al-Mu'tamid ala Allah

المعتمد على الله

Abbasid caliph, given the oath in Rajab 256 under the name al-Mu'tamid ala Allah after the death of al-Muhtadi ¹. According to al-Suyuti he was Ahmad ibn al-Mutawakkil, his mother Fatyan. When al-Muhtadi was killed he had been confined in al-Jawsaq; they brought him out and gave him the oath. He made his brother al-Muwaffaq governor of the East, made his son Ja'far his heir with the title al-Mufawwad ila Allah, and became absorbed in pleasure and neglected his subjects, so people disliked him and loved his brother Talha ². According to al-Mas'udi he was Ahmad ibn Ja'far al-Mutawakkil, kunya Abu al-Abbas, and his mother was a slave-mother from Kufa called Fatyan. He was given the oath on Tuesday, fourteen nights before the end of Rajab 256, aged twenty-five, and died in Rajab 279 aged forty-eight, so his caliphate lasted twenty-three years. He appointed as viziers 'Ubayd Allah ibn Yahya ibn Khaqan, then al-Hasan ibn Makhlad, then Sulayman ibn Wahb, then Sa'id ³. According to al-Mas'udi he was passionately fond of music; drinking and all kinds of pleasures and entertainments dominated him, and he asked 'Ubayd Allah ibn Khurradadhbih who first took up the 'ud ⁴. According to Ibn Khaldun, Yusuf ibn Tashfin seized him, led him captive to Marrakesh, and kept him in confinement there. According to Ibn al-Jawzi, in 271 he cursed 'Amr ibn al-Layth in the presence of the pilgrims of Khurasan and ordered him cursed from the pulpits, after dismissing him from the post he had given him and granting Khurasan to Muhammad ibn Tahir ⁵. He came to Baghdad five nights before the end of Shawwal 272 and alighted at al-Za'faraniyya, with 'Abd Allah ibn Tahir going before him with the spear ⁶.

Depth

At a glance

Identifiers: Wikidata
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Overview

Al-Mu'tamid billah, an Abbasid caliph who was given the allegiance in Rajab 256 AH after the death of al-Muhtadi, and died in 279 AH, so his caliphate lasted twenty-three years. ¹ ³

His accession

Al-Suyuti relates that he was Ahmad ibn al-Mutawakkil, and that his mother was Fityan. He was held in the Jawsaq when al-Muhtadi was killed, and they brought him out and gave him the allegiance. He then appointed his brother al-Muwaffaq over the East, and made his son Ja'far his heir, and titled him "al-Mufawwid ila Allah". ²

Al-Mas'udi gives his kunya as Abu al-Abbas and says his mother was a Kufan concubine. He was given the allegiance on Tuesday, fourteen nights before the end of Rajab 256 AH, at the age of twenty-five. He died in Rajab 279 AH at the age of forty-eight. He appointed as vizier Ubayd Allah ibn Yahya ibn Khaqan, then al-Hasan ibn Makhlad, then Sulayman ibn Wahb, then Sa'id. ³

His portrayal by historians

Al-Suyuti says that he was immersed in amusement and pleasures and occupied himself away from his subjects, so people disliked him and loved his brother Talha. ²

Al-Mas'udi says that he was devoted to music and entertainments. ⁴

Note on the data

The data page ends with a sentence about Yusuf ibn Tashfin's capture of him and his march to Marrakesh, attributed to Ibn Khaldun. This does not fit an Abbasid caliph who died in 279 AH, and it may be from the account of al-Mu'tamid ibn Abbad. It needs an additional source.

