# al-Muktafi By [Sabitos](https://paragraph.com/@sabitos) · 2023-05-29 --- **Abū Muḥammad ʿAlī ibn Aḥmad** ([Arabic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabic_language): أبو محمد علي بن أحمد; 877/78 – 13 August 908), better known by his [regnal name](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laqab) **al-Muktafī bi-llāh** ([Arabic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabic_language): المكتفي بالله, [lit.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Literal_translation) 'Content with God Alone'[\[1\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Muktafi#cite_note-FOOTNOTEBowen192859-1)), was the [caliph](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caliph) of the [Abbasid Caliphate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abbasid_Caliphate) from 902 to 908. More liberal and sedentary than his militaristic father [al-Mu'tadid](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Mu%27tadid), al-Muktafi essentially continued his policies, although most of the actual conduct of government was left to his [viziers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vizier_\(Abbasid_Caliphate\)) and officials. His reign saw the defeat of the [Qarmatians](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qarmatians) of the [Syrian Desert](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syrian_Desert), and the reincorporation of [Egypt](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medieval_Egypt) and the parts of [Syria](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bilad_al-Sham) ruled by the [Tulunid dynasty](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tulunid_dynasty). The war with the [Byzantine Empire](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byzantine_Empire_under_the_Macedonian_dynasty) continued with alternating success, although the Arabs scored a major victory in the [Sack of Thessalonica](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sack_of_Thessalonica_\(904\)) in 904. His death in 908 opened the way for the installation of a weak ruler, [al-Muqtadir](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Muqtadir), by the palace bureaucracy, and began the terminal decline of the Abbasid Caliphate that ended in 946 with the caliphs becoming [puppet rulers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puppet_rulers) under the [Buyid dynasty](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buyid_dynasty). Early life ---------- Ali ibn Ahmad was born in 877/8, the son of Ahmad ibn Talha, the future caliph [al-Mu'tadid](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Mu%27tadid) (r. 892–902) by a [Turkish](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkic_peoples) [slave-girl](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavery), named Čiček ("flower", [Jijak](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jijak) in [Arabic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabic)).[\[2\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Muktafi#cite_note-FOOTNOTEZetterst%C3%A9enBosworth1993542%E2%80%93543-2)[\[3\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Muktafi#cite_note-FOOTNOTERosenthal1985185_\(note_905\)-3) He was the first caliph named after caliph [Ali](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ali).[\[4\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Muktafi#cite_note-FOOTNOTE%C3%96zayd%C4%B1n2006536-4) At the time of his birth, the [Abbasid Caliphate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abbasid_Caliphate) was still reeling from the decade-long civil war known as the "[Anarchy at Samarra](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anarchy_at_Samarra)", which had begun with the assassination of Caliph [al-Mutawakkil](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Mutawakkil) (r. 847–861) by dissatisfied soldiers and ended with the accession of [al-Mu'tamid](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Mu%27tamid) (r. 870–892). Real power, however, lay with al-Mu'tamid's brother, [al-Muwaffaq](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Muwaffaq), Ali's paternal grandfather. Al-Muwaffaq enjoyed the loyalty of the military, and by 877 had established himself as the _de facto_ ruler of the state.[\[5\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Muktafi#cite_note-FOOTNOTEBonner2010305,_308%E2%80%93313,_314,_323-5) Caliphal authority in the provinces collapsed during the "Anarchy at Samarra", with the result that by the 870s the central government had lost effective control over most of the Caliphate outside the metropolitan region of [Iraq](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraq). In the west, Egypt had fallen under the control of [Ahmad ibn Tulun](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmad_ibn_Tulun), who also disputed control of [Syria](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bilad_al-Sham) with al-Muwaffaq, while [Khurasan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khurasan) and most of the Islamic East had been taken over by the [Saffarids](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saffarids), who replaced Abbasids' loyal clients, the [Tahirids](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tahirids). Most of the [Arabian peninsula](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabian_peninsula) was likewise lost to local potentates, while in [Tabaristan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tabaristan) a radical [Zaydi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zaydi) [Shi'a](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shi%27a) dynasty took power. In Iraq, the [rebellion](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zanj_Revolt) of the [Zanj](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zanj) slaves threatened Baghdad itself, and it took al-Muwaffaq and al-Mu'tadid years of hard campaigning before they were finally subdued in 893.[\[6\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Muktafi#cite_note-FOOTNOTEBonner2010313%E2%80%93327-6) Following his rise to the throne, al-Mu'tadid continued his father's policies, and restored caliphal authority in the [Jazira](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Upper_Mesopotamia), northern Syria, and parts of western Iran. He established an effective administration, but the incessant campaigning, and the need to keep the soldiery satisfied, meant that it was almost totally geared towards providing the funds necessary to maintain the army. Nevertheless, al-Mu'tadid managed to accumulate a considerable surplus in his ten-year reign.[\[7\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Muktafi#cite_note-FOOTNOTEBonner2010332%E2%80%93337-7) At the same time the bureaucracy grew in power, it also saw a growth in factionalism, with two rival "clans" emerging, the [Banu'l-Furat](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banu%27l-Furat) and the Banu'l-Jarrah. The two groups represented primarily different factions in a struggle for office and power, but there are indications of "ideological" differences as well: many of the Banu'l-Jarrah families hailed from converted [Nestorian](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nestorian) families and employed Christians in the bureaucracy, in addition to maintaining closer ties with the military, while the Banu'l-Furat tried to impose firm civilian control of the army and (not quite openly) favoured [Shi'ism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shi%27ism).[\[8\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Muktafi#cite_note-FOOTNOTEKennedy2004175,_180-8)[\[9\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Muktafi#cite_note-FOOTNOTEBonner2010333%E2%80%93334,_350-9) Al-Mu'tadid took care to prepare Ali, his oldest son and heir-apparent, for the succession by appointing him as a provincial governor: first in [Rayy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rey,_Iran), [Qazvin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qazvin), [Qum](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qum) and [Hamadan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamadan), when these provinces were seized from the semi-autonomous [Dulafid dynasty](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dulafid_dynasty) in c. 894/5, and in 899 over the [Jazira](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Jazira_\(caliphal_province\)) and the [frontier areas](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thughur), when Al-Mu'tadid deposed the last local autonomous governor, [Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Shaybani](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhammad_ibn_Ahmad_al-Shaybani). The future al-Muktafi took up residence at [Raqqa](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raqqa).[\[2\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Muktafi#cite_note-FOOTNOTEZetterst%C3%A9enBosworth1993542%E2%80%93543-2)[\[10\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Muktafi#cite_note-FOOTNOTEKennedy2004182%E2%80%93183-10)[\[11\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Muktafi#cite_note-FOOTNOTEBonner2010336%E2%80%93337-11) The religious scholar [Ibn Abi al-Dunya](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ibn_Abi_al-Dunya), who enjoyed al-Mu'tadid's confidence, was appointed as Ali's tutor.[\[12\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Muktafi#cite_note-FOOTNOTEEl-Hibri2021162-12) --- *Originally published on [Sabitos](https://paragraph.com/@sabitos/al-muktafi)*