Episode 89: Al Muttaqi, al Mustakfi, and al Muti’
The Abbasid fall from grace was long and messy. It’s been a while since the dynasty produced a powerful caliph, […]
This podcast started as a log of my journey through multiple classical Arab histories. Listeners are invited to join me as I construct a narrative out of the long and often contradictory accounts left to us by the earliest Arab historians. We’ll use their material (and at times supplement it with more recent scholarship) to try and understand the political evolution of the Arabs from warring nomadic tribes at the edges of civilization, to the proud rulers of the greatest empire of their time, and then back again. Our vantage point into this world will be their leaders, the “successors to God’s prophet Mohammad”: the caliphs.
The Abbasid fall from grace was long and messy. It’s been a while since the dynasty produced a powerful caliph, […]
The creation of the role of amir al umara’ transformed the political landscape in Baghdad. It attracted men of influence […]
We’ve reached the end of the road as far as Abbasid authority is concerned. Although it had waxed and waned […]
A chaotic period followed al Muqtadir’s death in battle. Although officials quickly reached a consensus on the elevation of his […]
Considering the absurd levels of official mismanagement, it’s astounding how long the caliphate survived during al Muqtadir’s inept administration. Although […]
Having discussed the disorder in the caliphate’s civil bureaucracy we’ll turn our attention to the state of its military. The […]
My personal experiences and opinions on a subject close to my heart and fate.
For the very first time in Arab history, a child became the umma’s caliph. The 13 year old had not […]
After all our recent foreshadowing, we’ve finally arrived at the period of Abbasid collapse. It’s a relatively long period, stretching […]
Cataloguing the tapestry of Islamic traditions is a task that lies well beyond our scope, but every now and again […]
Reading about this caliph’s reign in our sources is a bewildering experience: everything is simultaneously great and on the brink […]
Before you even hit play it should already be clear to you that the caliphate is only going to get […]
Get ready for a blast from the past! Perhaps I should have prepared you for a weak pun instead. Hearing […]
Al Mu’tamid’s reign lasted from 870 to 892. The Abbasid Caliphate was reborn during these decades, midwifed by the caliph’s […]
Having covered the caliphate’s East last time, we must now do the same for its west. The anarchy left such […]
We have been focused exclusively on the capital province of Iraq ever since the outbreak of anarchy. While we had […]
Now that the anarchy was over, a reduced but reunited Abbasid military could finally face up to the multitude of […]
The death of Salih ibn Waseef left Musa ibn Bugha in charge of the caliphate’s armies. This newfound unity effectively […]
Dilapidated by years of internal conflict and ruinous mismanagement, the caliphate was a mere shadow of its former self. The […]
Instead of bringing about a measure of peace, the end of the civil war signaled a return to the anarchy […]
As the last vestiges of Abbasid authority crumbled, the caliphate spiraled further into chaos. It wasn’t too long before an […]
Al Muntasir’s sudden passing took the caliphate into uncharted political territory. It had only been six months since the plot […]
It’s difficult to overstate the impact al Mutawakkil’s usurpation had on the political reality of the caliphate. Not only did […]
Succession planning presented a sporadic problem for the caliphate. The great fitna was the last disaster spawned by ill-conceived designs, […]
Despite the religious overtones of the caliphate, there was nothing very islamic about the state when it came to policy. […]
Considering their invincibility on the battlefield, the caliphate’s armies probably felt assured that they would remain the state’s number one […]
For the first time in Arab history, a council of administrators selected the man who would become the next caliph. […]
Despite the general unpopularity of al Mu’tasim’s Turkish inner-circle, the paradigm he established proved so stable that it endured throughout […]
Al Mu’tasim’s armies were among the strongest ever fielded by the caliphate. They reliably triumphed over their foes and faced […]
For the third time in a row, a son of Harun al Rashid took control of the umma. Al Mu’tasim […]
It’s hard to identify a single aspect of the umma left unchanged by al Ma’mun’s long reign: he had a […]
Two decades of al Ma’mun’s capable administration led the caliphate to an extraordinary recovery. His return to Baghdad put an […]
Back in Baghdad, al Ma’mun finally began to play an active role in running the Abbasid state. The five years […]
Al Ma’mun’s surprise victory over his brother left him in charge of the entire caliphate. But the conclusion of the […]
Haroon al Rashid divided his realm among his children, and the young men were quickly goaded into conflict with one […]
Haroon al Rashid worked towards fool-proofing his succession arrangement more than any other caliph by far: the ceremony he held […]
Due to his father al Mahdi’s arrangement, Haroon al Rashid endured a traumatic year during which his brother tried to […]
Royal advisors, court attendants, and other officials began to hold some real political power in the Abbasid caliphate, a development […]
Now that we’ve covered Haroon al Rashid’s foreign wars, we can get started with the messy conflicts which took place […]
Haroon al Rashid is commonly portrayed as a martial caliph, one who menaced the Byzantine empire and led a tireless […]
From our vantage point in the 21st century, it is clear that Haroon al Rashid is by far the most […]
The sudden passing of Mohammad al Mahdi led his son Musa al Hadi to become the umma’s next leader sooner […]
