Abū Jaʿfar Abdullāh al-Māʾmūn ibn Harūn (also spelled
Almamon and
el-Mâmoûn, Arabic ابوجعفر عبدالله المأمون) (September 13,
786- By place :* A council is organized in Constantinople, but is disturbed by soldiers.* September 14—Harun al-Rashid becomes the Abbasid Caliph in Baghdad upon the death of his brother al-Hadi, and appoints Salim Yunisi as the Abbasid governor of Sindh and the Indus Valley...
– August 9,
833-Asia:* al-Mu'tasim succeeds his brother Al-Ma'mun as Abbasid caliph.* Emperor Nimmyō succeeds Emperor Junna as emperor of Japan.* A biography of Muhammad by Ibn Ishaq is edited....
) (المأمون) was an
AbbasidThe Abbasid Caliphate was the third of the Islamic Caliphates of the Islamic Empire. It was ruled by the Abbasid dynasty of caliphs, who built their capital in Baghdad after overthrowing the Umayyad caliphs from all but Al Andalus....
caliphThe Caliph is the head of state in a Caliphate, and the title for the leader of the Islamic Ummah, an Islamic community ruled by the Shari'ah. It is a transliterated version of the Arabic word which means "successor" or "representative"...
who reigned from
813-Byzantine Empire:* June 22—Byzantine Emperor Michael I Rangabe is defeated in a war against the Bulgarians.* July 12—A revolt puts Leo V on the throne of the Byzantine Empire; former emperor Michael I Rangabe becomes a monk, beginning the Second Iconoclastic Period.* Ashot I becomes the first...
until his death in 833. He succeeded his brother
al-AminMuhammad ibn Harun al-Amin , Abbasid Caliph. He succeeded his father, Harun al-Rashid in 809 and ruled until he was killed in 813.-Caliph:...
.
Abbasid Civil War
In 802
Harun al-RashidHārūn al-Rashīd was the fifth and most famous Abbasid Caliph...
, father of al-Ma'mun and al-Amin, ordered that al-Amin succeed him and al-Ma'mun serve as governor of
KhurasanGreater Khorasan is a modern term for a historical geographic region spanning north-eastern and east of Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, western and northern Afghanistan and the North Western Areas of Pakistan...
and as caliph after the death of al-Amin. Al-Ma'mun was reportedly the older of the two brothers, but his mother was a Persian woman while al-Amin's mother was a member of the reigning Abbasid family. After al-Rashid's death in
809-Asia:* Emperor Saga succeeds Emperor Heizei as emperor of Japan.* Nagabhatta is defeated in India.-Births:* date unknown** Hunayn ibn Ishaq ** Emperor Jingzong of Tang ** Emperor Wenzong of Tang -Deaths:...
, the relationship between the two brothers deteriorated. In response to al-Ma'mun's moves toward independence, al-Amin declared his own son Musa to be his heir. This violation of al-Rashid's testament led to a civil war in which al-Ma'mun's newly recruited Khurasani troops, led by Tahir bin Husain (d. 822), defeated al-Amin's armies and laid siege to Baghdad. In
813-Byzantine Empire:* June 22—Byzantine Emperor Michael I Rangabe is defeated in a war against the Bulgarians.* July 12—A revolt puts Leo V on the throne of the Byzantine Empire; former emperor Michael I Rangabe becomes a monk, beginning the Second Iconoclastic Period.* Ashot I becomes the first...
, al-Amin was beheaded and al-Ma'mun recognized as caliph throughout the empire.
Internal Strife
There were disturbances in
IraqIraq , officially the Republic of Iraq , also known as Mesopotamia, is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert.Iraq shares borders with Jordan to the west, Syria...
during the first several years of al-Ma'mun's reign, while the caliph was in
MervMerv , formerly Achaemenid Satrapy of Margiana, and later Alexandria and Antiochia in Margiana , was a major oasis-city in Central Asia, on the historical Silk Road, located near today's Mary in Turkmenistan...
. On November 13,
815* For the area code, see Area code 815.* For the fictional airline flight, see Oceanic Flight 815.* For the Episcopal Church Center see Episcopal Church in the United States of America-Asia:...
