Death of al-Mahdi Ubayd Allah, ruler of the Maghrib

al-Mahdi, ruler of the Maghrib, died in the days of the caliph al-Radi, and his reign was twenty-five years, according to al-Suyuti. He was succeeded by his son al-Qa'im bi-Amr Allah Abu al-Qasim Muhammad. ¹

al-Suyuti describes him as the grandfather of the caliphs of Egypt whom they call the Fatimids. He quotes critics of his who said that he claimed to be an Alid. He quotes the judge Abu Bakr al-Baqillani as saying that he was an Alid whom no scholar of genealogy had known, and that he had executed the scholars and jurists in order to be able to mislead people. ¹

This is the position of al-Suyuti and of those he quotes, and the subject needs other sources that set out the opposing view. The date is around 322 AH and derived.