Ibrahim ibn al-Mahdi
إبراهيم بن المهدي
Born779
Baghdad, Abbasid Caliphate
Died839
Baghdad/Samarra, Abbasid Caliphate
SpouseUmm Muhammad (divorced around 800)
Names
Ibrahim ibn Muhammad al-Mahd ibn Abdallah al-Mansur
DynastyAbbasid
FatherAl-Mahdi
MotherShakla
ReligionIslam
OccupationSinger,
Composer,
Arabic poet

Ibrāhīm ibn al-Mahdī (Arabic: إبراهيم بن المهدي; 779–839) was an Abbasid prince, singer, composer and poet. He was the son of the third Abbasid caliph, al-Mahdi, and the half-brother of the poet and musician Ulayya.[1] Ibrahim was contemporary of Abbasid caliph al-Hadi, al-Rashid and his three nephews caliph al-Amin, al-Ma'mun, al-Mu'tasim.

Biography

Ibrahim was the son of Abbasid caliph al-Mahdi, he was born during the Caliphate of his father. His full name was Ibrahim ibn Muhammad al-Mahd ibn Abdallah al-Mansur.

Ibrahim's mother was Shaklah, a Negress.[2] Her father was Khwanadan, steward of Masmughan.[3] She had a brother named Humayd.[4] She was acquired by Al-Mahdi together with Al-Bahtariyah, when she was a child. He presented her to his concubine Muhayyat, who, discovering a musical talent in the child, sent her to the famous school of Taif in the Hijaz for a thorough musical education. Years later Al-Mahdi, then caliph, took her as his concubine. She gave birth to Al-Mahdi's powerful and dark-skinned son Ibrahim.[5]

Umm Muhammad was the daughter of Salih al-Miskin and Umm Abdullah bint Isa ibn Ali. She married Harun in November-December 803 in Al-Raqqah. She had been formerly been married to Ibrahim, who had repudiated her.[6]

During the Fourth Fitna, Ibrahim was proclaimed caliph on 20 July 817 by the people of Baghdad, who gave him the regnal name of al-Mubarak (Arabic: المبارك) and declared his reigning nephew al-Ma'mun deposed. Ibrahim received the allegiance of the Hashemites.[7] He had to resign in 819, and spent the rest of his life as a poet and a musician. He is remembered as "one of the most gifted musicians of his day, with a phenomenal vocal range",[1] and a promoter of the then innovative 'Persian style' of song, 'which was characterized inter alia by redundant improvisation'.[8]

Ibrahim died in 839 during the Caliphate of his younger nephew al-Mu'tasim.

Siblings

Ibrahim was related to several Abbasid caliphs. He was also contemporary to several Abbasid caliphs, princess and princesses. Ibrahim was at one point married to Abbasid princess Umm Muhammad.

No. Abbasids Relation
1 Musa al-Hadi Half-brother
2 Harun al-Rashid Half-brother
3 Abbasa bint al-Mahdi Half-sister
4 Ubaydallah ibn al-Mahdi Half-brother
5 Ulayya bint al-Mahdi Half-sister
6 Banuqa bint al-Mahdi Half-sister
7 Mansur ibn al-Mahdi Half-brother
8 Aliyah bint al-Mahdi Half-sister
9 Ali ibn al-Mahdi Half-brother
10 Abdallah ibn al-Mahdi Half-brother
11 Isa ibn al-Mahdi[9] Half-brother

References

  1. 1 2 Kilpatrick, H. (1998). Meisami, Julie Scott; Starkey, Paul (eds.). Encyclopedia of Arabic Literature. Vol. 1. Taylor & Francis. p. 387. ISBN 978-0-415-18571-4.
  2. Abbott 1946, p. 33.
  3. Al-Tabari; John Alden Williams (1988). Al-̣Tabarī: Volume 1, The Reign of Abū Ja'Far Al-Maṇsūr A. D. 754-775: The Early 'Abbāsī Empire. Al-Tabari. the Early Abbasi Empire. Cambridge University Press. p. 46. ISBN 978-0-521-32662-9.
  4. Fishbein, Michael (2015). The History of al-Tabari Vol. 31: The War between Brothers: The Caliphate of Muhammad al-Amin A.D. 809-813/A.H. 193-198. SUNY series in Near Eastern Studies. State University of New York Press. p. 187. ISBN 978-1-4384-0289-5.
  5. Abbott 1946, pp. 33–34.
  6. al-Tabari & Bosworth 1989, p. 326.
  7. Bosworth, C. E., ed. (1987). The History of al-Ṭabarī, Volume XXXII: The Reunification of the ʿAbbāsid Caliphate: The Caliphate of al-Maʾmūn, A.D. 813–33/A.H. 198–213. SUNY Series in Near Eastern Studies. Albany, New York: State University of New York Press. p. 66. ISBN 978-0-88706-058-8.
  8. Imhof, Agnes (2013). "Traditio vel Aemulatio? The Singing Contest of Sāmarrā', Expression of a Medieval Culture of Competition". Der Islam. 90: 1–20 [p. 1]. doi:10.1515/islam-2013-0001.
  9. Abbott 1946, p. 31.

Sources

  • Abbott, Nabia (1946). Two Queens of Baghdad: Mother and Wife of Hārūn Al Rashīd. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0-86356-031-6.
  • Kilpatrick, H. (1998). Meisami, Julie Scott; Starkey, Paul (eds.). Encyclopedia of Arabic Literature. Vol. 1. Taylor & Francis. p. 387. ISBN 978-0-415-18571-4.
  • Al-Tabari; John Alden Williams (1988). Al-̣Tabarī: Volume 1, The Reign of Abū Ja'Far Al-Maṇsūr A. D. 754-775: The Early ‛Abbāsī Empire. Al-Tabari. the Early Abbasi Empire. Cambridge University Press. p. 46. ISBN 978-0-521-32662-9.
  • al-Tabari, Muhammad Ibn Yarir; Bosworth, Clifford Edmund (1989). The History of al-Tabari Vol. 30: The 'Abbasid Caliphate in Equilibrium: The Caliphates of Musa al-Hadi and Harun al-Rashid A.D. 785-809/A.H. 169-193. Bibliotheca Persica. State University of New York Press. ISBN 978-0-88706-564-4.
  • Fishbein, Michael (2015). The History of al-Tabari Vol. 31: The War between Brothers: The Caliphate of Muhammad al-Amin A.D. 809-813/A.H. 193-198. SUNY series in Near Eastern Studies. State University of New York Press. p. 187. ISBN 978-1-4384-0289-5.


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