,
Muhammad Jafar claimed the Caliphate for himself in
MeccaMecca , sometimes spelled Makkah is the holiest meeting site of the Islamic religion. The city is modern, cosmopolitan and whilst being closed to non-Muslims is nonetheless ethnically diverse.Islamic tradition attributes the beginning of Mecca to Ishmael's descendants...
. He was defeated and he quickly abdicated asserting that he'd only become caliph on news that al-Ma'mun had died. Lawlessness in
BaghdadBaghdad is the capital of Iraq and of Baghdad Governorate, with which it is coterminous. Having a municipal population estimated at 6.5 million, it is the largest city in Iraq and the second largest in the Arab World....
led to the formation of neighborhood watches. When in A.H. 201 (
817-Europe:* Louis the Pious divides his empire among his sons; Louis the German becomes king of East Francia, Lothar I becomes co-emperor.* The Bulgarian siege of Constantinople ends.-Religion:* The Council of Aachen is held....
CE) al-Ma'mun named Imam Reza the Eighth descendent of
MuhammadMuhammad ibn ‘Abdullāh , is the founder of the religion of Islam [ إِسْلامْ ] and is regarded by Muslims as a messenger and prophet of , the last and the greatest law-bearer in a series of Islamic prophets as taught by the...
his heir, this was not accepted by people in Baghdad. This was a political move by al-Ma'mun since most of Persia was sympathetic to the Hashemites. Al-Ma'mun's opponents in Baghdad gave allegiance to Ibrahim ibn al-Mahdi. His forces fought Kharijites, al-Ma'mun's, and arrested the neighbourhood watch commander Sahl ibn Salamah.
Imam Reza informed al-Ma'mun of happenings in Baghdad and al-Ma'mun set out for the City of Peace on the day the fast ended, April 12, 818. At Tus, he stopped to visit his father's grave. On the last day of Safar in 203 AH, al-Ma'mun poisoned Imam Reza through grapes in Toos. Imam Reza was buried beside the caliph's grave. Following the death of Imam Reza a great revolt took place in Khurasan, Persia. Al-Ma’mun wept and mourn for Imam Reza and tried to show himself innocent of the crime. But for all he did, he could not get himself acquitted and prove his innocence. Al-Ma'mun wrote to Hasan ibn Sahl, his governor in Iraq, the Hijaz, etc. informing him of his grief on the Imam's death. The governor fell ill and al-Ma'mun appointed Dinar ibn Abdallah to replace him. Some of Ibn al-Mahdi's commanders deserted him, and he died.
After Arrival in Baghdad
Muhammad ibn Jarir al-TabariAbu Ja'far Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari was one of the earliest, most prominent and famous Persian historian and exegete of the Qur'an,who wrote exclusively in Arabic , most famous for his Tarikh al-Tabari and Tafsir al-Tabari.-Name:His name means "Muhammad of Tabari, father [abu] of Jafar, son...
states that al-Ma'mun entered Baghdad on August 11, 819 (v. 32, p. 95). He wore green and had others do so. Informed that compliance with this command was despite popular opposition to the colour, on August 18 he reverted to traditional Abbasid black. While Baghdad became peaceful, there were disturbances elsewhere. In A.H. 210 (825-826) Abdallah ibn Tahir secured Egypt for al-Ma'mun freeing Alexandria from Andalusians and quelling unrest. The Andalusians moved to Crete where al-Tabari records their descendants were still living in his day (see
Abo Hafs Omer Al-BalotyAbo Hafs Omer Al-Baloty , was a Muslim Clergy and leader of group of Iberian Muslims, who were exiled by Al-Hakam I and settled first in Alexandria in Egypt and after that in Crete...
). Abdallah returned to Baghdad in 211 (826-827) bringing defeated rebels with him.
