Abu Ja'far Al-Mansur (754 A.D.) From History of Islam 2

The Caliphate of the Abbasids (First Phase) 287
Abu Jafar Mansoor

Abu Mansoor Abdullah bin Mohammad bin Ali bin Abdullah
Jafar
bin Abbas bin Abdul Muttalib's mother Salameh was a Berber slave
girl. He was bom in 95 A.H. while his grandfather was still alive.
According to another narrative, he was born in 101 A.H. He was

known for his bravery, pride, ability to instill awe, intelligence and
particular point of view. He abhorred sports and fun. He was a great
scholar of literature and the science of applying Islamic law. He
imprisoned Imam Abu Hanifa where he died for his refusal to accept
the post of chief justice. Some say that Abu Hanifa delivered an
authorized legal opinion for bearing arms against Mansoor and
Mansoor had him poisoned to death. Mansoor was a very eloquent
orator. He is accused of -greed and miserliness. Abdur Rahman bin
Muawiya bin Hisham bin Abdul Malik Umayyah had become the
ruler of Spain in 138 A.H., during the reign of Mansoor's caliphate.
Since Mansoor was. bom of a Berber woman, it was said that the
Islamic rule had become part Berber. Ibn Asakir writes that when
Mansoor was wandering through out the Islamic territories in pursuit
of knowledge, he arrived at a place where the guards demanded two
dirhams as tax from him and said, "Unless you pay the tax, you will
not be allowed to stay here." Mansoor said, "I belong to Banu Hashim.
Excuse me. I am one of the sons of the Prophet's * uncle." Even then,
they did not allow him. Mansoor said, "I know the Qur'an. Excuse
me." Again, they did not budge. Mansoor said, "I am a scholar of
Islamic law and the religious obligations." Again, the guard looked
adamant. At Mansoor had to part with two dirhams and on that
last,
day, he made up his mind to accumulate wealth. Once he instructed

his son Mahdi saying, "A king cannot live without the obedience of
the subjects and the subjects cannot obey without justice. The best man
is he who despite being powerful forgives and the greatest fool is he
who does injustice and oppression. Orders must not be passed

