al-Mustain (Egypt)

Al-Mustain bi-'llah Abu l-Fadl al-Abbasi ( Arabic المستعين بالله أبو الفضل العباسي, DMG al-Mustaʿīn bi-'llāh Abū l-Faḍl al-ʿAbbāsī ; * 1393 ; † around 1414) was Caliph of the Abbasid and Sultan under the Mamluks in Egypt (1412).

al-Mustain came from the Abbasid dynasty and was installed as caliph in Cairo by the Mamluks . As such, he was utterly powerless. After his appointment, however, he gained importance through the support of the legal scholars in opposition to Sultan Faraj (1399-1412). The reason was the widespread desire in religious circles to reunite spiritual and secular power in the hands of the caliph.

When Faraj was overthrown in 1412, al-Mustain agreed, at the insistence of the legal scholars, to take over the office of sultan. In September 1412 he was worshiped at the Zamzam well in Mecca and then prayers were said for him every day. In fact, he was only supposed to occupy the throne as long as the question of power among the Mamluks had not yet been resolved. After his elevation to sultan, he appointed al-Mu'aiyad Sheikh as commander in chief of the Mamluks and the Emir Nauruz as viceroy in Syria . Al-Mu'aiyad Sheikh, however, isolated al-Mustain shortly after his appointment in the citadel of Cairo and, after six months, achieved his abdication in November 1412. Al-Mustain remained caliph for a few months before he lost this office and was sent into exile in Alexandria . His further fate is unknown.

Individual evidence

↑ Ferdinand Wüstenfeld (ed.): The chronicles of the city of Mecca. Volume 4: History of the City of Mecca. Edited from the Arabic chronicles. Brockhaus, Leipzig 1861, p. 272 .

predecessor	Office	successor
Faraj	Sultan of Egypt ( Burji-Mamluken ) 1412	al-Mu'aiyad Sheikh
al-Mutawakkil I.	Abbasid caliphs 1406–1414	al-Mu'tadid II.

personal data
SURNAME	al-Mustain
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	al-Musta'in; bi-'llah Abu l-Fadl al-Abbasi (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Abbasid caliph and sultan in Egypt under the Mamelukes
DATE OF BIRTH	1393
DATE OF DEATH	after 1412

[1] Ferdinand Wüstenfeld (ed.): The chronicles of the city of Mecca. Volume 4: History of the City of Mecca. Edited from the Arabic chronicles. Brockhaus, Leipzig 1861, p. 272 .