Difference between revisions of "Abbasids" - New World Encyclopedia
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[[Image:Abbasid Provinces during the caliphate of Harun al-Rashid.JPG|right|thumb|Abbasid provinces during the caliphate of [[Harun al-Rashid]]]] | [[Image:Abbasid Provinces during the caliphate of Harun al-Rashid.JPG|right|thumb|Abbasid provinces during the caliphate of [[Harun al-Rashid]]]] | ||
| − | '''Abbasid''' ([[Arabic language|Arabic]]: العبّاسدين {{unicode|al-ʿAbbāsidīn}}) was the dynastic name generally given to the [[Caliph|caliphs]] of [[Baghdad]], the second of the two great [[Sunni]] dynasties of the [[Muslim]] empire, that overthrew the [[Umayyads|Umayyid]] caliphs. It seized power in 750, when it finally defeated the Umayyads in battle, and flourished for two centuries, but slowly went into decline with the rise to power of the [[Ottoman Empire|Turkish]] army they had created, the [[Mamluks]]. Their claim to power was finally ended in | + | '''Abbasid''' ([[Arabic language|Arabic]]: العبّاسدين {{unicode|al-ʿAbbāsidīn}}) was the dynastic name generally given to the [[Caliph|caliphs]] of [[Baghdad]], the second of the two great [[Sunni]] dynasties of the [[Muslim]] empire, that overthrew the [[Umayyads|Umayyid]] caliphs. It seized power in 750, when it finally defeated the Umayyads in battle, and flourished for two centuries, but slowly went into decline with the rise to power of the [[Ottoman Empire|Turkish]] army they had created, the [[Mamluks]]. Their claim to power was finally ended in 1258, when Hulagu Khan, the [[Mongols|Mongol]] general, sacked Baghdad. While they continued to claim authority in religious matters from their base in [[Egypt]], their dynasty was ended. However, traces of this dynasty can be found in modern day Iraq, Kuwait, and in northern areas of Pakistan. |
==Revolt against the Umayyads== | ==Revolt against the Umayyads== | ||
| − | The Abbasid caliphs officially based their claim to the [[Caliph]]ate on their descent from | + | The Abbasid caliphs officially based their claim to the [[Caliph]]ate on their descent from Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib (AD [[566]]-[[652]]), one of the youngest uncles of the Prophet [[Muhammad]] P.B.U.H., by virtue of which descent they regarded themselves as the rightful heirs of the Prophet as opposed to the [[Umayyads]]. The Umayyads were descended from Umayya, and were a clan separate from Muhammad's in the [[Quraish]] tribe. Their forebear, Abu Sufyan, had been Muhammad's bitter foe, althougn he did become a Muslim. |
| − | The Abbasids also distinguished themselves from the Umayyads by attacking their secularism, moral character and administration in general. The Abbasids also appealed to non-Arab Muslims, known as | + | The Abbasids also distinguished themselves from the Umayyads by attacking their secularism, moral character and administration in general. The Abbasids also appealed to non-Arab Muslims, known as mawali, who remained outside the kinship-based society of Arab culture and were at best second-class citizens within the Umayyad empire. Muhammad ibn 'Ali, a great-grandson of Abbas, began to campaign for the return of power to the family of the Prophet, the Hashimites, in [[Iran|Persia]] during the reign of Umar II, Muhammad ibn Ali. |
| − | During the reign of | + | During the reign of Marwan II this opposition culminated in the rebellion of Ibrahim the Imam, the fourth in descent from Abbas, who, supported by the province of Khorasan, achieved considerable successes, but was captured (AD [[747]]) and died in prison (as some hold, assassinated). The quarrel was taken up by his brother Abdallah, known by the name of Abu al-'Abbas [[as-Saffah]], who, after a decisive victory on the[Greater Zab River (750), finally crushed the Umayyads and was proclaimed Caliph. |
| + | |||
| + | |||