without deliberation for deliberation is a mirror in which a man
observes his own beauty and ugliness. Always be' thankful for Allah's
gifts and blessings, forgive as much as possible, expect obedience
through encouragement and be humble and kind in victory.
288 The History of islam
The Revolt of Abdullah bln All
Abdullah Saffah had sent Mansoor's unde Abdullah bin Ali to Saifah
with the Khorasani and Syrian armies before his death. In
Muharram
137 A.H., Mansoor reached AmbSr and became caliph. Isa bin
Musa
had informed Abdullah bin Ali about Saffah's death and
had written
that Saffah hada will making Mansoor caliph after him. Abdullah
left
bin Ali assembled the people and said to them,
"When Saffah wanted
to send the army on the Harran expedition, none
dared to accept it.
Then he said that whoever went there, would be caliph
after him.
herefore, I went on that expedition
and it was I who defeated
Marwan bin Mohammad
and the other Umayyah leaders." All
%
™
C.°"jir e d his statement and took
the oath at his hands. Then
Abdullah L
u bin
Ah returned from Dalook, and besieged Muqatil bin
Hakeem at Harran. He
continued with the siege for forty days.
During
the he became suspicious of the Khorasani
siege,
men and killed
several of them. He deputed Humaid
bin Qahtaba as the governor of
Halab and gave him a letter in the name
of Zafar bin Asim, the
governor of Halab and then left. The letter
said that as soon as
Humaid arrived he should be put to death. Humaid
opened and read
it on the way and turned to Iraq
instead of Halab. When Mansoor
arrived Amb&r, Abu Muslim had already arrived
in
there Abu
Muslim took the oath at Mansoor's hands and Mansoor
treated him
with great respect and praise. Meanwhile
the news came that
Abdullah bin Ali had rebelled. Mansoor said to
Abu Muslim "I
apprehend great danger from Abdullah bin Ali."
Abu Muslim loved
such adventures. He got ready at once in order
to oblige Mansoor He
was deputed to fight against Abdullah bin Ali.
Ibn Qahtaba, who
coming to Iraq was displeased with Abdullah bin
Ali, joined Abu
Muslim. Abdullah bin Ali gave a pardon
to Muqatil bin Hakeem and
he surrendered Harran to Abdullah
bin Ali. He sent Muqatil to
Uthman bin Abdul Aala, the governor of Rakka, with
a letter. Uthman
killed him as soon as he reached
him and arrested both his sons. After
seeing, Abu Muslim had off,
Mansoor sent for Mohammad bin Sul
from Azerbaijan and dispatched him to deceive Abdullah bin Ali with
a fabricated story. Mohammad bin Sul called on Abdullah bin Ali and
said to him, I have heard Saffah say that after his death his successor
The Caliphate of the Abbasids (First Phase)
289
would be his uncle Abdullah." Abdullah bin Ali said, "You are a liar
and understand your fraud." Saying this he chopped off his head.
I
Then he left Harran and stayed at Nasiban where he dug trenches and
made fortifications. Before sending Abu Muslim, Mansoor had
already written to Hasan bin Qahtaba, the governor of Armenia, to
come and join Abu Muslim and he joined him at Mousil. When Abu
Muslim and his army arrived at Nasiban, he camped in the direction
of Syria and made it known that he had nothing to do with Abdullah
bin Ali and that he had been made the governor of Syria and was on
his way there. Abdullah bin Ali's men who were Syrians were
nervous when they heard this. They said to Abdullah bin Ali, "Our
families will come under the wheel of his tyranny. We better stop him
from going to Syria." Abdullah bin Ali tried his utmost to argue with
them that Abu Muslim had come to fight with them and that he
would not go to Syria but no one believed him. At last, he left the
camp and was on the way to Syria when Abu Muslim at once shifted
to Abdullah bin Ali's camp which was more strategically located and
Abdullah bin Ali had to camp where Abu Muslim had been camped.
Thus, Abu Muslim secured a more strategic position. Then both the
armies clashed, which continued for several months. Finally, on
Wednesday 7 Jumad-al-Thani 137 A.H. Abdullah bin Ali was defeated
and Abu Muslim was victorious, he immediately sent the news to
Mansoor. Abdullah bin Ali fled and took refuge with his brother
Sulaiman bin Ali in Basra and remained there in hiding.
Death of Abu Muslim

When Mansoor heard that Abdullah bin Ali was defeated and Abu
Muslim looted his camp and took a large amount of spoils of war, he
sent his servant Abu Khaseeb to record the valuables. Abu Muslim
Was annoyed that Mansoor did not rely upon him and sent his own
of accounting. When Mansoor was informed of
•nen for the purpose
Abu Muslim's displeasure, he felt concerned that he might go to
Khorasan. So, he wrote a certificate of governorship of Syria and
Egypt in Abu Muslim's name and sent it to him.' Abu Muslim was
aggrieved from this
even more and he thought that he was being
separated from
Khorasan in order to make him helpless and
powerless. So, he
left Jazirah and went
to Khorasan. When he found
290 The History of Islam
out aboutAbu Muslim's movement, Mansoor left AmbUr and went to

