Al Mahdi, The Abbasid
Muhammad al-Mahdi bin `Abd Allah al-Mansur and Al-Mahdi .
Summary |
Biography
Under the reign of his father al-Mahdi, led a successful campaign against a rebellion in Khorasan (760).
Al-Mahdi was proclaimed caliph when his father al-Mansur was still on his deathbed ( 775 ). But his designated successor was to be his uncle `Isa. This uncle had been ousted by al-Mansur in favor of Al-Mahdi. Al-Mahdi began by offering large sums of money so that he waives his right of succession. After various maneuvers Al-Mahdi got what he wanted: `Isa was waiving his right of succession by his son Musa al-Hadi was appointed as successor after him and his second son Harun ar-Rashid (circa 780).
Al-Mahdi continued implementation of the Abbasid administration, creating new ministries ( diwan ): that of war, justice and finance. Judges ( qadi ) were paid and some laws against non-Arabs were abolished.
But his caliphate is also the development of Muslim culture in Baghdad through an opening in the ancient wisdom and the beginning of the golden age of "classical Islamic civilization", in effect, al-Mahdi is the initiative of the great enterprise of translating Greek classics into Arabic via Syriac. It is for the translation of the Topics of Aristotle that al-Mahdi is similar to Timothy , the Nestorian Catholicos of the Church.
The Barmecides who provided viziers from the reign of Abu al-Abbas As-Saffah , directed these new ministries. Mahdi al-built roads, instituted a postal system and fought to Byzantine. The use of paper instead of parchment or papyrus, became widespread. Whole streets of Baghdad devoted themselves to trade paper and books.
Al-Mahdi maintained a fairly strict religious policies he pursued the dualistic . Could be accused of dualism converts Zoroastrians , especially among the Persians, but also Sufis. Al-Mahdi said the caliph was not just a sovereign, but it was his duty to define the orthodox religious order to maintain the cohesion of the community of believers ( umma ). This new power will be serious consequences in the reign of Al-Ma'mun.
He murdered in prison the seventh Imam Shiite Musa al-Kazim ibn Jafar.
Al-Mahdi died in 785 or a riding accident during a hunting or poisoned by mistake by a slave jealous of a rival that the caliph would have preferred, and she wanted to eliminate.
Al-Khayzuran
Al-Khayzuran was probably a slave originally from Yemen to the court of the Abbasid Caliphs. She took a political ascendancy over her husband al-Mahdi and intrigued for his two son be placed in the position of successors to their father when it should have been their uncle `Isa, who had been ousted by al-Mansur in favor of al -Mahdi. Notables who came in the morning to pay tribute to the Caliph, began coming by to greet al-Khayzuran, then al-Mahdi.
His eldest son Musa al-Hadi was established first successor and then only his favorite son Harun ar-Rashid.
During his short reign, al-Khayzuran dominated his son al-Hadi. Al-Hadi courtiers prohibited from visiting his mother. He even tried to poison him. When al-Hadi died she said "That's what I wanted . . Tradition says that al-Hadi died in three days of an abscess in his stomach. Others say he is dead drunk stifled by slaves paid by al-Khayzuran.
When Harun ar-Rashid was in turn appointed caliph, he had to oppose the son Ja'far al-Hadi he wanted to appoint as heir. Harun ar-Rashid Jafar forced to make a statement in which he acknowledged that the power belonged to his uncle (786). He got rid of viziers and governors of al-Hadi and replaced by men of their choice. Its main vizier was Yahya bin Khalid.
Al-Khayzuran died in 789 shortly before the fall of Barmecides in 803.
| Preceded by | Muhammad al-Mahdi | Followed by | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Al-Mansur |
| Al-Hadi |
References
- Arabic : Muhammad al-Mahdi ibn Abd Allah al-Mansur,
- 22 Muharam 169 AH Tabari's account, The Chronicle (Volume II, The Golden Age of the Abbasids), p. 109, this place died almost a year later: 6 Dhu al-Hijjah 169 AH (June 9, 786)
- Arab Zindiq, , atheist, dualistic, Manichean
- Arab ayzurn, , reed, bamboo, wicker
- Tabari, The Chronicle (Volume II, The Golden Age of the Abbasids), p. 122
Notes
Related articles
External Links
- (Ar) /
- (In) The Caliphate, ITS Rise, Decline and Fall, by William Muir Chapter LXIII, Al-Mehdi of the Al-Mansur
Bibliography
- Janine Sourdel and Dominique Sourdel , Historical Dictionary of Islam, PUF , coll. "Quadriga", 2004, 1056 p. ( ISBN 9782130545361 )
- Tabari (translated from Persian by Hermann Zotenberg), The Chronicle. History of prophets and kings, vol. II, Actes Sud / Sindbad, coll. "Thesaurus", 2001 ( ISBN 9782742733187 ) .
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