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Salih ibn Ali

صالح بن علي

Salih ibn Ali ibn Abdullah ibn al-Abbas, prince of the Abbasid da'wa and its first governor over Syria; in al-Baladhuri: when word reached him that a company in Mount Lebanon had complained of Ba'labakk's kharaj administrator and that the Byzantines had abetted them, he sent troops who killed their fighters, kept the rest on their religion, returned them to their villages and exiled a company of Lebanon's people — whereupon al-Awza'i wrote him his famous letter decrying punishment of the many for the sins of the few; the House of the Dyers at al-Ramla passed to his heirs, seized with Umayyad wealth.

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Era
The Early Abbasid Caliphate
Identifiers
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Overview

Salih ibn Ali ibn Abd Allah ibn al-Abbas, one of the commanders of the Abbasid mission, and its first governor over Syria 1.

Mount Lebanon

According to al-Baladhuri, news reached him that some people on Mount Lebanon had complained of the tax agent of Baalbek, and that the Byzantines had colluded with them. He sent them men who killed their combatants, confirmed those who remained in their religion and returned them to their villages, and exiled some of the people of Lebanon. al-Awza'i then wrote his well-known letter to him denouncing the seizure of the common people for the sins of the elite. See al-Awza'i's letter to Salih 1.

The house in Ramla

The house of the dyers in Ramla passed to his heirs, when it was confiscated together with the property of the Umayyads 1.

The pursuit of Marwan

He set out in pursuit of Marwan ibn Muhammad, together with Abu Awn Abd al-Malik ibn Yazid and Amir ibn Isma'il al-Madhhiji. They caught up with him in Egypt, where he was camped at Busir. They attacked his camp by night, calling out "Vengeance for Ibrahim!" 2.

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Participated in
al-Awza'i's Letter to Salih ibn Ali· The Taking and Settling of Mar'ash· Al-Mansur's Rebuilding of Malatya

People and things also explored

Dhimma (the covenant of protection)· The Conquest of the Jazira· Abd al-Wahhab ibn Ibrahim al-Imam· Abu Ubayda ibn al-Jarrah· al-'Abbas ibn al-Walid· Al-Awza'i, Abd al-Rahman ibn Amr· Muhammad al-Mahdi· Abu Ja'far al-Mansur

Sources

  1. Futuh al-Buldan — al-Baladhuri (Mu'assasat al-Ma'arif edition)
  2. Muruj al-Dhahab — al-Masʼudi , p.233
Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “Salih ibn Ali”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/person/salih-ibn-ali/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-19.

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People

Prophets, companions, scholars, rulers, scientists, poets, travelers: women and men who shaped the story. Related

Dhimma (the covenant of protection)

Dhimma in al-Baladhuri is the written covenant of security granted to treaty peoples of the Book: its formula in the Prophet's letter to Najran runs 'they have God's protection and the protection of His messenger over their persons, religion, lands, wealth, absent and present', and its stipulated terms in the Najran peace include that they not be seduced from their religion or its ranks, nor levied nor tithed, and in the letter's text that no bishop be removed from his bishopric, no monk from his monasticism, no right of theirs or their images — crucifixes and icons — be altered, and no army tread their land, while whoever of them took usury the Prophet's protection was quit of him; the letter of the people of Maqna grants 'God's protection and His messenger's' with security and pardon for every blood; and the dhimma was renewed under the caliphs — Abu Bakr wrote to the people of Najran on the model of the Prophet's letter, and Uthman called them 'a people who have a dhimma' when he remitted two hundred of their hullas.