Madain and sent for him. Abu Muslim refused to come to him, saying,
"I shallobey you from a distance. I have subdued all your enemies.
Now your dangers are over you do not need me. If you leave
that all
me alone, I shall keep obeying you and shall remain committed to my
oath. But if you pursue me, I shall announce the cancellation of the
oath and oppose you." After going through the letter Mansoor wrote
to Abu Muslim very softly and affectionately, "I have no doubts about
your loyalty and obedience. You are very efficient and worthy of
reward. The devil has poured poison of suspicion into your heart.
Purge yourself of all these suspicions and temptations and come over
to me." Mansoor dispatched the letter through his liberated slave Abu
Humaid and instructed him to induce and entreat him to visit
Mansoor and threaten him with Mansoor's anger in case of refusal.
When the letter reached him, he consulted Malik bin Haitham. He
said, "Don't go to Mansoor. He will kill you." But Mansoor had
already persuaded Abu Dawood Khalid bin Ibrahim in exchange for
the governorship of Khorasan to convince Abu Muslim to come to him
at any cost. Due to Abu Dawood's advice Abu Muslim prepared
himself to go to Mansoor. Despite this he took precautions by first
sending his minister Abu Ishaq Khalid bin Uthman to Mansoor to get
more acquainted with the conditions and situation there. Abu Muslim
had a deep trust in Abu Ishaq. When he reached the caliph's court, all
Banu Hashim and noblemen of the court came to receive

the leaders of
him. Mansoor treated him with great respect and love and won his
heart with his soft speech, then he said to him, "Prevent Abu Muslim
from going to Khorasan and convince him to come to me. In exchange
l shall give you the governorship of Khorasan." Abu Ishaq yielded. He
came to Abu Muslim and persuaded him to visit Mansoor. So, he left
his army under the command of Malik bin Haitham at Halwan and
with 3,000 men moved to Madain. When he reached Madain, a man
visited him at Mansoor's instance and said to him, "Please
recommend me to Mansoor and ask him to give me the governorship
day
of Kaskar (in the Northwest Frontier Province of present
Pakistan). Also, Mansoor is very displeased with his minister Abu
Ayyub. Please say a few words in his favor." Abu Muslim was
pleased to oblige him and all doubts about danger that he harbored in
291
his heart vanished. He entered the court with
honor and went back to
with equal honor. When he visited the court
his resting place
the next
day, Mansoor had already hidden Uthman bin Naheek,
Shabeeb bin
Rawah, Harb bin Qais and others, behind a veil and instructed
them
that when he clapped, they should come out and kill him. Abu
Muslim came to the court and Caliph Mansoor in the course
of
conversation inquired of him about the two swords he
had taken from
Abdullah bin Ali. Abu Muslim had one of those two swords
at his
side. He at once handed it over to Mansoor. He kept looking at it for a
while and then he put it under his thigh and began to complain to
Abu Muslim about *his actions
then he mentioned the death of
Sulaiman bin Katheer and said to him, "Why did
you kill him though
he has been loyal to me since before you had
joined this work." First
Abu Muslim offered excuses in a humble and flattering manner
but
when he found that Mansoor' s rage was rising
moment by moment
and that he was no longer secure he courageously
answered, "Do
what you may. I fear none except Allah." Mansoor abused
Abu
Muslim and clapped his hands. On hearing the clapping Uthman
bin
Naheek and the others came out and killed him.
This occurred in 25 SHibban 137 A.H. After Abu Muslim's death, the
minister went out and sent back Abu Muslim's men saying, "Your
Amir will remain with the Amir al-Muminin at present. You may go
back." Then Isa bin Musa came to the caliph's court and
inquired
about Abu Muslim. When he understood he was dead, he exclaimed
*Jl W j ty. This touched Mansoor and he said, "No one was a
greater enemy to you than Abu Muslim." Then Mansoor sent for
Jafar
bin*Hanzla and consulted him about killing Abu Muslim. Jafar
advised him to kill him and Mansoor said, "May AUAh give you a
good reward!" and then pointed to the dead body of Abu Muslim As
soon as he saw it he said, "Amir al-Muminin you are caliph with
effect
from today." Mansoor simply smiled and kept quite.
Abu Nasr Malik bin Haitham to whom Abu Muslim had handed over
his wealth, left Halwan and was on his way to Khorasan
planning on
going to Hamadan. Then he came back to Mansoor. Mansoor
Reprimanded him saying, "You advised Abu Muslim not to come to
me " He said, "As long as I was with him I gave advice. Now that
I
292 The History of
have come to you, I shall keep trying to do good for you."