Also, in 210 there was an uprising in Qum sparked by complaints about taxes. After it was quashed, the tax assessment was set significantly higher. In 212 there was an uprising in Yemen. In 214 (829-830) Abu al-Razi who had captured one Yemeni rebel was killed by another. Egypt continued to be unquiet. Sind was rebellious. In 216 (831-832) Ghassan ibn Abbad subdued it. An ongoing problem for al-Ma'mun was the uprising headed by
Babak KhorramdinBābak Khorram-Din was one of the main Persian revolutionary leaders of the Iranian Khorram-Dinān , which was a local freedom movement fighting the Abbasid Caliphate...
. In 214 Babak routed a Caliphate army killing its commander Muhammad ibn Humayd.
There was also struggle against the Byzantines. In 215 (830), al-Ma'mun led a victorious force across the border. He captured several fortresses, sparing the surrendering Byzantines. The next year, learning Byzantines had killed some sixteen hundred people, he returned. This time some thirty forts fell to the Caliphate forces. The following year Byzantium's Theophilus wrote to al-Ma'mun. The caliph replied that he carefully considered the Byzantine ruler's letter, noticed it blended suggestions of peace and trade with threats of war and offered Theophilus the options of acknowledging divine unity, paying tax or fighting. Al-Ma'mun made preparations for a major campaign and died on the way.
Wars with Byzantine Romans
By the time Al-Ma'mun became Caliph, the Arabs and the Byzantines were settled down into border skirmishing, with
ArabArab people or Arabs are an ethnic group whose members identify along linguistic, cultural or genealogical grounds...
raids into
AnatoliaAnatolia is a geographic region of Western Asia, comprising most of the modern Republic of Turkey. The region is bounded by the Black Sea to the north, the Caucasus to the northeast, the Iranian plateau to the southeast, the Mediterranean Sea to the south and the Aegean Sea to the west...
replied in kind by
ByzantineThe word Byzantine may refer to:Topics directly related to the Byzantine Empire* A citizen of The Byzantine Empire, or native Greek during the Middle Ages...
raids that "stole" Christian subjects of the Abbasid Caliphate and forcibly settled them into the Anatolian farmlands to increase the population and hence provide more farmers and more soldiers. The situation changed however with the rise to power of
Michael IIMichael II the Amorian , also called Traulos or Psellos , meaning "the Stammerer", reigned as Byzantine emperor from 820 to his death....
in
820-Asia:* Tahir, the son of a slave, is rewarded with the governorship of Khurasan for supporting the caliphate. He rules independently of Baghdad, not even mentioning the caliph's name in Friday prayers in recognition of caliphal authority.-Europe:...
CE. Forced to deal with the rebel
Thomas the SlavThomas the Slav was originally a Byzantine military and naval commander entrusted with a very high command during the reign of Emperor Leo V the Armenian. However, upon the death of Leo and the accession as emperor of the former general Michael who was a rival of Thomas, he started to stir up...
, Michael had few troops to spare against a small Andalusian invasion of 40 ships and 10,000 men against
CreteCrete is the largest of the Greek islands and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea at 8,336 km²...
, which fell in
824-Europe:* Third Battle of Roncevaux Pass: The Basques and Banu Qasi defeat counts Eblo and Aznar, Frankish vassals.* Iñigo Arista revolts against the Franks and establishes the kingdom of Navarre ....
CE. A Byzantine counter offensive in
826-Deaths:* Theodore the Studite, monk and theologician * Beornwulf, king of Mercia* Emperor Jingzong of Tang...
CE failed miserably. Worse still was the invasion of
SicilySicily is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. It is an autonomous region of Italy. Several much smaller islands surrounding it are considered to be part of Sicily....
in
827-Europe:*Arabs invade Sicily.*Agnellus Iustinianus Particiacus appointed Roman consul and duke of Venice.-Religion:* August—Pope Valentine succeeds Pope Eugene II as the 100th pope.* Pope Gregory IV succeeds Pope Valentine as the 101st pope ....
by Arabs of
TunisTunis is the capital of the Tunisian Republic and also the Tunis Governorate, with a population of 1,200,000 in 2008 and over 3,980,500 in the greater Tunis area...