| + | Accusing the Umayyads of ruling the Islamic territory as emperors rather than as deputies of the Prophet of Islam, the Abbasids claimed religious legitimacy for their revolt and went into battle with the cry, 'O Muhammad, helped of God'. They later wore Muhammad's mantle while leaing Friday prayers as a sign of their loyalty to his tradition. The Abbasids may have promised their supporters that they would restore the origonal process by which the 'best among' the Muslims would be selected as Caliph and abolish the dynastic system. They may also have hoped to reconcile Sunni and Shi'a Islam by assesrting that their family link to Muhammad through a male uncle was more legititimate than that of Ali's descendants, who traced themselves through [[Fatimah]]. The Abbasids rejected the rival claims of the [[Fatimids]] of Egypt on the basis that the Caliphate could not be transmitted through women. | ||
==Consolidation and schisms== | ==Consolidation and schisms== | ||
| − | The Abbasids had depended heavily on the support of Persians in their overthrow of the Umayyads. Abu al-'Abbas' successor, al- | + | The Abbasids had depended heavily on the support of Persians in their overthrow of the Umayyads. Abu al-'Abbas' successor, al-Mansur, moved their capital from [[Damascus]] to the new city of [[Baghdad]] and welcomed non-Arab Muslims to their court. While this helped integrate Arab and Persian cultures, it alienated many of their Arab supporters, particularly the Khorasanian Arabs who had supported them in their battles against the Umayyads. |
| + | |||
| − | |||
These fissures in their support led to immediate problems. The Umayyads, while out of power, were not destroyed. The remains of the Umayyad Caliphate, the only survivor of a dinner party where all the others were assassinated finally made his way to Spain. There he established a Caliphate, also called Umayyad. | These fissures in their support led to immediate problems. The Umayyads, while out of power, were not destroyed. The remains of the Umayyad Caliphate, the only survivor of a dinner party where all the others were assassinated finally made his way to Spain. There he established a Caliphate, also called Umayyad. | ||
| − | The Abbasids also found themselves at odds with the [[Shia|Shias]], many of whom had supported their war against the Umayyads, since the Abbasids claimed legitimacy by their familial connection to Muhammed. Once in power, the Abbasids embraced [[Sunni]] Islam and disavowed any support for Shi'a beliefs. That led to numerous conflicts, culminating in an uprising in [[Mecca]] in | + | The Abbasids also found themselves at odds with the [[Shia|Shias]], many of whom had supported their war against the Umayyads, since as noted above the Abbasids claimed legitimacy by their familial connection to Muhammed. Once in power, the Abbasids embraced [[Sunni]] Islam and disavowed any support for Shi'a beliefs. That led to numerous conflicts, culminating in an uprising in [[Mecca]] in 786, followed by widespread bloodshed and the flight of many Shi'a to the [[Maghreb]], where the survivors established the Idrisid kingdom. Shortly thereafter [[Berber]] [[Kharijite]]s set up an independent state in North Africa in [[801]]. |
| − | At the same time the Abbasids faced challenges closer to home. The [[Byzantine Empire]] was fighting Abbasid rule in [[Syria]] and [[Anatolia]]. Former supporters of the Abbasids had broken away to create a separate kingdom around Khorosan in northern Persia. [[Harun al-Rashid]] ([[786]] - [[809]]) added to these troubles by turning on the | + | At the same time the Abbasids faced challenges closer to home. The [[Byzantine Empire]] was fighting Abbasid rule in [[Syria]] and [[Anatolia]]. Former supporters of the Abbasids had broken away to create a separate kingdom around Khorosan in northern Persia. [[Harun al-Rashid]] ([[786]] - [[809]]) added to these troubles by turning on the Barmakids, the Persian family that had supplied the caliphate with competent administrators, over a personal dispute. |
==The Mamluks== | ==The Mamluks== | ||
| − | Faced with these challenges from within, the Abbasids decided to create an army loyal only to their caliphate, drawn mostly from Turkish slaves, known as [[Mamluks]], with some | + | Faced with these challenges from within, the Abbasids decided to create an army loyal only to their caliphate, drawn mostly from Turkish slaves, known as [[Mamluks]], with some Slavs and Berbers participating as well. This force, created in the reign of al-Ma'mun (813 - 833), and his brother and successor al-Mu'tasim (833 - 842), prevented the further distintegration of the empire. |
