Muḥammad ibn al-Muʿtaṣim ( ar, محمد ابن المعتصم) was an
Abbasid
The Abbasid Caliphate ( or ; ar, الْخِلَافَةُ الْعَبَّاسِيَّة, ') was the third caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abdul-Muttalib ...
prince, the son of Caliph
al-Mu'tasim
Abū Isḥāq Muḥammad ibn Hārūn al-Rashīd ( ar, أبو إسحاق محمد بن هارون الرشيد; October 796 – 5 January 842), better known by his regnal name al-Muʿtaṣim biʾllāh (, ), was the eighth Abbasid caliph, ruling f ...
. He was a contemporary of the caliph
al-Wathiq
Abū Jaʿfar Hārūn ibn Muḥammad ( ar, أبو جعفر هارون بن محمد المعتصم; 17 April 812 – 10 August 847), better known by his laqab, regnal name al-Wāthiq bi’llāh (, ), was an Abbasid caliph who reigned from 842 un ...
and
al-Mutawakkil
Abū al-Faḍl Jaʿfar ibn Muḥammad al-Muʿtaṣim bi-ʾllāh ( ar, جعفر بن محمد المعتصم بالله; March 822 – 11 December 861), better known by his regnal name Al-Mutawakkil ʿalā Allāh (, "He who relies on God") was t ...
. His son Ahmad became the twelfth Abbasid caliph as
al-Musta'in
Abū al-ʿAbbās Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad ( ar, أبو العباس أحمد بن محمد بن محمد; 836 – 17 October 866), better known by his regnal title Al-Mustaʿīn (836 – 17 October 866) was the Abbasid caliph from 86 ...
. Muhammad was the first prince in the
Abbasid
The Abbasid Caliphate ( or ; ar, الْخِلَافَةُ الْعَبَّاسِيَّة, ') was the third caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abdul-Muttalib ...
history whose son became a caliph, no other Abbasid prince before him had this prestige.
Background
Muhammad was the son of Abū Isḥaq Muhammad. He was the member of influential
Abbasid house that was ruling the Caliphate since 750. His full name was Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn Harun al-Rashid and his
Kunya was Abu Ahmad.
His father, al-Mu'tasim's parents were the fifth Abbasīd caliph,
Harun al-Rashid
Abu Ja'far Harun ibn Muhammad al-Mahdi ( ar
, أبو جعفر هارون ابن محمد المهدي) or Harun ibn al-Mahdi (; or 766 – 24 March 809), famously known as Harun al-Rashid ( ar, هَارُون الرَشِيد, translit=Hārūn ...
(), and Marida bint Shabib, concubine. Muhammad was born during his uncle's reign.
His uncle,
al-Ma'mun
Abu al-Abbas Abdallah ibn Harun al-Rashid ( ar, أبو العباس عبد الله بن هارون الرشيد, Abū al-ʿAbbās ʿAbd Allāh ibn Hārūn ar-Rashīd; 14 September 786 – 9 August 833), better known by his regnal name Al-Ma'mu ...
had made no official provisions for his succession. Al-Ma'mun's son,
al-Abbas was old enough to rule and had acquired experience of command in the border wars with the Byzantines, but had not been named heir. According to the account of al-Tabari, on his deathbed al-Ma'mun dictated a letter nominating his brother, rather than al-Abbas, as his successor, and Abu Ishaq was acclaimed as caliph on 9August, with the
regnal title
A regnal title is the title held by a monarch while in office. Monarchs can have various titles, including king or queen, prince or princess (Sovereign Prince of Monaco), emperor or empress (Emperor of Japan, Emperor of India), or even duke or gran ...
of al-Mu'tasim (in full ''al-Muʿtaṣim bi’llāh'', "he who seeks refuge in God"). His father became the eighth Abbasid caliph of the
Caliphate
A caliphate or khilāfah ( ar, خِلَافَة, ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with the title of caliph (; ar, خَلِيفَة , ), a person considered a political-religious successor to th ...
.
Biography
![Abbasids Ninth Century](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/71/Abbasids_Ninth_Century.svg)
Muhammad was the son of caliph al-Mu'tasim (r. 833–842) from one of his concubine (
Umm walad
An ''umm walad'' ( ar, أم ولد, , lit=mother of the child) was the title given to a slave-concubine in the Muslim world after she had born her master a child. She could not be sold, and became automatically free on her master's death. The off ...
). He spend his childhood in
Baghdad
Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...
. As an Abbasid prince he received a good education along with his other brothers. When his father became Caliph, the wealth of Muhammad and his brothers increased. In 836 his father founded new city
Samarra
Samarra ( ar, سَامَرَّاء, ') is a city in Iraq. It stands on the east bank of the Tigris in the Saladin Governorate, north of Baghdad. The city of Samarra was founded by Abbasid Caliph Al-Mutasim for his Turkish professional army ...
and moved the capital of the Caliphate to there, Muhammad also moved to Samarra. His father ruled the Empire for almost eight years until his death. His elder brother
Al-Wathiq
Abū Jaʿfar Hārūn ibn Muḥammad ( ar, أبو جعفر هارون بن محمد المعتصم; 17 April 812 – 10 August 847), better known by his laqab, regnal name al-Wāthiq bi’llāh (, ), was an Abbasid caliph who reigned from 842 un ...
became caliph after his father's death on 5 January 842. He ascended smoothly to the throne without any opposition by his brothers including Muhammad. Six years later, al-Wathiq died as the result of
dropsy
Edema, also spelled oedema, and also known as fluid retention, dropsy, hydropsy and swelling, is the build-up of fluid in the body's tissue. Most commonly, the legs or arms are affected. Symptoms may include skin which feels tight, the area ma ...