. Even so,
ByzantineThe word Byzantine may refer to:Topics directly related to the Byzantine Empire* A citizen of The Byzantine Empire, or native Greek during the Middle Ages...
resistance in
SicilySicily is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. It is an autonomous region of Italy. Several much smaller islands surrounding it are considered to be part of Sicily....
was fierce and not without success whilst the Arabs became quickly plagued by internal squabbles. That year, the Arabs were expelled from
SicilySicily is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. It is an autonomous region of Italy. Several much smaller islands surrounding it are considered to be part of Sicily....
but they were to return.
In
829-Europe:* Egbert of Wessex conquers Mercia and is recognized as Bretwalda.* The Saracens ravage the coast of Dalmatia.* Oldest known mention of the city of Wiesbaden .* synod of Mainz-Byzantine Empire:...
,
Michael IIMichael II the Amorian , also called Traulos or Psellos , meaning "the Stammerer", reigned as Byzantine emperor from 820 to his death....
died and was succeeded by his son
TheophilosTheophilos or Theophilus or Theophilou was Byzantine emperor of Armenian origin from 829 to 842. He was the second emperor of the Phrygian dynasty.-Life:...
. Theophilos received a mixed diet of success and defeat against his
ArabArab people or Arabs are an ethnic group whose members identify along linguistic, cultural or genealogical grounds...
opponents. In
830-Europe:* Earliest date of composition for the Historia Brittonum, attributed to Nennius, and known for its list of 12 battles of King Arthur.* Egbert of Wessex defeats the Welsh.-Religion:...
CE the Arabs returned to
SicilySicily is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. It is an autonomous region of Italy. Several much smaller islands surrounding it are considered to be part of Sicily....
and after a year-long siege took
PalermoPalermo is a historic city in Southern Italy, the capital of the autonomous region Sicily and the Province of Palermo. The city is noted for its rich history, culture, architecture and gastronomy, playing an important role throughout much of its existence; it is over 2,700 years old...
from their Christian opponents and for the next 200 years they were to remain there to complete their conquest, which was never short of Christian counters.The Caliph Al-Ma'mun meanwhile launched an invasion of
AnatoliaAnatolia is a geographic region of Western Asia, comprising most of the modern Republic of Turkey. The region is bounded by the Black Sea to the north, the Caucasus to the northeast, the Iranian plateau to the southeast, the Mediterranean Sea to the south and the Aegean Sea to the west...
in
830-Europe:* Earliest date of composition for the Historia Brittonum, attributed to Nennius, and known for its list of 12 battles of King Arthur.* Egbert of Wessex defeats the Welsh.-Religion:...
CE. Al-Ma'mun triumphed and a number of
ByzantineThe word Byzantine may refer to:Topics directly related to the Byzantine Empire* A citizen of The Byzantine Empire, or native Greek during the Middle Ages...
forts were taken; he spared the surrendering Byzantines.
TheophilosTheophilos or Theophilus or Theophilou was Byzantine emperor of Armenian origin from 829 to 842. He was the second emperor of the Phrygian dynasty.-Life:...
did not relent and in
831-Europe:* Malamir succeeds Omurtag as Khan of Bulgaria.* The Saracens capture Palermo.* Louis the Pious is reinstated following the end of the first civil war of his reign....
captured
TarsusTarsus is a historical city in south-central Turkey, 20 km inland from Mediterrenean Sea. It is part of Adana-Mersin Metropolitan Area, fourth largest metropolitan area in Turkey with a population of 2.75 million...
from the Muslims.The next year, learning Byzantines had killed some sixteen hundred people, Al-Ma'mun returned. This time some thirty forts fell to the Caliphate forces, with two Byzantine defeats in
CappadociaCappadocia is a region in central Turkey, largely in Nevşehir Province ....
. This would be followed by the destruction of Melitene,
SamosataSamosata was an ancient city on the right bank of the Euphrates whose ruins existed at the modern city of Samsat, Adıyaman Province, Turkey until the site was flooded by the newly-constructed Atatürk Dam....
and Zapetra by the vengeful
ByzantineThe word Byzantine may refer to:Topics directly related to the Byzantine Empire* A citizen of The Byzantine Empire, or native Greek during the Middle Ages...
troops in
837The following events are documented to have occurred in the year 837 AD:-Europe:* Pietro Tradonico is elected Doge of Venice.* Uen succeeds Drest IV as king of the Picts.* Saracens from Egypt attack the Italian city of Naples.-Astronomy:...
