al-Mu'tasim Abu Ishaq ibn al-Rashid

المعتصم بالله أبو إسحاق بن الرشيد

al-Mu'tasim bi'llah Abu Ishaq Muhammad ibn Harun al-Rashid, eighth caliph of the Abbasids; in al-Baladhuri: in his caliphate the Romans came out to Zibatra, killed its men, captured its women and wrecked it — which grieved and angered him so that he raided them as far as Amorium, having destroyed forts on the way, camped on it, took it, killed the fighters, captured the women and children, demolished it, and ordered Zibatra rebuilt, fortified and garrisoned.

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Al-Mu'tasim Billah, Abu Ishaq Muhammad ibn Harun al-Rashid, eighth of the Abbasid caliphs, the caliph of the Amorium campaign; he died in 227 AH.

Al-Mu'tasim Billah, Abu Ishaq Muhammad ibn Harun al-Rashid, eighth of the Abbasid caliphs, died in 227 AH. Al-Baladhuri records that in his caliphate the Romans went out to Zibatra and ruined it, which angered him into campaigning until he reached Amorium, besieged it till he opened it, then laid it waste — ordering Zibatra rebuilt and fortified. Al-Suyuti records al-Ma'mun naming him for the caliphate in letters sent to the lands before his death. He was called 'al-Muthamman' (the Eighter): eighth Abbasid caliph, eighth of al-Rashid's sons, ruled eight years, eight months and eight days, lived forty-eight years, and is credited with eight conquests and eight sons; his seal bore 'Praise be to God, nothing is like unto Him'.

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Al-Mu'tasim Billah, Abu Ishaq Muhammad ibn Harun al-Rashid, eighth of the Abbasid caliphs, died in 227 AH. Al-Baladhuri records that in his caliphate the Romans went out to Zibatra, killed the men, took the women captive and ruined it, which angered him into campaigning until he reached Amorium, besieged it till he opened it, then laid it waste — ordering Zibatra rebuilt and fortified; son of Harun al-Rashid, he took part in the Zibatra affair and the opening of Amorium. Al-Suyuti records al-Ma'mun naming him for the caliphate in letters sent to the lands before his death — said to be by al-Ma'mun's command, said to be written when a faint struck him. Al-Suyuti tells he was called 'al-Muthamman' (the Eighter): eighth Abbasid caliph, eighth of al-Rashid's sons, ruled eight years, eight months and eight days, lived forty-eight years, and is credited with eight conquests and eight sons. His seal bore 'Praise be to God, nothing is like unto Him'.

Overview

Al-Mu'tasim billah, Abu Ishaq Muhammad ibn Harun al-Rashid, the eighth of the Abbasid caliphs, who died in 227 AH. ¹ ² He was the son of Harun al-Rashid.

His command and the conquest of Amorium

Al-Baladhuri relates that in his caliphate the Byzantines went out to Zibatra, killed the men, took the women captive and ruined it. This angered him, and he raided them until he reached Amorium, besieged it until he took it, and then ruined it. He ordered Zibatra rebuilt and fortified. ³ He took part in this event and in the conquest of Amorium.

The succession

Al-Suyuti says that al-Ma'mun named him as caliph in letters sent to the lands shortly before his death. It is said this was by al-Ma'mun's order, and it is also said the letters were written when al-Ma'mun fell into a faint. ⁴

"The Eighth"

Al-Suyuti relates that he was called "al-Muthamman", because he was the eighth of the Abbasid caliphs and the eighth of Harun's sons, and he reigned eight years, eight months and eight days, and lived forty-eight years. He counts eight conquests and eight sons. ¹

His seal bore: "Praise belongs to God, there is nothing like Him." ¹

His conduct in al-Mas'udi

Al-Mas'udi says that in matters of doctrine he followed the view of his brother al-Ma'mun, and love of horsemanship and imitation of the kings of the non-Arabs overcame him. He wore caps and turbans, and people followed him, so they were called "al-Mu'tasimiyyat". Roads were safe in his days. ⁵

He gathered Turks and bought them until they reached four thousand. When they harmed the common people of Baghdad by galloping horses through the markets, he resolved to move, and he camped at al-Baradhan, then al-Qatul, then Samarra. ⁶

His death

He died on the Tigris in his palace known as al-Khaqani on Thursday, eighteen nights before the end of Rabi al-Awwal 227 AH, at the age of forty-eight. He was born in al-Khuld in Baghdad in 180 AH. ²

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Sources

Tarikh al-Khulafa — al-Suyuti (Dar al-Minhaj edition) , p. 520-527

Muruj al-Dhahab — al-Masʼudi , p. 453

Futuh al-Buldan — al-Baladhuri (Mu'assasat al-Ma'arif edition)