, while being seated in an oven in an attempt to cure it, on 10 August 847. Muhammad was a courtier and a patron of scholars during his reign. He was succeeded by
al-Mutawakkil
Abū al-Faḍl Jaʿfar ibn Muḥammad al-Muʿtaṣim bi-ʾllāh ( ar, جعفر بن محمد المعتصم بالله; March 822 – 11 December 861), better known by his regnal name Al-Mutawakkil ʿalā Allāh (, "He who relies on God") was t ...
.
The life of Muhammad under him is obscure, as he played no important role in political affairs.
His brother, Al-Mutawakkil saw Muhammad as a potential successor (future caliph) because of his popularity to prevent Muhammad from succession, His brother caliph
al-Mutawakkil
Abū al-Faḍl Jaʿfar ibn Muḥammad al-Muʿtaṣim bi-ʾllāh ( ar, جعفر بن محمد المعتصم بالله; March 822 – 11 December 861), better known by his regnal name Al-Mutawakkil ʿalā Allāh (, "He who relies on God") was t ...
(
r. 847-861) had created a plan of succession that would allow his sons to inherit the caliphate after his death; he would be succeeded first by his eldest son,
al-Muntasir
Abu Ja'far Muhammad ( ar, أبو جعفر محمد; November 837 – 7 June 862), better known by his regnal title Al-Muntasir bi-llah (, "He who triumphs in God") was the caliph of the Abbasid Caliphate from 861 to 862, during the "Anarchy at Sa ...
, then by
al-Mu'tazz
Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar ( ar, أبو عبد الله محمد بن جعفر; 847 – 16 July 869), better known by his regnal title al-Muʿtazz bi-ʾllāh (, "He who is strengthened by God") was the Abbasid caliph from 866 to 869 ...
and third by
al-Mu'ayyad. This nomination of his three sons as heir prevent all his brothers from succession especially Muhammad and Ahmad.
Muhammad ibn al-Mu'tasim had several children from different concubines, one of them was Ahmad. Ahmad (future
al-Musta'in
Abū al-ʿAbbās Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad ( ar, أبو العباس أحمد بن محمد بن محمد; 836 – 17 October 866), better known by his regnal title Al-Mustaʿīn (836 – 17 October 866) was the Abbasid caliph from 86 ...
) was born in 836 to a concubine from
Sicily
(man) it, Siciliana (woman)
, population_note =
, population_blank1_title =
, population_blank1 =
, demographics_type1 = Ethnicity
, demographics1_footnotes =
, demographi ...
called Makhariq also known as Umm Ahmad. Muhammad died during the reign of his brother al-Mutawakkil. Even though he was sidelined from succession, his popularity didn't die. His son became caliph in mid 862.
Contribution to accession of al-Musta'in to Caliphate
Just few years after death of Muhammad. In December 861 al-Mutawakkil was assassinated by a group of Turkic military officers, likely with the support of al-Muntasir. During al-Muntasir's short reign (r. 861-862), the Turks pressured him into removing al-Mu'tazz and al-Mu'ayyad from the succession. When al-Muntasir died, the Turkic officers gathered together and decided to install the dead caliph's cousin
al-Musta'in
Abū al-ʿAbbās Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad ( ar, أبو العباس أحمد بن محمد بن محمد; 836 – 17 October 866), better known by his regnal title Al-Mustaʿīn (836 – 17 October 866) was the Abbasid caliph from 86 ...
on the throne.
[Bosworth, "Muntasir," p. 583] Muhammad's connection with Caliphal court, his relation with al-Wathiq and his popularity among officers of Turkic regiment became his major contribution to Al-Musta'in's career.
See also
*
Al-Qasim ibn Harun al-Rashid
Al-Qāsim ibn Hārūn al-Rashīd () was an Abbasid prince, the third son of the Abbasid caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809), and for a time third-in-line to the Abbasid throne.
Biography
Qasim was Harun's third son, born to a slave mother nam ...
*
Amir al-hajj
References
Sources
*
*
*
*
* {{cite book , author = Masudi , author-link = al-Masudi , title = The Meadows of Gold: The Abbasids , translator = Paul Lunde and Caroline Stone , publisher = Routledge , location = London and New York , year = 2010 , orig-year = 1989 , isbn = 978-0-7103-0246-5 , url = {{Google Books, _5MrBgAAQBAJ, plainurl=y
Arab Muslims
9th-century births
9th-century deaths
Sons of Abbasid caliphs
9th-century people from the Abbasid Caliphate
9th-century Arabs