CE.
TheophilosTheophilos or Theophilus or Theophilou was Byzantine emperor of Armenian origin from 829 to 842. He was the second emperor of the Phrygian dynasty.-Life:...
wrote to Al-Ma'mun. The Caliph replied that he carefully considered the Byzantine ruler's letter, noticed it blended suggestions of peace and trade with threats of war and offered
TheophilosTheophilos or Theophilus or Theophilou was Byzantine emperor of Armenian origin from 829 to 842. He was the second emperor of the Phrygian dynasty.-Life:...
the options of acknowledging divine unity, paying tax or fighting. Al-Ma'mun made preparations for a major campaign and died on the way while leading an expedition in
SardisSardis, also Sardes , modern Sart in the Manisa province of Turkey, was the capital of the ancient kingdom of Lydia, one of the important cities of the Persian Empire, the seat of a proconsul under the Roman Empire, and the metropolis of the province Lydia in later Roman and Byzantine times...
.
Al-Ma'mun's relations with the Byzantine Romans is marked by his efforts in the translation of
GreekAncient Greece is the civilisation belonging to the period of Greek history lasting from the Greek Dark Ages ca. 1100 BC and the Dorian invasion, to 146 BC and the Roman conquest of Greece after the Battle of Corinth. It is generally considered to be the seminal culture which provided the...
philosophyPhilosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems concerning matters such as existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing these questions by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on reasoned...
and
scienceScience is in its broadest sense to any systematic knowledge-base or prescriptive practice that is capable of resulting in a prediction or predictable type of outcome...
. Al-Ma'mun gathered scholars of many religions at
BaghdadBaghdad is the capital of Iraq and of Baghdad Governorate, with which it is coterminous. Having a municipal population estimated at 6.5 million, it is the largest city in Iraq and the second largest in the Arab World....
, whom he treated magnificently and with tolerance. He sent an emissary to the
Byzantine EmpireThe Byzantine Empire or Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire during the Middle Ages, centered on the capital of Constantinople, and ruled by Emperors in direct and de jure succession to the ancient Roman Emperors...
to collect the most famous manuscripts there, and had them translated into Arabic. It is said that, victorious over the Byzantine Emperor, Al-Ma'mun made a condition of peace be that the emperor hand over of a copy of the
"AlmagestAlmagest is the Latin form of the Arabic name of a mathematical and astronomical treatise proposing the complex motions of the stars and planetary paths, originally written in Greek as by Ptolemy of Alexandria, Egypt, written in the 2nd century...
".
Al-Ma'mun's Reign
Al-Ma'mun conducted, in the plains of
MesopotamiaMesopotamia "land between the rivers" is a name for the Tigris–Euphrates region in the eastern Mediterranean, largely corresponding to Iraq, as well as northeastern Syria, some parts of southeastern Turkey, and some parts of the Khūzestān Province of southwestern...
, two astronomical operations intended to determine the value of a terrestrial degree. The crater
AlmanonAlmanon is a lunar impact crater that lies in the rugged highlands in the south-central region of the Moon. It is located to the south-southeast of Abulfeda, and to the north-northeast of the smaller crater Geber...
on the
MoonThe Moon is Earth's only natural satellite and the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System. The average centre-to-centre distance from the Earth to the Moon is , about thirty times the diameter of the Earth. The common centre of mass of the system is located at about —a quarter the Earth's...
is named in recognition of his contributions to astronomy.
Al-Ma'mun's record as an administrator is also marked by his efforts toward the centralization of power and the certainty of succession. The
Bayt al-Hikma, or
House of WisdomThe House of Wisdom was a library and translation institute in Abbassid-era Baghdad, Iraq. It was a key institution in the Translation Movement and considered to have been a major intellectual center of the Islamic Golden Age. The House of Wisdom acted as a society founded by Abbasid caliphs Harun...
