Al-Muhtadi

Al-Muhtadi (Arabic: المهتدي) (d. June, 870) was the Abbasid Caliph in Baghdad from 869 to 870.

Background

Since the assassination of Al-Mutawakkil in 681, the [[Turkey}Turkish]] Guard had chosen and controlled the caliph, although this was retained within the Abbasid line. After Al-Mutawakkil, his son, Al-Muntasir was made caliph but died in less than a year. Instead of choosing his brother, Al-Mu'tazz whom they had imprisoned, the guards chose Al-Musta'in, grandson of al-Mu'tasim as caliph, expecting that he would be more malleable. His short reign was marked by unrest, revolt, plot and counter plot as the Turkish Guard and Arab Muslims clashed over whose right it was to choose and control the caliphate. Forced to flee from the capital in 865 he had abdicated by 866 in favor of his younger brother, al-Mu'tazz, who, before the end of the year ordered his execution. Many Muslims remained furious that Turks were controlling the caliphate, and revolts continued. The target of these revolt was less Al-Mu'tazz himself than the Turks who manipulated him but the result was anarchy, the secession of Egypt under a Turkish commander and bankruptcy at the center. The young caliph was killed when the army, unpaid for months, tricked him into allowing their commanders into the palace.

Succession

After the death of al-Mu'tazz, the Turks chose his cousin, al-Muhtadi, son of al-Wathiq by a Grecian slave-girl, as the new Caliph. Al-Muhtadi turned out be firm and virtuous compared to the last few Caliphs. If he had succeeded to the caliphate earlier, he might have restored its authority. However, by now the Turks held more power. Ṭabarī has an account of al-Mu'tazz abdicating and handing over power; he stated that "he was unequal to the responsibilities he had to shoulder." Tabari says that Al-Muhtadi refused to accept the caliphate from anybody other than his predecessor and only if he "confirmed his inability to administer matters entrusted to him."

Under him, the Court did see a transformation. Singing girls and musicians were expelled; justice was enacted daily in open court; wine and games were prohibited. He set Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz, the Umayyad Caliph, as his model and exemplar.

There was some early resistance to his appointment, mainly from the Baghdad region where al-Mu'tazz brother, Abu Ahmed, was the favored candidate. He had been imprisoned by al-Mu'tazz to prevent a challenge for power.

Over the last century, the issue of determining the succession had plagued the caliphate, causing rivalry, plots and counter-plots and the frequent incarceration of contenders. Subsequently, when they were released to become caliph, they had accumulated little or no practical experience.

To his credit, Al-Muhtadi attempted to restore caliphal authority and dismissed some corrupt officials and tried to reduce the power of the Turkish Guard. Significantly, he held open court and dealt directly with peoples' grievances. He succeeded in deposing several Turkish emirs but faced a slave rebellion in Iraq, which may have been led by a Shi'a claimant to the Imamate. Known as the Revolt of the Zanj, this seriously threatened the empire's stability and it was difficult for Al-Muhtadi to respond adequately due to threats closer to home. In June 870, his second year in office, he was killed by Turkish officers who stormed the palace, captured, tortured and killed him.

Zaman describes Al-Muhtadi as "very pious" and says that he "sought to reform everything from morals to finances."

He was thirty-eight. The early Arab writers praise his justice and piety; and had he not been killed so soon, he might have been placed among the best of Abbasid Caliphs.

Succession

The next caliph was also released from prison to become caliph. Another son of Al-Mutawakkil, he took the name Al-Mu'tamid and ruled for twenty-three years, although one of his surviving brothers was the power behind the throne. Dying in 892, his reign almost took the caliphate into the tenth century. Before the mid-point of that century, although Turkish power was weakened, the caliphate lost the final remnants of political power and became a titular, symbolic office. Yet it continued to exist for many more centuries, representing the unity of the Muslim world. That world, despite political fragmentation, retained a remarkable degree of uniformity. Muslims such as [[Ibn

References

ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

• Muir, William. 1924. The Caliphate: its rise, decline and fall: from orig. sources. Edinburgh, UK: Grant. Retrieved February 22, 2009.
• Ṭabarī, and David Waines. 1992. The revolt of the Zanj. SUNY series in Near Eastern studies. Albany: State University of New York Press. ISBN 9780791407639
• Zaman, Muhammad Qasim. 1997. Religion and politics under the early ʻAbbāsids: the emergence of the proto-Sunnī elite. Islamic history and civilization, v. 16. Leiden: Brill. ISBN 9789004106789.

• This text is adapted from William Muir's public domain, The Caliphate: Its Rise, Decline, and Fall.

Abbasid Born: ?; Died: 870
Sunni Islam titles
Preceded by: Al-Mu'tazz	Caliph of Islam 869 – 870	Succeeded by: Al-Mu'tamid

ar:أبو إسحاق محمد المهتدي بالله de:Al-Muhtadi es:Al-Muhtadi fa:ابواسحاق محمد مهتدی fr:Al-Muhtadi id:Al-Muhtadi

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