Mansoor
sent him as the ruler of Mousil.
The Revolt of Sinb&d

After becoming free from the matter of Abu Muslim,
Mansoor
obviously could relax to some degree but even after that, he
had to
face many Among Abu Muslim's men there was a
difficulties.
Zoroastrian named Firoz who was popularly known as Sinbad.
He
had converted Islam and joined Abu Muslim's
army. Following Abu
Muslims murder, he rose
pp and demanded compensation for his
murder. The inhabitants of mountain
area supported him He
conquered -Nishapur and Rayy and took
possession of all the money
and provisions that Abu Muslim had
left there. He looted the people's
wealth and goods and made them
slaves.' Then he turned apostate and
announced that he was going to
pull down the Ka'bah. For the new
Iranian Muslims this much
instigation was sufficient and those who
knew nothing about Islam saw one of their
countrymen revolt against
the Islamic authority and they
joined him. When Mansoor was
mformed °f this new evil, he sent Jamhoor
bin Murar Ajli to punish
Smbad. They clashed at a place between Hamadan
and Rayy. jamhoor
defeated Sinbad and about 7,000 of
Sinbad's men lost their lives.
Smbad fled and took refuge in Tabristan. A
servant of the governor of
Tabnstan kiUed him. Mansoor wrote to
the governor of Tabristan to
send Sinbad's wealth and goods but he
refused. Mansoor then sent an
army to discipline him. He fled from
Tabristan and went to Dailam.
When jamhoor had defeated Sinbad, he captured
most of his goods
and all his treasure
and Abu Muslim's treasure also came
under his
possession. He did not send
it to Mansoor. He went
to Rayy, entered
and announced bis cancellation
,
of his oath to Mansoor and
rebelled against him.
Mansoor sent Mohammad bin Ash'th to fight
against him. Jamhoor
left Rayy and went to Isfahan. Jamhoor
conquered Isfahan and
Mohammad bin Ash'th occupied Rayy. Then
ohammad invaded Isfahan. Jamhoor fought but lost after a pitched
battle and fled to Azerbaijan. A friend of Jamhoor's
killed him and
sent his head to Mansoor. This
happened in 138 A.H.
In 139 A.H., Mansoor deposed his uncle Sulaiman from the
Abbasids (First Phase) 293
The Caliphate of the
governorship of Basra and recalled him.

He wrote to him to bring
Abdullah bin Ali (who after losing to Abu Muslim, had gone to his
Sulaiman in Basra) with him by giving him a pardon. When
brother
Ali to court, Mansoor imprisoned him and
he brought Abdullah bin
later on killed him.
The sect of Ravindiyeh

Ravandiyeh considered as one of the sects of the Shiites. It was in
is
fact a sect consisting of the ignorant people of

Iran and Khorasan,
which lived in Ravaind. It originated from recruits of Abu Muslim's
army. The sect, which he had made, had nothing to do with religion
and they were always guided by political considerations. The
Ravaindiyeh believed in transmigration and embodiment. They
believed that Mansoor was the embodiment of Allah. So they took him
to be Allah and to obtain a sight of him amounted to worship. It was
their belief that Adam's soul entered Uthman bin Naheek's body and
the angel Gabriel's soul entered Haitham bin Muawiya's body. They
visited the capital and made public their faith and deeds. Mansoor
caught 200 of them besides those, there were 500 or 600 more. They
reacted to the arrest of their co-religionists, stormed the jail and freed
their brethren. Then they besieged Mansoor's palace. It is really
surprising that they considered Mansoor to be their god and yet they
were ready to fight with him. It is worth recording here that among
Yazid bin Hubairah's friends Ma'an bin Zaidah was still alive. And
when Ibn Hubariah fought with the Abbasids, Ma'an bin Zaidah was
among his leaders. Ma'an bin Zaidah went into hiding in the capital of
Hashimites after Ibn Hubairah's defeat, Mansoor had been searching
for him and wanted to have him arrested and killed. When the
Ravandiyehs surrounded Mansoor's palace, Mansoor came out on
foot. He started attacking and removing them although he had only a
small number of men with him. In the capital there was no army or
other power to match the rioters' strength, It was a very critical
moment for Mansoor. He was on the point of losing the capital, the
caliphate and his life and opening the way for occupation by the
Ravandiyahs. Ma'an bin Zaidah, taking advantage of the situation,
came to his defense unhesitatingly and fell upon the rioters.
Meanwhile others also rallied around Mansoor but it was Ma'an bin
Hie History of
Zaidah's attacks that proved most effective. Mansoor watched