Tarikh al-Khulafa — al-Suyuti (Dar al-Minhaj edition) , p. 493

Muruj al-Dhahab — al-Masʼudi , p. 672

Muruj al-Dhahab — al-Masʼudi , p. 442, 444-445

Abd Allah al-Ma'mun ibn Harun al-Rashid

Abbasid caliph, given the oath of allegiance at Baghdad after the deposition of his brother al-Amin in 196 AH; he died in 218 AH. Al-Tabari also records the mihna over the Qur'an in his reign. According to al-Suyuti, he was born on the night of Saturday, fourteen days before the end of Rabi' I 170, the night his paternal uncle al-Hadi died and his father's accession was made; there was no other night in all time in which one caliph died, another rose, and a child was born, except this one. Also according to al-Suyuti, in 204 he set out and entered Baghdad in Safar, where the Abbasids asked him to return to black, the Abbasid colour, and he agreed; in 218 people were tested on the doctrine that the Qur'an was created. He alone, after Uthman ibn Affan, is said to have memorised the Qur'an among the caliphs, and his seal bore the inscription 'Abd Allah ibn Ubayd Allah'. A woman asked him about the division of an inheritance of 600 dinars; he reckoned it out: two daughters take two-thirds, a mother a sixth, a wife an eighth, and twelve brothers received two dinars each while she received one dinar, and it came out as he had said. Also according to al-Suyuti, a Kharijite came to him and asked what had moved him to oppose them; he answered with a verse of God's Book, and when asked whether he knew it was revealed he said yes, and when asked for proof he gave the consensus of the community. The Kharijite replied: 'As you accepted their consensus on the revelation, accept their consensus on the interpretation.' The Kharijite said, 'You have spoken truly,' and addressed him as Commander of the Faithful. The first hadith he transmitted from a pulpit set up for him was, through Hushaym, Abu al-Jahm, al-Zuhri, Abu Salama and Abu Hurayra: 'Imru' al-Qays, banner-bearer of the poets, to the Fire'. According to al-Mas'udi, at the start of his career, while al-Fadl ibn Sahl dominated him, al-Ma'mun engaged in judging by the stars, followed the ways of the Sasanian kings such as Ardashir ibn Babak, and laboured at reading ancient books. When he came to Iraq he gave this up, professed divine unity and the promise and the threat, sat with the theologians, and favoured the disputatious ones such as Abu al-Hudhayl al-Allaf and Ibrahim ibn Sayyar al-Nazzam. He kept jurists and men of letters attending his council and paid them stipends, so that each party wrote books defending its school. He was the most forgiving of people, the most patient, and the most generous with money. Also according to al-Mas'udi, al-Rashid said of him: 'I recognise in Abd Allah the firmness of al-Mansur, the piety of al-Mahdi, and the dignity of al-Hadi.' After al-Asma'i had recited to them, a prophecy was made concerning the two of them, that their word would be scattered, blood would be shed and the veils of women torn. Al-Rashid gave him war and the son of his own mother peace, and said: 'We fear your son for Abd Allah, and we do not fear Abd Allah for him'. His mother was from Badhghis, named Marajil. Al-Fadl ibn Sahl dominated him and pressed him over a slave-girl he wished to buy, and he killed him, though some claimed that someone had been secretly sent against him to kill him. He showed Shi'i leanings and lampooned his paternal uncle Ibrahim ibn al-Mahdi, nicknamed Ibn Shakla, in verse; Ibrahim answered him in verse. He used to say that everything could be forgiven except disparaging the kingship, disclosing secrets and violating the sanctity of women, and that the masters of people in this world are the generous and in the next the prophets. He addressed the estates of his family, citing a verse of the Qur'an. He died at al-Budandun, near Ayn al-Qushayra, in 218 AH, aged 49, and was buried at Tarsus. More remarkable still was the man who broke wind during his address: al-Ma'mun said of him, 'I have never seen a man steadier of heart,' and gave him fifty thousand dirhams. He said to Abu al-Atahiya: 'The nature of the soul is boredom and the love of novelty'. Al-Suli related from Ya'qub ibn Ja'far, as in al-Mas'udi, the reason for his wearing green and then black: the Hashimites gathered before Zaynab bint Sulayman ibn Ali, the most senior of the Abbasid line in descent, and she spoke to him. He answered her: 'O aunt of the Messenger of God, when he died Abu Bakr succeeded, then Umar, who did not go beyond the practice of those before him; then Uthman, who turned to the Umayyads; then the matter came to Ali ibn Abi Talib, who appointed Abd Allah ibn al-Abbas to Basra, Ubayd Allah ibn al-Abbas to Yemen, and Qutham to Bahrain, and he left none of them without an office. So this debt stayed upon us until his offspring sufficed us.' Then he returned to wearing black. He also had a poem fitting the theme, including the line: 'Am I to be blamed for giving thanks to the legatee, Abu al-Hasan?'.

al-Mu'tasim Abu Ishaq ibn al-Rashid

At a glance