المتوكل على الله

المتوكل على الله

Abbasid caliph, killed in 247 ¹; al-Tabari mentions some of his affairs and conduct ². According to al-Suyuti he was known for enmity to Ali (nasb), immersed in pleasures and wine, had four thousand concubines and had relations with all of them. He was generous and much praised; it was said that no caliph gave a poet what he gave. Eight men, each the son of a caliph, greeted him as caliph: Mansur ibn al-Mahdi, al-Abbas ibn al-Hadi, Abu Ahmad ibn al-Rashid, Abd Allah ibn al-Amin, Musa ibn al-Ma'mun, Ahmad ibn al-Mu'tasim, Muhammad ibn al-Wathiq, and his son al-Muntasir ³. According to al-Suyuti he was the first caliph to adopt a madhhab, following that of al-Shafi'i. He said to al-Fath ibn Khaqan, when the latter described to him the finest life, a man with a spacious house, a righteous wife and a settled livelihood, who does not know us so that we might harm him, nor needs us so that we might despise him. He said to Yazid al-Muhallabi, 'The caliphs used to be harsh with the subjects so that they would obey; I am gentle with them so that they love and obey me' ⁴. According to al-Mas'udi, the days of Abu al-Wazir in the vizierate were few; he employed Muhammad ibn al-Fadl al-Jarjara'i, then 'Ubayd Allah ibn Yahya in 233, until the latter was killed. When someone informed on 'Ali ibn Muhammad al-'Alawi to him, he raided him at night, found him wearing a wool shirt and chanting verses of promise and threat, honoured him, seated him, and excused him from his cup ⁵. According to al-Mas'udi he took oaths of succession for his three sons, set down in documents and conditions: he made his heir al-Muntasir, then al-Mu'tazz, then Ibrahim al-Mu'ayyad. The oath was taken from the people accordingly, and he distributed money ⁶.