by means of our father and he sent down rain. Though your father was alive, he did not ask for rain through him. Do you know that when the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم) breathed his last, none except Abbas (رضي الله عنه) from among Banu Abdul Muttalib was left? Therefore, the legacy was transferred to the paternal uncle. Then several persons from Banu Hashim wanted to be caliph but none except the descendants of Abbas (رضي الله عنه) were successful. The authority of cup bearing already belonged to him, the Prophet's legacy from Abdul Muttalib and the caliphate came to his descendants.

In short no distinction between this world and hereafter between the days of ignorance and Islam remained which Abbas (رضي الله عنه) was not the inheritor of. When Islam spread, Abbas (رضي الله عنه) had stood surety for Abu Talib and his descendants and cared for them during the famine. Had Abbas (رضي الله عنه) not been spared in the expedition of Badr, Abu Talib and Aqeel would have starved to death and would have continued to lick the utensils of Utbah and Shaibah, but Abbas (رضي الله عنه) kept providing them with food. He saved your honor, protected you from slavery and continued to supply food and clothing. Then in the battle of Badr, he had released Aqeel by paying the ransom. So, why do you brag before us? We cared for your family during unbelief, paid your ransom, saved the honor of your elders, became the heirs to the last Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم), took revenge for you and achieved what you failed to achieve. Peace be upon you.