| − | It also, however, led to the ultimate eclipse of Abbasid rule. The creation of this foreign army and al-Mu'tasim's transfer of the capital from Baghdad to | + | It also, however, led to the ultimate eclipse of Abbasid rule. The creation of this foreign army and al-Mu'tasim's transfer of the capital from Baghdad to Samarra created a division between the caliphate and the peoples they claimed to rule. In addition, the power of the Mamluks steadily grew until al-Radi(934 - 941) was constrained to hand over most of the royal functions to Mahommed bin Raik. In the following years the [[Buyid]]s, who were Shi'ites, seized power over Baghdad, ruling central Iraq for more than a century before being overthrown by the [[Seljuq]] Turks. In the same period, the Hamdanids, another Shi'ite dynasty, came to power in northern Iraq, leading to a tremendous expansion of Shi'a influence. In the process the Abbasid caliphs became no more than figureheads. However, they continued to confer certificate of legitimacy, and titles, on the Sultans (whose power was in theory delegated to them by the Caliph) and the oath of loyalty to them was recited during Friday prayers. Copying from the practie of the Shahs of Persia, the Abbasids started to recieve vistors behind a veil (''hijab'') and to syrround their office with mystique. As thrie temporal authority declined, this mystique increased. |
==Learning under the Abbasid dynasty== | ==Learning under the Abbasid dynasty== | ||
| − | The reigns of [[Harun al-Rashid]] ( | + | The reigns of [[Harun al-Rashid]] (786 - [[809) and his successors fostered an age of great intellectual achievement. This era is known as the Golden Age of Islamic civilization. Baghadad was known as the City of Peace. In large part this was the result of the schismatic forces that had undermined the [[Umayyad]] regime, which relied on the assertion of the superiority of Arab culture as part of its claim to legitimacy, and the Abbasids' welcoming of support from non-Arab Muslims. The popular [[Arabian Nights]] is set in the reign of Harun al-Rashid, and tells us something about what life was like for people during this period. In this story, women as well as men take the initiative and some suggest that the text represents a feminist alternative to offical, male-dominated accounts of Islamic history. |
A number of medieval thinkers and scientists living under Islamic rule, many of them non-Muslims or heretical Muslims, played a role in transmitting [[Greek literature|Greek]], [[Hindu]], and other pre-Islamic knowledge to the Christian West. They contributed to making [[Aristotle]] known in Christian Europe. In addition, the period saw the recovery of much of the Alexandrian mathematical, geometric and astronomical knowledge, such as that of [[Euclid]]es and Claudius [[Ptolemy]]. These recovered mathematical methods were later enhanced and developed by other Islamic scholars, notably by [[Al-Biruni]], and [[Abu Nasr Mansur]], who are thought to have first derived the [[Cosine]] rule and applied it to [[spherical geometry]]. | A number of medieval thinkers and scientists living under Islamic rule, many of them non-Muslims or heretical Muslims, played a role in transmitting [[Greek literature|Greek]], [[Hindu]], and other pre-Islamic knowledge to the Christian West. They contributed to making [[Aristotle]] known in Christian Europe. In addition, the period saw the recovery of much of the Alexandrian mathematical, geometric and astronomical knowledge, such as that of [[Euclid]]es and Claudius [[Ptolemy]]. These recovered mathematical methods were later enhanced and developed by other Islamic scholars, notably by [[Al-Biruni]], and [[Abu Nasr Mansur]], who are thought to have first derived the [[Cosine]] rule and applied it to [[spherical geometry]]. | ||