Al Mansur’s long reign transformed the caliphate in countless ways, most of them for the better. It provided a kind […]
Perhaps most significant among al Mansur’s many triumphs was his founding of a new capital for his administration, a glorious […]
The chaos of the Abbasid revolution gave foreign powers a rare opportunity to strike at the caliphate while it was […]
The Abbasids based their legitimacy on the fact that they were part of the prophet’s clan. This was not contested […]
One of al Mansur’s first acts as caliph was to lure Abu Muslim to his court and assassinate the powerful […]
Much of what people associate with the idea of a medieval Arab caliphate is rooted in the reign of our […]
Succession once again warrants its own episode. Al Saffah relied on three commanders to oversee different parts of his caliphate, […]
The Abbasid revolution showed what it took to overthrow a dynasty; establishing a new one brought a whole other set […]
The Abbasid path to power required stealth, deceit, and most of all patience. The Hashemite family managed to unseat the […]
While the Umayyads fought among themselves in distant Syria, dangerous developments were underway in Khurasan. The umma’s divisions in the […]
Yazid III’s successful coup against Walid II blew up the tribal feud. Syrian unity had long undergirded Umayyad power in […]
It took Hisham two decades to undo the damage his half-brothers had wrought upon the umma with their careless administration. […]
The capable Hisham protected his caliphate from the many enemies who lined its borders. These were not the only ones […]
Khurasan and the East remained as volatile as ever, and Hisham had to contend with the new threat of the […]
Hisham’s armies faced many different opponents during his long and formidable reign. The mismanagement of the half-brothers who preceded him […]
In the nine years between al Walid’s death in 715 and Hisham’s ascension in 724 the umma went through three […]
Yazid came to power following the transformative reign of the pious Omar II. The new caliph faced some immediate resistance, […]
Sulayman’s underwhelming time in charge ended with a twist, and Omar ibn Abdulaziz proved to be a real surprise. The […]
Suleiman is one of the least documented caliphs in our sources. His short reign proved popular despite its lack of […]
If Walid’s reign was the zenith of Umayyad power, then his succession marked an inflection point through which we begin […]
Although Abdulmalik was an incredibly tough act to follow, his successor was bequeathed an unassailably powerful position. The caliphate was […]
Having exhausted the many rebellions against his unpopular governor, we can finally turn our attention to assessing Abdulmalik’s leadership and […]
Having securely established his position in Syria, Abdulmalik relied on his dependable governor al Hajjaj to keep the Iraqis in […]
Abdulmalik’s adept handling of the second fitna revealed him to be a shrewd mover and shaker with a disposition suitable […]
The second fitna revealed the unprecedented level of division within the umma, divisions which only grew as the civil conflict […]
Before we can continue our discussion of the struggle between Abdulmalik and Ibn il Zubayr, we need to step back […]
The umma spiraled further into disorder and civil war after the sudden death of the caliph and the subsequent collapse […]
Mu’awiya’s thorough preparations before his death left little doubt as to who would succeed him. His mastery over the umma’s […]
Just because Mu’awiya held supreme power within the caliphate didn’t mean he thought his will was absolute. He had displayed […]
The same skills which propelled Mu’awiya along his relentless rise to the top of the caliphate helped him rule the […]
It is one of the sharper ironies of Islamic history that the clan which had led the resistance to the […]
The first four leaders of the umma were collectively bestowed with the honorific “the rightly guided caliphs”. They were all […]
Divisions within the community only grew as the struggle between its two main parties persisted, almost pushing the goal of […]
The unprecedented loss of Arab life at the battle of Siffin put an end to any illusions of the sanctity […]
Following the caliph’s victory over the Meccan faction at Basra, Ali bin Abi Talib turned his attention towards Syria. The […]
As divisions widened within the umma, the battle of the camel marked the first time two muslim armies faced one […]
Legitimating succession within the caliphate was already hard enough, and the rebellion that led to Othman’s death only divided the […]
Dismissing the grievances brought to him earlier in his reign made sure the discontent the caliph faced would only grow. […]
The quasi-political system devised by the Arabs to manage the community’s affairs was hastily put together and it mixed tribal […]
With the confusion of Omar’s assassination and succession behind them, the Arabs were now ready to welcome the reign of […]
Omar’s bold and sweeping policies defined the caliphate and gave it the tools it needed to evolve past its origins […]
We mentioned many of the accomplishments of Omar ibn il Khattab in our last episode, and in this one we […]
The reign of Abu Bakr lasted a little over two years, and he kept Omar close in order to prepare […]
I would like to be the first to admit that this episode doesn’t quite belong in this podcast. It’s just […]
The man chosen to lead the muslims after their prophet’s death was his close friend, Abu Bakr. He thus became […]
Succession can be a tricky issue, but succeeding a prophet is pretty much ensured to get thorny. The Umma barely […]
Before we can talk about the caliphs, we need to build on the context we established last time. The caliphs […]
I introduce us, what this podcast is meant to become, and our subject matter: Arab history.
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