, was established during his reign. The
ulamaUlama could refer to:* Ulema, also spelled "Ulama", a community of legal scholars of Islam and the Sharia* Ulama, a variety of a Mesoamerican ballgame descended from an Aztec ritual....
emerged as a real force in Islamic politics during al-Ma'mun's reign for opposing the
mihnaThe Mihna is an episode that took place in classical Islamic history starting in 218 A.H./833 A.D. and lasting for about fifteen years.-Event:...
, which was inisiated in 833, only four months before he died.
The 'mihna', is comparable to Medieval European inquisitions only in the sense that it involved imprisonment, a religious test, and a loyalty oath. The casualties of 'Abbasid inquisition would not approach a fraction of those executed in Europe under similar circumstances. This is because the people who were subject to the mihna were traditionalist scholars whose social influence and intellectual quality was uncommonly high. Al-Ma'mun introduced the mihna with the intension to centralize religious power in the caliphal institution and test the loyalty of his subjects. The mihna had to be undergone by elites, scholars, judges and other government officials, and in consisted of a series of questions relating to theology and faith. The central question was about the createdness of the Qur'an, if the interrogatee stated he believed the Qur'an to be created, he was free to leave and continue his profession.
The controversy over the
mihna was exacerbated by al-Ma'mun's sympathy for
Mu'taziliMuʿtazilah is a distinct Islamic school of speculative theology that flourished in the cities of Basra and Baghdad during the 8th–10th centuries CE. It is still adopted by a small, dispersed minority of Muslim intellectuals...
theology and other controversial views. Mu'tazili theology was deeply influenced by Aristotelian thought and Greek rationalism, and stated that matters of belief and practice should be decided by reasoning. This opposed the traditionalist and literalist position of
Ahmad ibn HanbalAhmed ibn Hanbal was an important Muslim scholar and theologian born in Khorassan to a family of Arab origin He is considered the founder of the Hanbali school of fiqh...
and others, according to which everything a believer needed to know about faith and practice was spelled out literally in the
Qur'anThe Qur’an is the central religious text of Islam...
and the
HadithHadith are oral traditions relating to the words and deeds of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Hadith are regarded by traditional schools of jurisprudence as important tools for determining the Muslim way of life, the sunnah. Hadith were originally oral traditions of Muhammad's actions and customs...
. Moreover, the Mu'tazilis stated that the Qur'an was created rather than coeternal with God, a belief that was shared by the Jahmites and parts of Shi'a, among others, but contradicted the traditionalist-Sunni opinion that the Qur'an and the Divine were coeternal. The fact that the Mu'tazili school had its foundations in the paganism of
GreeceGreece , officially the Hellenic Republic , is a country in southeastern Europe, situated on the southern end of the Balkan Peninsula....
further disenchanted a majority of Islamic clerics.
Although
al-MahdiMuhammad ibn Mansur al-Mahdi , was the third Abbasid Caliph. He succeeded his father, al-Mansur.Al-Mahdi, whose name means "Rightly-guided" or "Redeemer", was proclaimed caliph when his father was on his deathbed...
had proclaimed that the caliph was the protector of Islam against
heresyHeresy is proposing some unorthodox change to an established system of belief, especially a religion, that conflicts with the previously established opinion of scholars of that belief such as canon. It is sometimes confused with apostasy which is disaffiliation from orthodoxy and blasphemy which is...
, and had also claimed the ability to declare orthodoxy, religious scholars in the Islamic world believed that al-Ma'mun was overstepping his bounds in the
mihna. The penalties of the
mihna became increasingly difficult to enforce as the
ulema became firmer and more united in their opposition. Although the
mihna persisted through the reigns of two more caliphs,
al-MutawakkilAl-Mutawakkil ˤAlā Allāh Jaˤfar ibn al-Muˤtasim was an Abbasid caliph who reigned in Samarra from 847 until 861...
abandoned it in 848. The failure of the
mihna seriously damaged Caliphal authority and ruined the reputation of the office for succeeding caliphs. The caliph would lose much of his religious authority to the opinion of the
ulema as a result of the
mihna.