| − | Three speculative thinkers, the | + | Three speculative thinkers, the Persians [[al-Kindi]], [[al-Farabi]], and [[Avicenna]], combined [[Aristotelianism]] and [[Neoplatonism]] with other ideas introduced through Islam. Theological debate also took place. Significant debates include human free will versus predestination, the created or uncreated nature of the Qur'an and the relationship between God and God's attributes. Politcial interests were involved here. Those (the [[Mutazalites]]) who supported free will and a created Qur'an gave more scope to human reason. This appealed to several Caliphs, who supported the Mutazalites (813 - 847). Those [[the |Asharites], named after Abu al-Hasan bin Isma'el al-Ash'ari (873 - 935),who argued in favor of an uncreated Qur'an gave 'revelation' and the traditions of Muhamamd (the [[''''sunnah'''']] greater authority than the Caliph, arguing that the Caliph was subject to the authority of the ''Sunnah''. During the early Abbasid period, too, the [[''hadith'']] (sayings and acts of Muhammad, which constitutes the ''Sunnah'')were collected and the four legal schools of Sunni jurisprudence were established. Ahmad ibn [[Hanbal (780 - 855) after whom the Hanbali school is named, a great Traditionalst, was imprisoned under Al-Ma'mun, who instigated an inquisition (''Mihna''). The Asharites triumphed and most Muslims asserted that it was now their duty to follow the rulings of the founders of the four schools, not to innovate. |
==The end of the caliphate== | ==The end of the caliphate== | ||
| − | + | Hulagu Khan sacked Baghdad on (February 10, 1258), causing great loss of life. Al-Musta'sim, the last reigning Abbasid caliphate in Baghdad was then executed on February 20, 1258. The Abbasids still maintained a a remant of authority, confined to religious matters, in [[Egypt]] under the [[Mamluks]], but the dynasty finally ended with Al-Mutawakkil III. He was carried away as a prisoner to [[Constantinople]] by Selim I defeated the Mamlukes and claimed that Al-Mutawakkil ceded him the title and dignity of Caliph. | |
See also [[History of Islam]] | See also [[History of Islam]] | ||
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==Abbasid Caliphs of Baghdad== | ==Abbasid Caliphs of Baghdad== | ||
| − | *Abu'l Abbas | + | *Abu'l Abbas As-Saffah 750 - 754 |
| − | * | + | *Al-Mansur 754 - 775 |
| − | * | + | *Al-Mahdi 775 - 785 |
| − | * | + | *Al-Hadi 785 - 786 |
| − | *[[Harun al-Rashid]] | + | *[[Harun al-Rashid]] 786 -809 |
| − | * | + | *Al-Amin 809 - 813 |
| − | * | + | *Al-Ma'mun 813 - 833 |
| − | * | + | *Al-Mu'tasim 833 - 842 |
| − | * | + | *Al-Wathiq 842 - 847 |
| − | * | + | *Al-Mutawakkil 847 - 861 |
| − | * | + | *Al-Muntasir 861 - 862 |
| − | * | + | *Al-Musta'in 862 - 866 |
| − | * | + | *Al-Mu'tazz 866 - 869 |
| − | * | + | *Al-Muhtadi 869 - 870 |
| − | * | + | *Al-Mu'tamid 870 - 892 |
| − | * | + | *Al-Mu'tadid 892 - 902 |
| − | * | + | *Al-Muktafi 902 - 908 |
| − | * | + | *Al-Muqtadir 908 - 932 |
| − | * | + | *Al-Qahir 932 - 934 |
| − | * | + | *Ar-Radi 934 - 940 |
| − | * | + | *Al-Muttaqi 940 - 944 |
| − | * | + | *Al-Mustakfi 944 - 946 |
| − | * | + | *Al-Muti 946 - 974 |
| − | * | + | *At-Ta'i 974 - 991 |
| − | * | + | *Al-Qadir 991 - 1031 |
| − | * | + | *Al-Qa'im 1031 - 1075 |
| − | * | + | *Al-Muqtadi 1075 - 1094 |
| − | * | + | *Al-Mustazhir 1094 - 1118 |
| − | * | + | *Al-Mustarshid 1118 - 1135 |
| − | * | + | *Ar-Rashid 1135 - 1136 |
| − | * | + | *Al-Muqtafi 1136 - 1160 |
| − | * | + | *Al-Mustanjid 1160 - 1170 |
| − | * | + | *Al-Mustadi 1170 - 1180 |
| − | * | + | *An-Nasir 1180 - 1225 |
| − | * | + | *Az-Zahir 1225 - 1226 |
| − | * | + | *Al-Mustansir 1226 - 1242 |
| − | * | + | *Al-Musta'sim 1242 - 1258 |
==Abbasid Caliphs in Cairo== | ==Abbasid Caliphs in Cairo== | ||
| − | * | + | *Al-Mustansir of Cairo 1261 |
| − | * | + | *Al-Hakim I 1262-1302 |
| − | * | + | *Al-Mustakfi I 1302-1340 |
| − | * | + | *Al-Wathiq I 1340-1341 |
| − | * | + | *Al-Hakim II 1341-1352 |
| − | * | + | *Al-Mu'tadid I 1352-1362 |
| − | * | + | *Al-Mutawakkil I 1362-1383 |
| − | * | + | *Al-Wathiq II 1383-1386 |
| − | * | + | *Al-Mu'tasim 1386-1389 |
| − | * | + | *Al-Mutawakkil I (restored) 1389]]-1406]] |
| − | * | + | *Al-Musta'in (Cairo) 1406-1414 |
| − | * | + | *Al-Mu'tadid II 1414-1441 |
| − | * | + | *Al-Mustakfi II 1441-1451 |
| − | * | + | *Al-Qa'im (Cairo) 1451-1455 |
| − | * | + | *Al-Mustanjid 1455-1479 |
