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The Bab al-Tibn shrine exhumed and the Sammakin gate battle

نبش مشهد باب التبن ووقعة باب السماكين

c. April 1051 CE · Safar 443 AH

Baghdad

In Safar 443 the Sunni–Shi'i war resumed over the 'wa-Ali khayr al-bashar' inscription on the new Sammakin gate; water was cut to Karkh until a waterskin sold for a qirat, and rosewater was mixed into public troughs. The Darzijani 'ayyar al-Tuqtuqi stormed the Taq al-Hurrani stronghold, beheaded two men and raised the heads on the new mosque's wall, then crucified two more on the gate after killing three, hurling their heads into Karkh with 'have your heads for breakfast'. The city rose: the Bab al-Tibn shrine was seized and looted, corpses — the 'Awfi, al-Nashi' and al-Judhu'i among them — were dragged out and burned or reburied elsewhere, the teak domes torched, the Hanafi jurists' khan in Qati'at al-Rabi' sacked, and at last Baratha's khutba returned with 'hayya ala khayr al-amal' dropped and al-Abbas named 1.

Depth

At a glance

Era
The Buyid, Fatimid and Seljuk Era
Region
Levant & Iraq
Review
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In time

104010501060 c.
The Buyid, Fatimid and Seljuk Era

In space

Baghdad

Map: Natural Earth, public domain · places and route from the graph

Sects and schoolsCities

Sides

Overview

In Safar 443 the Sunni-Shi'a strife in Baghdad reignited when the Karkh finished the Bab al-Samakin gate inscribed "and upon the best of mankind"; the Sunnis demanded the removal of "hayya 'ala khayr al-'amal," and the Bab al-Sha'ir quarter cut Karkh's water until a waterskin sold for a qirat. The Tuqtaqi gathered roughs from Darzijan, stormed Taq al-Harrani, killed two men and set their heads on the new mosque's wall; the Qala'in attacked the gate and burned the stalls; and after three more were killed he crucified two on the gate and flung the heads at Karkh crying "breakfast on your heads." The city rose in arms; the Bab al-Tibn shrine was seized, looted, and corpses exhumed and burned — among the ugliest scenes of fifth-century sectarian violence in Baghdad 2.

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Occurred at
Baghdad

People and things also explored

The gate-building war between Karkh and al-Qala'in· The Karkh–Sunni reconciliation and joint pilgrimage to the two shrines· The diwan manifesto impugning the Ubaydid genealogy· The Shawwal Earthquake of 450· The Baratha Mosque Affair in 420· Al-Qadir's rescript imposing distinguishing dress on the dhimmis· Al-Qadir bans dealing in Maghrebi dinars· The recantation of Abu'l-Wafa' Ibn 'Aqil

Sources

  1. al-Muntazam fi Tarikh al-Muluk wa'l-Umam — Ibn al-Jawzi , j.8 p.491-493
  2. al-Muntazam fi Tarikh al-Muluk wa'l-Umam — Ibn al-Jawzi
Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “The Bab al-Tibn shrine exhumed and the Sammakin gate battle”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/event/bab-tibn-desecration-443/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-22.

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The gate-building war between Karkh and al-Qala'in

In Sha'ban 441 the people of Karkh began a wall over the Anmat market with a gate facing Sammakin; the Sunnis of Qala'in answered with a rival wall and gate of their own — and the building turned into a civic spectacle: Turks funded the Qala'in side with money and mules, a barge of bricks came with a brocade canopy, Karkh carried bricks on men's heads preceded by drums and mimes, rosewater was sprinkled into the foundations, and a woman stripped off her brocade jukaniyya and gave it to the building. On 'Id al-Fitr the feud broke into wounds and killings, the Sunnis raised a roofed market and a mosque between the two gates called Bab al-Mas'ud.