with
his own eyes the heroic deeds of the stranger. At last,
Ma'anbin
Zaidah himself began to command the men that ultimately led to
the
defeat of the rioters. Other civilians also rose in
support of Mansoo*
and did away with all the rioters. After the battle,
Mansoor made
mquires about the stranger who had done
stamp out the the most to
evil disorder. He was
informed that it was none other than
Za«dah. He granted him
Ma'an bin
pardon excused his past crimes
promoted him to a higher rank. and
nd
brahim ^ WaS
“
‘
the administrator of
atkh and the new governor of Khorasan. In 140
A.H. a rebellion
dimbecTon ^he
S
*7? T* ^ soldiers sur r°unded his
house. He
‘“ k at ** rebels He .Upped, feii
-
and
rebellion, took over
the rein, of kh
c n ™
ander Hosam ut d °wn the
P
sen, Abdul Jabbar bm Abdur
Abdul lab bar's Revolt and

Death
Immediately after taking
created a commotion
over the reien nfvu
began to depose, humiliated
in the country
W ££££?T-7™
bravin' h
^ Strators - He
slightest suspicions.
Mansoor found ûUhatAbd hVk °" he
the supporters of the WaS kilUng
Abbasids but he was
Abdul Jabbar leave hesh ° W ‘° make
Khorasan for he feared !
|,
him. At gh( revolt a ainsl
last, Mansoor wrote
him "Send the to S
)ihad the Romans." The
purnê was 0 ^“^^
greater '° US Whm 3
portion of the army was
quite easy to depose and rental
separated *from
r0m Kh
u-
^ orasan .
would be it
'
wrote back in reply, an° ther man Abdul

J abbar
‘
"The Turks
"my toany other place attack If
^ shift the
’
th
out of our hands
love Khorasan
"Auhe
most it
started invading,
I will
^
sendT
7^^
P ** ^
l ° pr ° teCt
»*»•« will go
afraid'
Mansoor "«* * him, "I
il ' If the Turks have
about
"The
it."Seeing the letter
revenue of Khorasan
^ f° r itS
defense Don't worry
,abbar immediatel sent the reply,
y
-
don', send
a^C a^y
y »ge army. " This
tIT' reply convinced T* “* *
Mansoor
«*“* «*-•
that Abdul
Jabbar was bent upon So immediately he sent a large army

revolt.
under the command Mahdi arrived at Rayy and

of his son Mahdi.
asked Khazim bin Khuzaima to go ahead and fight with Abdul Jabbar.
There was a fierce battle resulting in Abdul Jabbar's defeat and flight.
Mahshar bin Muzahim captured and presented him to Khazim bin
Khuzaima who, in turn, made him put on a woolen gown and sit on a
camel with his face towards its tail and after making a public display
jailed them and
of him, sent him and all his men to Mansoor .Mansoor
in142 A.H. ordered Abdul Jabbar's hands and feet to be cut off. After
defeating Abdul Jabbar, Mahdi took over the reign of Khorasan and
continued in the capacity of its governor until 149 A.H.
Uyainah bin Musa bin Kab