Connections

Explore the connections

Allied with: Sulayman ibn Wahb· Ubaydallah ibn Yahya ibn Khaqan
Participated in: Ibn Kundaj intercepts al-Mu'tamid and confines him, 269· Al-Mu'tamid's succession deed for al-Mufawwid and al-Muwaffaq· Yusuf ibn Tashfin's killing of al-Mutawakkil, lord of Badajoz· The division of the realm between al-Mufawwid and al-Muwaffaq

People and things also explored

Abu Ahmad al-Muwaffaq· Ahmad ibn Tulun· Ja'far al-Mufawwid ila Allah ibn al-Mu'tamid· إسحاق بن كنداج· Musa ibn Bugha· يوسف بن تاشفين أمير المسلمين· Baghdad· Ibn Kundaj intercepts al-Mu'tamid and confines him, 269

Sources

Tarikh al-Rusul wa'l-Muluk — al-Tabari (ed. Abu al-Fadl Ibrahim) , j.9 p.474
Tarikh al-Khulafa — al-Suyuti (Dar al-Minhaj edition) , p. 564
Muruj al-Dhahab — al-Masʼudi , p. 571
Muruj al-Dhahab — al-Masʼudi , p. 588
al-Muntazam fi Tarikh al-Muluk wa'l-Umam — Ibn al-Jawzi , p. 83
al-Muntazam fi Tarikh al-Muluk wa'l-Umam — Ibn al-Jawzi , p. 85

Kitab al-Ibar of Ibn Khaldun

Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “al-Mu'tamid ala Allah”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/person/al-mutamid/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-23.

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Abu Ahmad al-Muwaffaq

Brother of the caliph al-Mu'tamid. Al-Tabari records his departure from al-Jabal for Iraq, his illness with gout, and his death on a Wednesday, eight days before the end of Safar 278. According to al-Suyuti, his brother al-Mu'tazz invested him with the robe of kingship, crowned him with a gold crown and a jewelled cap, gave him two shawls and girded him with two swords; in the same year he removed him from office and exiled him to Wasit. Also according to al-Suyuti, his brother al-Mu'tamid placed him in charge of the east, and he commanded the army in most of the engagements against the Zanj; when the leader of the Zanj was killed, the people cried out prayers for al-Muwaffaq and poets praised him. In 269 al-Mu'tamid summoned him back from the direction of Damascus and placed him under restraint; he was given the titles Ibn Kundaj, Dhu al-Sayfayn, and Sa'idan, Dhu al-Wizaratayn, and al-Mu'tamid ordered Ibn Tulun to be cursed from the pulpits. He died in 278, and al-Mu'tamid was relieved of him. According to al-Mas'udi, when al-Musta'in was deposed he went from Baghdad to Samarra, where al-Mu'tazz invested him, put a robe on him, gave him two shawls and clothed his commanders. According to al-Mas'udi, al-Mu'tazz imprisoned him with his brother al-Mu'ayyad, then tightened his confinement and sent him to Basra thirteen nights before the end of Ramadan 252; between his honour and his imprisonment there were six months and three days. According to al-Mas'udi, al-Mu'tamid invested him and Mufallih at the start of Rabi' I 258 and sent them against the leader of the Zanj; he met Ya'qub al-Saffar at Sayb Bani Kuma in 262. According to Ibn al-Jawzi, the gout grew so severe that he could not ride, so he had a domed litter made to sit in, with an attendant who cooled his feet with cold things until ice was applied to them; his leg became elephantiasis. Forty porters carried his litter, twenty at a time in turns. When the pain grew he would order them to set him down and say: 'You are weary of me, and I wish I were one of you, carrying a load on my head and eating in good health.' He also said: 'My register covers a hundred thousand men, yet none of them is in a worse state than I am.' He died in the Qasr al-Hasani on the night of Thursday, eight days before the end of Safar 278, aged forty-seven years less a month and some days. Abdallah ibn al-Mu'tazz wrote a letter of condolence: 'I console you with al-Mansur the second, for I know of no one among his descendants more like him.' In his war against the Zanj he sent their leader a letter calling him to repent and return to God from the shedding of blood, the violation of what is sacred, the ruin of lands, and the claim to a prophethood and messengership that God had not made him fit for, and to give up his course and join the community of Muslims. When the letter reached him it only increased his aversion and obstinacy, and he did not reply. He encamped in the city he named al-Muwaffaqiyya, sent merchants to it, built its congregational mosque, and set up mints there where dinars and dirhams were struck.