al-Muqtafi li-Amr Allah Muhammad ibn al-Mustazhir

Al-Muqtafi li-Amr Allah, Abu Abd Allah Muhammad ibn al-Mustazhir, an Abbasid caliph who ruled from 530 to 555 AH. ²

He was born on the twenty-second of Rabi al-Awwal 489 AH, and his mother was Abyssinian. He was given the allegiance when his nephew al-Rashid was deposed, at the age of forty. ²

Al-Suyuti relates that the reason for his title was a vision in which he saw the Prophet six days before he came to the caliphate, who said to him: "This affair will reach you, so follow in my footsteps." ²

The sultan Mas'ud confiscated his lands, then restored them to him, and his standing grew strong and his prestige increased. Al-Suyuti considers that this was the beginning of the good state of the Abbasid dynasty. He wrote a deed of appointment for Nur al-Din, placing Egypt under him, and renewed a door of the Ka'ba. ²

Al-Suyuti quotes al-Dhahabi as saying that he was among the chiefs of the caliphs, a learned, pious, brave and forbearing man, and that no matter in his state, however small, was carried out except with his signature. ²

He died on the night of Sunday, the second of Rabi al-Awwal 555 AH. ²