ar-Rādī

Gold dinar of the ar-radi

Abū l-ʿAbbās Ahmad (or Muhammad) ibn al-Muqtadir ( Arabic أبو العباس أحمد بن المقتدر, DMG Abū l-ʿAbbās Aḥmad (Muḥammad) ibn al-Muqtadir ; * December 909 ; † December 13, 940 in Medina ), with the throne name ar-Rādī bi-Llāh ( Arabic الراضي بالله, DMG ar-Radi bi-llah  , who was with God Content Imaging ') of the twentieth Caliph of the Abbasid (934-940). He was the son of the caliph al-Muqtadir and the slave Zalūm.

Ahmad came in April 934 as ar-Rādī bi-Llāh to succeed the caliph al-Qahir . He is regarded as the last caliph who initially exercised some influence on the government. Nevertheless, the power struggles over offices and benefices at the Caliph's court in Baghdad continued. The uncertain situation has been by many governors used to the Tribute to refuse to the Caliph and to gain their independence. He made Ibn Muqla his vizier .

The growing weakness of the caliphate was also evident when a subjugation of the Hamdanids of Mosul failed in 935. In the same year Muhammad ibn Tughdsch had to be recognized as governor of Egypt (see: Ichschididen ).

After the unrest among the population of Baghdad and troop mutinies increased in 936, ar-Rādī transferred the highest civil and military authority to General Ibn Raik. Although that first succeeded in pacifying the country, ar-Rādī had given the Abbasids the last means of power from their hands. Fights for the caliph's dignity could not be prevented either, since Ibn Raik was soon overthrown by other competitors.

On the religious level, the caliphate of ar-Rādīs was marked by strong polarization. On the one hand, there were Shiite heretics such as Muhammad ibn ʿAlī asch-Schalmaghānī with the surname Ibn Abī l-ʿAzāqir, who claimed divinity for himself and also had followers among the courtly officials. Leaders and well-known supporters of this movement, such as the man of letters Ibn Abī ʿAun, were executed between 933 and 934. On the other hand, fanatical Hanbalites made themselves felt. They broke into private homes to destroy musical instruments, looted shops selling wine and molested passers-by who they accused of immoral behavior. Likewise, a trial of the prestigious Koranic teacher Ibn Schanabūdh was carried out because he in public prayer during ar-Radis Caliphate qira'at had recourse that is not on the uthmanischen behruhten Koran text. In 935 he was asked to repent before a special court chaired by vizier Ibn Muqla and, when he refused, beaten. The person who reported him was his old opponent, the respected Koran teacher Ibn al-Mujāhid.

Ar-Rādī bi-Llāh died of dropsy on December 13, 940. At the end of his reign he only controlled Baghdad and the surrounding area. How insignificant the office of the caliph had become can be seen from the fact that a new caliph was installed with his brother al-Muttaqi (940-944) only five days after the death of ar-Rādīs (940) and the ruling regent only sent one deputy.

literature

Arabic sources

• Al-Masʿūdī : Kitāb at-Tanbīh wa-l-išrāf. Ed. Michael Jan de Goeje. Brill, Leiden, 1894. pp. 388-397 ( archive.org ).

Secondary literature

• KV Zetterstéen: Art. Al-Rāḍī bi ʾllāh. In: The Encyclopaedia of Islam . New Edition Volume VIII, p. 368.
• Gustav Weil : History of the Chalifes. Volume II: The Abbasids up to the capture of Baghdad by the Bujids: 132–334 dH: 749–945 AD. Friedrich Bassermann, Mannheim 1848. pp. 655–678 ( archive.org ).

Individual evidence

1. ↑ See MA Muʿīd Khan: Art. Ibn Abī ʿAwn In: The Encyclopaedia of Islam . New Edition. Volume III, p. 683a.
2. ↑ Cf. Weil 675f.
3. ↑ Cf. Theodor Nöldeke : History of the Qoran. Volume III: The History of the Koran Text. Leipzig 1938. pp. 110-112.

predecessor	Office	successor
al-Qahir	Abbasid Caliph 934-940	al-Muttaqi