| − | * | + | *Al-Mutawakkil II 1479-1497 |
| − | * | + | *Al-Mustamsik 1497-1508 |
| − | * | + | *Al-Mutawakkil III 1508-1517 |
==External link== | ==External link== | ||
Revision as of 23:34, 21 September 2005
Abbasid (Arabic: العبّاسدين al-ʿAbbāsidīn) was the dynastic name generally given to the caliphs of Baghdad, the second of the two great Sunni dynasties of the Muslim empire, that overthrew the Umayyid caliphs. It seized power in 750, when it finally defeated the Umayyads in battle, and flourished for two centuries, but slowly went into decline with the rise to power of the Turkish army they had created, the Mamluks. Their claim to power was finally ended in 1258, when Hulagu Khan, the Mongol general, sacked Baghdad. While they continued to claim authority in religious matters from their base in Egypt, their dynasty was ended. However, traces of this dynasty can be found in modern day Iraq, Kuwait, and in northern areas of Pakistan.
Revolt against the Umayyads
The Abbasid caliphs officially based their claim to the Caliphate on their descent from Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib (AD 566-652), one of the youngest uncles of the Prophet Muhammad P.B.U.H., by virtue of which descent they regarded themselves as the rightful heirs of the Prophet as opposed to the Umayyads. The Umayyads were descended from Umayya, and were a clan separate from Muhammad's in the Quraish tribe. Their forebear, Abu Sufyan, had been Muhammad's bitter foe, althougn he did become a Muslim.
The Abbasids also distinguished themselves from the Umayyads by attacking their secularism, moral character and administration in general. The Abbasids also appealed to non-Arab Muslims, known as mawali, who remained outside the kinship-based society of Arab culture and were at best second-class citizens within the Umayyad empire. Muhammad ibn 'Ali, a great-grandson of Abbas, began to campaign for the return of power to the family of the Prophet, the Hashimites, in Persia during the reign of Umar II, Muhammad ibn Ali.
During the reign of Marwan II this opposition culminated in the rebellion of Ibrahim the Imam, the fourth in descent from Abbas, who, supported by the province of Khorasan, achieved considerable successes, but was captured (AD 747) and died in prison (as some hold, assassinated). The quarrel was taken up by his brother Abdallah, known by the name of Abu al-'Abbas as-Saffah, who, after a decisive victory on the[Greater Zab River (750), finally crushed the Umayyads and was proclaimed Caliph.
Accusing the Umayyads of ruling the Islamic territory as emperors rather than as deputies of the Prophet of Islam, the Abbasids claimed religious legitimacy for their revolt and went into battle with the cry, 'O Muhammad, helped of God'. They later wore Muhammad's mantle while leaing Friday prayers as a sign of their loyalty to his tradition. The Abbasids may have promised their supporters that they would restore the origonal process by which the 'best among' the Muslims would be selected as Caliph and abolish the dynastic system. They may also have hoped to reconcile Sunni and Shi'a Islam by assesrting that their family link to Muhammad through a male uncle was more legititimate than that of Ali's descendants, who traced themselves through Fatimah. The Abbasids rejected the rival claims of the Fatimids of Egypt on the basis that the Caliphate could not be transmitted through women.
Consolidation and schisms
The Abbasids had depended heavily on the support of Persians in their overthrow of the Umayyads. Abu al-'Abbas' successor, al-Mansur, moved their capital from Damascus to the new city of Baghdad and welcomed non-Arab Muslims to their court. While this helped integrate Arab and Persian cultures, it alienated many of their Arab supporters, particularly the Khorasanian Arabs who had supported them in their battles against the Umayyads.
These fissures in their support led to immediate problems. The Umayyads, while out of power, were not destroyed. The remains of the Umayyad Caliphate, the only survivor of a dinner party where all the others were assassinated finally made his way to Spain. There he established a Caliphate, also called Umayyad.
