al-Amīn (Abbaside)

Abbasid dinar published by al-Amin

Abū Mūsā Muhammad ibn Hārūn al-Amīn ( Arabic أبو موسى محمد بن هارون الأمين, DMG Abū Mūsā Muḥammad ibn Hārūn al-Amīn ; * 787 ; † 813 ) was the sixth caliph of the Abbasid (809-813).

Al-Amīn was the son of Hārūn ar-Raschīd (ruled 786-809) and Zubaida, a niece of al-Mansūr . 792 Hārūn al-Amīn paid homage for the first time as heir to the throne . During the pilgrimage of the year 802 this regulation of the succession to the throne was extended by various points and a protocol was drawn up, which was recorded in the Kaaba in Mecca. Accordingly, al-Amīn was to succeed him as caliph and rule the Arab empire, while the son of al-Ma'mūn was given the Iranian territories with Khorasan and Transoxania . In addition, Al-Ma'mun was set as the successor to al-Amin.

After al-Amin ibn Harun ar-Raschid came to power, tensions soon arose with his brother when he wanted to circumvent al-Mamun's agreed line of succession and designate his underage son as his successor. In addition, al-Amin tried, like al-Hadi (785–786), with the help of al-Fadl ibn ar-Rabi, to push back the influence of the Iranians , as they were mainly sympathetic to al-Mamun.

Civil war broke out when al-Amin advanced into Iran with an army in 811 , but was defeated at Rey by al-Mamun's general Tahir. This defeat and the subsequent withdrawal sparked unrest in Baghdad . Above all, the lower strata of the population turned against the great influence of the Iranians in the administration of the empire. Despite some defeats, Tahir was able to occupy Baghdad in 813 and overthrow al-Amin.

literature

• F. Gabrieli: Art. "Al-Amīn" in The Encyclopaedia of Islam. New Edition Vol. I., pp. 437a-438a.
• al-Masʿūdī : Kitāb at-Tanbīh wa-l-išrāf . Ed. Michael Jan de Goeje. Brill, Leiden, 1894. pp. 346-349. Digitized

predecessor	Office	successor
Harun ar-Rashīd	Caliph of the Abbasid 809-813	al-Ma'mun