The Cordoba Strife and the Rising of Ibn Abd al-Jabbar

In 399 and 400 AH Cordoba was in turmoil: the Umayyads and the Qurashis deposed the caliph al-Mu'ayyad Hisham, Muhammad ibn Hisham appeared with the title al-Mahdi, and then Sulayman al-Musta'in contested with him. ^{2 3}

Al-Maqqari says that al-Mu'ayyad, after his death, delegated the caliphate to the chamberlain Abd al-Rahman ibn al-Mansur ibn Abi Amir, whom people called Sanjul. The people of state resented moving the matter from the Mudar to the Yemen. ²

The Umayyads and the Qurashis attacked the chief of police and killed him, and deposed Hisham. ²

In Jumada al-Akhira 399 AH Muhammad ibn Hisham appeared with twelve men, and the people gave him their allegiance and he took the title al-Mahdi bi-Allah. He imprisoned al-Mu'ayyad in the palace, then brought out the corpse of a Christian who resembled him and said it was al-Mu'ayyad; the people prayed over him and buried him. ³

The people resented several things in him, among them making wine in his palace. ³

His uncle Hisham ibn Sulayman rose against him with the title al-Rashid; he defeated him and killed him as a captive. Then Sulayman ibn al-Hakam al-Musta'in came seeking help from the Christians, and a famous battle took place in which thirty-five thousand were killed. ³

Ibn Abd al-Jabbar was defeated and hid, and Sulayman was given allegiance in Shawwal 400 AH. The Berbers and the Romans raided Cordoba and plundered it. Then Ibn Abd al-Jabbar returned from Toledo with an army of Christians, defeated Sulayman and entered Cordoba. ³