The
ulema and the major Islamic law schools became truly defined in the period of al-Ma'mun and Sunnism, as a religion of legalism, became defined in parallel. Doctrinal differences between Sunni and Shi'a Islam began to become more pronounced. Ibn Hanbal, the founder of the
HanbaliHanbali is one of the four schools Hanbali is one of the four schools Hanbali is one of the four schools (Madh'habs (rites) of Fiqh or religious law within Sunni Islam (the other three being Hanafi, Maliki and Shafi`i).Salafi creed aqeedah is based on this Madh'hab of Sunni Islam....
legal school, became famous for his opposition to the
mihna. Al-Ma'mun's simultaneous opposition and patronage of intellectuals led to the emergence of important dialogues on both secular and religious affairs, and the
Bayt al-Hikma became an important center of translation for Greek and other ancient texts into Arabic. This Islamic renaissance spurred the rediscovery of Hellenism and ensured the survival of these texts into the European
renaissanceThe Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Florence in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe...
.
Al-Ma'mun had been named governor of
KhurasanGreater Khorasan is a modern term for a historical geographic region spanning north-eastern and east of Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, western and northern Afghanistan and the North Western Areas of Pakistan...
by Harun, and after his ascension to power, the caliph named Tahir as governor for his military services in order to assure his loyalty. It was a move that al-Ma'mun soon regretted, as Tahir and his family became entrenched in Iranian politics and became increasingly powerful in the state, contrary to al-Ma'mun's desire to centralize and strengthen Caliphal power. The rising power of the
Tahirid dynastyThe Tahirid dynasty, , was an Iranian Persian dynasty that ruled over the northeastern part of Greater Iran, in the region of Khorasan...
became a threat as al-Ma'mun's own policies alienated them and his other opponents.
The
shakiriya, which were to trigger the movement of the capital from
BaghdadBaghdad is the capital of Iraq and of Baghdad Governorate, with which it is coterminous. Having a municipal population estimated at 6.5 million, it is the largest city in Iraq and the second largest in the Arab World....
to
SamarraSāmarrā is a city in Iraq. It stands on the east bank of the Tigris in the Salah ad-Din Governorate, north of Baghdad and, in 2003, had an estimated population of 348,700....
during
al-Mu'tasimAbu Ishaq 'Abbas al-Mu'tasim ibn Harun , was an Abbasid caliph . He succeeded his half-brother al-Ma'mun...
's reign, were raised in al-Ma'mun's time. The
shakiriya were military units from
Central AsiaAsia is a region of Asia from the Caspian Sea in the west to central China in the east, and from southern Russia in the north to northern India in the south. It is also sometimes known as Middle Asia or Inner Asia, and is within the scope of the wider Eurasian continent.Various definitions of its...
and
North AfricaNorth Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa.Geopolitically, the UN definition of Northern Africa includes the following seven countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Sudan, Tunisia,Mauritania, and...
, hired, complete with their commanders, to serve under the Caliph.
Al-Ma'mun, in an attempt to win over the Shi'a Muslims to his camp, named the eighth
ImamAn imam is an Islamic leadership position, often the leader of a mosque and the community. Similar to spiritual leaders, the imam is the one who leads the prayer during Islamic gatherings. More often, the community turns to the mosque imam if they have an Islamic question...
, Ali ar-Rida, his successor, if he should outlive al-Ma'mun. Most Shi'ites realized, however, that ar-Rida was too old to survive him and saw al-Ma'mun's gesture as empty; indeed, ar-Rida died in 818. The incident served to further alienate the Shi'ites from the Abbasids, who had already been promised and denied the Caliphate by al-'Abbas. Later Ma'mun, fearing an uprising, had Ali Ar-Rida poisoned.
Al-Ma'mun also attempted to divorce his wife during his reign, who had not borne him any children. His wife hired a Syrian judge of her own before al-Ma'mun was able to select one himself; the judge, who sympathized with the caliph's wife, refused the divorce. Following al-Ma'mun's experience, no further Abbasid
caliphThe Caliph is the head of state in a Caliphate, and the title for the leader of the Islamic Ummah, an Islamic community ruled by the Shari'ah. It is a transliterated version of the Arabic word which means "successor" or "representative"...
s were to marry, preferring to find their heirs in the harem.