The Abbasids also found themselves at odds with the Shias, many of whom had supported their war against the Umayyads, since as noted above the Abbasids claimed legitimacy by their familial connection to Muhammed. Once in power, the Abbasids embraced Sunni Islam and disavowed any support for Shi'a beliefs. That led to numerous conflicts, culminating in an uprising in Mecca in 786, followed by widespread bloodshed and the flight of many Shi'a to the Maghreb, where the survivors established the Idrisid kingdom. Shortly thereafter Berber Kharijites set up an independent state in North Africa in 801.
At the same time the Abbasids faced challenges closer to home. The Byzantine Empire was fighting Abbasid rule in Syria and Anatolia. Former supporters of the Abbasids had broken away to create a separate kingdom around Khorosan in northern Persia. Harun al-Rashid (786 - 809) added to these troubles by turning on the Barmakids, the Persian family that had supplied the caliphate with competent administrators, over a personal dispute.
The Mamluks
Faced with these challenges from within, the Abbasids decided to create an army loyal only to their caliphate, drawn mostly from Turkish slaves, known as Mamluks, with some Slavs and Berbers participating as well. This force, created in the reign of al-Ma'mun (813 - 833), and his brother and successor al-Mu'tasim (833 - 842), prevented the further distintegration of the empire.
It also, however, led to the ultimate eclipse of Abbasid rule. The creation of this foreign army and al-Mu'tasim's transfer of the capital from Baghdad to Samarra created a division between the caliphate and the peoples they claimed to rule. In addition, the power of the Mamluks steadily grew until al-Radi(934 - 941) was constrained to hand over most of the royal functions to Mahommed bin Raik. In the following years the Buyids, who were Shi'ites, seized power over Baghdad, ruling central Iraq for more than a century before being overthrown by the Seljuq Turks. In the same period, the Hamdanids, another Shi'ite dynasty, came to power in northern Iraq, leading to a tremendous expansion of Shi'a influence. In the process the Abbasid caliphs became no more than figureheads. However, they continued to confer certificate of legitimacy, and titles, on the Sultans (whose power was in theory delegated to them by the Caliph) and the oath of loyalty to them was recited during Friday prayers. Copying from the practie of the Shahs of Persia, the Abbasids started to recieve vistors behind a veil (hijab) and to syrround their office with mystique. As thrie temporal authority declined, this mystique increased.
Learning under the Abbasid dynasty
The reigns of Harun al-Rashid (786 - [[809) and his successors fostered an age of great intellectual achievement. This era is known as the Golden Age of Islamic civilization. Baghadad was known as the City of Peace. In large part this was the result of the schismatic forces that had undermined the Umayyad regime, which relied on the assertion of the superiority of Arab culture as part of its claim to legitimacy, and the Abbasids' welcoming of support from non-Arab Muslims. The popular Arabian Nights is set in the reign of Harun al-Rashid, and tells us something about what life was like for people during this period. In this story, women as well as men take the initiative and some suggest that the text represents a feminist alternative to offical, male-dominated accounts of Islamic history.
A number of medieval thinkers and scientists living under Islamic rule, many of them non-Muslims or heretical Muslims, played a role in transmitting Greek, Hindu, and other pre-Islamic knowledge to the Christian West. They contributed to making Aristotle known in Christian Europe. In addition, the period saw the recovery of much of the Alexandrian mathematical, geometric and astronomical knowledge, such as that of Euclides and Claudius Ptolemy. These recovered mathematical methods were later enhanced and developed by other Islamic scholars, notably by Al-Biruni, and Abu Nasr Mansur, who are thought to have first derived the Cosine rule and applied it to spherical geometry.
Three speculative thinkers, the Persians al-Kindi, al-Farabi, and Avicenna, combined Aristotelianism and Neoplatonism with other ideas introduced through Islam. Theological debate also took place. Significant debates include human free will versus predestination, the created or uncreated nature of the Qur'an and the relationship between God and God's attributes. Politcial interests were involved here. Those (the Mutazalites) who supported free will and a created Qur'an gave more scope to human reason. This appealed to several Caliphs, who supported the Mutazalites (813 - 847). Those [[the |Asharites], named after Abu al-Hasan bin Isma'el al-Ash'ari (873 - 935),who argued in favor of an uncreated Qur'an gave 'revelation' and the traditions of Muhamamd (the ''''sunnah'''' greater authority than the Caliph, arguing that the Caliph was subject to the authority of the Sunnah. During the early Abbasid period, too, the ''hadith'' (sayings and acts of Muhammad, which constitutes the Sunnah)were collected and the four legal schools of Sunni jurisprudence were established. Ahmad ibn [[Hanbal (780 - 855) after whom the Hanbali school is named, a great Traditionalst, was imprisoned under Al-Ma'mun, who instigated an inquisition (Mihna). The Asharites triumphed and most Muslims asserted that it was now their duty to follow the rulings of the founders of the four schools, not to innovate.
