The public declaration of al-Qa'im bi-Amr Allah as heir, 421

إظهار ولاية عهد القائم بأمر الله ٤٢١

c. April 1030 CE · Jumada I 421 AH

When rumours spread about the illness of the caliph al-Qadir, he convened a general assembly on Sunday 18 Jumada I 421. The Turkish administrator Abu al-Ghana'im spoke in praise of the choice of Prince Abu Ja'far, and al-Qadir said, 'If God has permitted it, then we too permit it'; Abu Ja'far sat on the throne. On Friday, with seven days of the month left, he was proclaimed with the title 'al-Qa'im bi-Amr Allah, heir to the Muslims', and it was struck on the coinage. On the 12th of Jumada I a letter from Jalal al-Dawla arrived asking permission to carry out the designation of the heir; it was read out to the people on Tuesday in the Hall of Audience, with a detailed preamble, followed by the caliph's endorsement ¹.

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Era: The Buyid, Fatimid and Seljuk Era
Region: Levant & Iraq
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The Buyid, Fatimid and Seljuk Era

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When rumors spread of the caliph al-Qadir's illness, he held a general assembly on Sunday 18 Jumada I 421: the Turkish nazir Abu'l-Ghana'im rose praising the choice of the amir Abu Ja'far, and al-Qadir said "if God has permitted this, we permit it," and Abu Ja'far sat upon the dais. On Friday seven days before month's end he was proclaimed in the khutba "al-Qa'im bi-amr Allah, heir apparent of the Muslims," fixed on coinage and paper. Jalal al-Dawla's letter asking leave to enact the succession arrived 12 Jumada I and was read out at Bayt al-Mawkib — a detailed preamble then the caliph's signature ².

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Occurred at: Baghdad
Had participant: al-Qadir bi-llah Ahmad ibn Ishaq ibn al-Muqtadir· al-Qa'im bi-Amr Allah Abd Allah ibn al-Qadir· جلال الدولة أبو طاهر بن بهاء الدولة

People and things also explored

The death of al-Qadir and the accession of al-Qa'im bi-amr Allah, 422· Abu al-Qasim ibn al-Qadir· The reading of the Qadiri Creed in the Dar al-Khilafa· The diwan manifesto impugning the Ubaydid genealogy· The Baghdad Attestation on Fatimid Lineage· The Baratha Mosque Affair in 420· The battle of al-Basasiri and the sermon for the Ubaydi al-Mustansir in Baghdad· Riot at the funeral of Bint Abi Nuh and the plunder of the Dar al-Rum church

Sources

al-Muntazam fi Tarikh al-Muluk wa'l-Umam — Ibn al-Jawzi , j.8 p.389-392
al-Muntazam fi Tarikh al-Muluk wa'l-Umam — Ibn al-Jawzi

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islam.museum contributors. “The public declaration of al-Qa'im bi-Amr Allah as heir, 421”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/event/qaim-heir-designation-421/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-22.

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The death of al-Qadir and the accession of al-Qa'im bi-amr Allah, 422

The caliph al-Qadir bi'llah died on the night of Monday 11 Dhu'l-Hijja 422, aged eighty-six years, ten months and twenty-one days, having reigned forty-one years and three months, a span no caliph before him had reached. The doors were shut; then al-Qa'im bi-amr Allah came out at the time of 'asr, led the people in the maghrib prayer, prayed over his father with four takbirs, and sat in the Dar al-Shajara in a shirt and mantle. The people gave him bay'a, first among them al-Sharif al-Murtada, and on the next day Abu Ahmad al-Hasan ibn Isa ibn al-Muqtadir came and gave bay'a too. The Turks clamoured over the bay'a money; when a Hashimite killed a Turk, a signed decree of the caliph was issued on the matter, and it was settled that the bay'a be levied at three million dinars. Among his well-known displays of tact, he put up a caravanserai, a garden and a heap of goods for sale to meet it. He gave titles to the viziers and chamberlains and arranged the offices of state.