Muhammad II al-Mahdi

Muhammad II. Al-Mahdi ( Arabic محمد المهدي بالله, DMG Muḥammad al-Mahdī bi-ʾllāh ; † 1010 ) was Caliph of Córdoba in 1009 and 1010 .

Muhammad was a great-grandson of Abd ar-Rahman III. But he had to hide under the reign of the Amiriden al-Muzaffar (1002-1008) in Cordoba when his father Hisham was executed for a conspiracy. When his successor Abd ar-Rahman Sanchuelo undertook a campaign to León in 1008 , Muhammad organized an uprising in Córdoba in February 1009, relying particularly on the Muslim legal scholars who opposed the rule of Sanchuelo.

When the city was under the control of the insurgents, Hisham II was forced to resign in favor of Muhammad. While trying to regain control of Córdoba, Sanchuelo was abandoned by his troops and killed. Although Muhammad II tried to stabilize his rule by abolishing un-Islamic taxes, the persecution of the supporters of the governor Almansor, who died in 1002, led to revolts by the Berber troops that had been recruited under Almansor. After the Berbers were expelled from Cordoba in June 1009, Muhammad II was defeated by the Berbers on November 5, 1009 in front of the capital. While Muhammad II fled to Toledo , the Berbers occupied and sacked Cordoba and installed the Umayyad Sulaiman al-Mustain as caliph.

Muhammad II was able to ally himself with the governor al-Wahid of Toledo and the Catalans and in 1010, after a victory at Cordoba, again ascend the throne of the caliphate . However, he was considerably weakened by the withdrawal of his Catalan allies. In this situation, Muhammad II was overthrown and killed by a coup by the slave forces. Hisham II (1010-1013) was again lifted to the throne as caliph.

With the reign of Muhammad II, the rapid decline of the caliphate in Andalusia began as a result of the power struggles that broke out.

See also

• Caliphate of Cordoba

literature

• Arnold Hottinger : The Moors. Arab culture in Spain , Wilhelm Fink Verlag, Munich, 1995. ISBN 3-7705-3075-6

predecessor	Office	successor
Hisham II	Caliph of Cordoba 1009	Sulayman al-Mustain
Sulayman al-Mustain	Caliph of Cordoba 1010	Hisham II