Musa bin KSb was the administrator of Sindh and after him his son
Uyaimah succeeded him as the governor of Sindh. He revolted against
Mansoor. When Mansoor found out, he left the capital and went to
Basra, and from there he gave the certificate of the
governorship of
Sindh and India to Omarbin Hafs bin Abi Safwah Atki and
appointed
him for the expedition against Uyaimah. Omar bin Hafs arrived in
captured
Sindh and declared war against Uyaimah and ultimately
administrator of Tabristan also
Sindh in 142 A.H. In the meantime, the
rebelled. Khazim bin Khuzaima and Ruh bin Hatim were sent there.
They conquered it and its administrator, a new Iranian Muslim,
committed suicide.
The arrest and captivity of the Aiawiites
has already been mentioned that during the end of the

It
caliphate of
Banu Umayyah an assembly was held in Makkah which discussed the
nomination and election of the newMansoor who was also

caliph.
present there voted for Mohammad bin

Abdullah bin Hasan
Muthanna bin Hasan bin Ali. All were unanimous on this point and
took the oath at Mohammad bin Abdullah's hands. Mansoor also took
his reign by
the oath for
him. Saffah kept the Aiawiites quiet during
giving them gifts and cash and thus preventing them from revolting,
^hen Mansoor took over as caliph, he did not let the generosity of
Allah's times continue and constantly thought of Mohammad bin
296 The History o//s / flm
Abdullah. Mohammad bin Abdullah's father Abdullah bin Hasan has

also He visited Saffah who gave him a large
found mention above.
sum of money and sent him away. When Mansoor became caliph
Abdullah bin Hasan hid his sons Mohammad and Ibrahim so
that
Mansoor would not kill them. Mohammad bin Abdullah
who
Mansoor took the oath for was also known as Mohammad
Mahdi. He
will be referred to ip the»,following as Mohammad
Mahdi When
Mansoor went on Hajj in 136 A.H.
and heard the news of Saffah's
death, he first made Mohammad Mahdi. He was not
queries about
present there at the time. The
people were suspicious of him and
and his brother Ibrahim so he
went into hiding. After becoming
caliph
Mansoor always was trying to
find out where he was. He
many inquiries about him that made so
everybody
Mohammad Mahdi badly When Abdullah Kinknew that he wanted
AbdulIah bin w Hasan \/
Muthanna was >
SZ
pressurized to ma!« k
bin A ch
SOnS a PP ear ' he insulted
Mansoor-s uncle
had fake ietteis sen! To a"d

ln order to fmd
Mohammad Mahdi's whereabouts out
MnK Mahdi and
brother Ibrahim
“
Hijaz and
continued, to rem n
went for Hajj but was
went
actuallvloow- T ^ ln § in the Hijaz. Mansoor
BOth br0thers ** the
™
From Basra, they
Mansoor found' out abTm
immediately. However
thev u BaSr3
D i
^7^
"" d Ba
tht ' he went to Basra
before he arrived *here.
“» hvo
went to Aden anH U ^
brothers c^d When
PeaCe en ta
“r
Sindh. After
hving for a Aden ' they went to
started hiding
? , sL *ey Went to Kufa and
aga^n. Afterwards^
again went to
Hajj in 140 AH ^ t0 Madinah Mansoor
-
™ ‘^Mansoor failed
P~called^"^£
sgain. s
He to' 'them
d orced him
Wh«n he eaujressecT ?? /
to bring them into
ST
Mansoor wanted to "here they were,
°n the guarantee of the
administrator of Madinah, Zeyad, he was let off. Because Zeyad made

the guarantee for him, Mansoor came to harbor ill feelings against him
also.After coming to the capital he appointed Mohammad bin Khalid
bin Abdullah Qasri as the administrator of Madinah and brought
Zeyad and his friends back to the capital and arrested them and put
them into prison. After taking over as the administrator of Madinah,
Mohammad bin Khalid tried his best to find Mohammad Mahdi and
spent all the money of the treasury on it. Mansoor deposed
Mohammad bin.Khalid for his extravagance and failure and replaced
him with Rabah bin Uthman bin Hayyan Muzani. Rabah reached
Madinah and harassed Abdullah bin Hasan and created a great
commotion there and arrested and imprisoned the following
Alawiites.
1. Abdullah bin Hasan Muthanna bin Ali •&> (Mohammad Mahdi's