The end of the caliphate
Hulagu Khan sacked Baghdad on (February 10, 1258), causing great loss of life. Al-Musta'sim, the last reigning Abbasid caliphate in Baghdad was then executed on February 20, 1258. The Abbasids still maintained a a remant of authority, confined to religious matters, in Egypt under the Mamluks, but the dynasty finally ended with Al-Mutawakkil III. He was carried away as a prisoner to Constantinople by Selim I defeated the Mamlukes and claimed that Al-Mutawakkil ceded him the title and dignity of Caliph.
See also History of Islam
Abbasid Caliphs of Baghdad
- Abu'l Abbas As-Saffah 750 - 754
- Al-Mansur 754 - 775
- Al-Mahdi 775 - 785
- Al-Hadi 785 - 786
- Harun al-Rashid 786 -809
- Al-Amin 809 - 813
- Al-Ma'mun 813 - 833
- Al-Mu'tasim 833 - 842
- Al-Wathiq 842 - 847
- Al-Mutawakkil 847 - 861
- Al-Muntasir 861 - 862
- Al-Musta'in 862 - 866
- Al-Mu'tazz 866 - 869
- Al-Muhtadi 869 - 870
- Al-Mu'tamid 870 - 892
- Al-Mu'tadid 892 - 902
- Al-Muktafi 902 - 908
- Al-Muqtadir 908 - 932
- Al-Qahir 932 - 934
- Ar-Radi 934 - 940
- Al-Muttaqi 940 - 944
- Al-Mustakfi 944 - 946
- Al-Muti 946 - 974
- At-Ta'i 974 - 991
- Al-Qadir 991 - 1031
- Al-Qa'im 1031 - 1075
- Al-Muqtadi 1075 - 1094
- Al-Mustazhir 1094 - 1118
- Al-Mustarshid 1118 - 1135
- Ar-Rashid 1135 - 1136
- Al-Muqtafi 1136 - 1160
- Al-Mustanjid 1160 - 1170
- Al-Mustadi 1170 - 1180
- An-Nasir 1180 - 1225
- Az-Zahir 1225 - 1226
- Al-Mustansir 1226 - 1242
- Al-Musta'sim 1242 - 1258
Abbasid Caliphs in Cairo
- Al-Mustansir of Cairo 1261
- Al-Hakim I 1262-1302
- Al-Mustakfi I 1302-1340
- Al-Wathiq I 1340-1341
- Al-Hakim II 1341-1352
- Al-Mu'tadid I 1352-1362
- Al-Mutawakkil I 1362-1383
- Al-Wathiq II 1383-1386
- Al-Mu'tasim 1386-1389
- Al-Mutawakkil I (restored) 1389]]-1406]]
- Al-Musta'in (Cairo) 1406-1414
- Al-Mu'tadid II 1414-1441
- Al-Mustakfi II 1441-1451
- Al-Qa'im (Cairo) 1451-1455
- Al-Mustanjid 1455-1479
- Al-Mutawakkil II 1479-1497
- Al-Mustamsik 1497-1508
- Al-Mutawakkil III 1508-1517
External link
- http://www.princeton.edu/~batke/itl/denise/abbasids.htm
- http://www.deremilitari.org/RESOURCES/sources/baghdad.htm
- Abbasids the 2nd dynasty of caliphs
ar:عباسيون bg:Абасиди ca:Abbàssida de:Abbasiden es:Califato Abbasí fa:عباسیان fr:Abbassides he:בית עבאס id:Abbasiyah it:Abbàsidi ja:アッバース朝 nl:Abbasiden pl:Abbasydzi pt:Abássidas ru:Аббасиды sk:Abbásovci sv:Abbasider uk:Аббасиди (династія)
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