The Abbasid empire grew somewhat during the reign of al-Ma'mun.
HinduA Hindu is an adherent of Hinduism, a set of religious, philosophical and cultural systems that originated in the Indian subcontinent. The vast body of Hindu scriptures, divided into Śruti and Smriti , lay the foundation of Hindu beliefs which primarily include dhárma, kárma, ahimsa and saṃsāra...
rebellions in
SindhSindh , is one of the four provinces of Pakistan and historically is home to the Sindhis. Different cultural and ethnic groups also reside in Sindh including Urdu-speaking Muslim refugees who migrated to Pakistan from India upon independence as well as the people migrated from other provinces after...
were put down, and most of
AfghanistanThe Islamic Republic of Afghanistan is a landlocked country in south central Asia. It is variously described as being located within Central Asia, South Asia, or the Middle East...
was absorbed with the surrender of the leader of
KabulKabul , is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan, with a population of over 2.5 million, and is located in the province of Greater Kabul...
. Mountainous regions of Iran were brought under a tighter grip of the central Abbasid government, as were areas of
TurkestanTurkestan, spelled also as Turkistan and Turkharistan is a region in Central Asia, which today is largely inhabited by Turkic peoples. It has been referenced in many Turkic and Persian sagas and is an integral part of Turan...
.
Shortly before his death, during a visit to
EgyptEgypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Western Asia...
in
832-Europe:* Pepin I of Aquitaine and Louis the German revolt against Louis the Pious, Emperor of the Franks.* The legendary genesis of the Flag of Scotland, appearing to Óengus of Fortriu the night before a battle between his Pictish and Scottish forces against the Angles.* Clondalkin, Ireland is...
, the caliph ordered the breaching of the
Great Pyramid of GizaThe Great Pyramid of Giza is the oldest and largest of the three pyramids in the Giza Necropolis bordering what is now Cairo, Egypt, and is the only one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World that survives substantially intact...
looking for knowledge and treasure. He entered the pyramid by tunneling into the Great Pyramid near where tradition located the original entrance. (At this time the pyramid was covered with a smooth outer layer of casing stones. The Roman historian Strabo visited the pyramid in 24 BC and records that the entrance was hinged and indistinguishable from the surrounding casing stones.) Since the upper passages were blocked from access by a concealed granite plug until Al Mamun's forced entrance, it's probable that no one had been in the upper passages since the time of its construction. Debate regarding the reason for the construction of the Great Pyramid continues since no body was ever found.
Personal Characteristics
Al-Tabari (v. 32, p. 231) describes al-Ma'mun as of average height, light complexion, handsome and having a long beard losing its dark colour as he aged. He relates anecdotes concerning the caliph's ability to speak concisely and eloquently without preparation, his generosity, his respect for Muhammad and religion, his sense of moderation, justice and his love of poetry.
Death
At Tabari (v.32, pp. 224-231) recounts how Al-Ma'mun was sitting on the river bank telling those with him how splendid the water was. He asked what would go best with this water and was told a specific kind of fresh dates. Noticing supplies arriving, he asked someone check whether such dates were included. As they were, he invited those with him to enjoy the water with these dates. All who did this fell ill. Others recovered. But Al-Ma'mun died. As he was dying he spoke, expressing his belief in the unity of God and his reliance on God's mercy. He encouraged his successor to continue his policies and not burden the people with more than they could bear. This was on August 9, 833.
Al-Ma'mun died near
TarsusTarsus is a historical city in south-central Turkey, 20 km inland from Mediterrenean Sea. It is part of Adana-Mersin Metropolitan Area, fourth largest metropolitan area in Turkey with a population of 2.75 million...
and the city's major mosque contains a tomb reported to be his. He was succeeded by his half-brother,
al-Mu'tasimAbu Ishaq 'Abbas al-Mu'tasim ibn Harun , was an Abbasid caliph . He succeeded his half-brother al-Ma'mun...
.
External links
Al-Mamum: Building an Environment for Innovation