father)
2. Ibrahim bin Hasan Muthanna bin Hasan bin Ali (Mohammad

Mahdi's uncle)
3. Jafar bin Hasan Muthanna bin Hasan bin Ali & (Mohammad
Mahdi's uncle)
4. Sulaiman bin Dawood bin Hasan Muthanna bin Hasan bin Ali 4*
(Mohammad Mahdi's cousin)
5. Abdullah bin Dawood bin Hasan Muthanna bin Hasan bin Ali
6. Mohammad bin Ibrahim bin Hasan bin Hasan bin Ali &
7. Ismail bin Ibrahim bin Hasan bin Ali & (Mohammad Mahdi's
cousin)
Ishaq bin Ibrahim bin Hasan bin Hasan bin Ali

8.
& (Mohammad
Mahdi's cousin)
9. Abbas bin Hasan bin Hasan bin Hasan bin Ali (Mohammad
Mahdi's cousin)
10. Musa bin Abdullah bin Hasan bin Hasan bin Ali
Mahdi's brother)
& (Mohammad
298 The Histon/ of Islam
11. Ali bin Hasan bin Hasan bin Ali (Mohammad Mahdi's uncle)
When Mansoor was informed of their arrest, he wrote back that

along with them Mohammad bin Abdullah bin Amr bin Uthman bin
Affan should also be arrested because Abdullah bin Hasan bin
Hasan bin Ali's mother was also from the same line of Fatima bint
Husain's children. Rabah complied with this order and imprisoned
Muhammad bin Abdullah bin Amr. It was during this period that
the Egyptian governor arrested Ali bin Mohammad bin Abdullah
bin Hasan Hasan bin Ali
bin (Mohammad Mahdi's son) and sent
him to Mansoor. Mansoor put him in prison. His father had
sent him
to Egypt for propagation and informing the people about
their
ideals and beliefs.
Building of Baghdad and Compilation

of Knowledge
Saffah had made
Ambar his capital and after a short time he had his
palace and buddings for his government
officials constructed adjacent
to Ambar. This was a new
colony and it was named Hashmia
Mansoor was Hashmia when the commotion in Khorasan
at
was
going on. In 140 A.H., he wanted to
build a separate capital and the
foundation of the city of Baghdad was
laid. The construction
work
continued for nine or ten years and was
completed in 149 A H From
that time on Baghdad was the
capital of the Abbasids.
During the
same period, the scholars began the
work of foundation and
compilahon of religious knowledge. Ibn
Jareeh in Makkah, Malik («.
adm n Abi Aruba (ib **\i) and Hammad
Basa ^ \?
sra, Mamar (Ai~,)
,n Yemen, and Sufyan
bin Sulamih in
Thauri (An «-,) in Kufa
lm8 the Hadith (the
V°T
Ktl
Morttt
ba^
^
n vuh
( -.^)
ltTs °nS ^
and Abu Hanifa (A,
Pr° Phet
^
^ “
traditions "of the
wrote books on
Iaw respectively,
the ex P e ditions of the
°f writin S
Prophet were
on^develoDinv compilahon wen.
C °UrtS °f Baghdad and Cordova, Spain
patronize d^the
* ma!<imum
L writing th! h u”
-11 the most suitable time
0 enormous amoun t
material carried
hymeimlty vvritten'onpaper.^b
Abbasids (First Phase) 299
The Caliphate of the
The killing of the Skd&t
The elders whom Rabah had arrested and imprisoned remained

incarcerated in Madinah until the end of 144 A.H. Mansoor was
constantly in search of Mohammad Mahdi and his brother Ibrahim.
During remained in hiding among the tribes
this period, the brothers
of the Hijaz and In unknown places. They

kept changing their hiding
places. All of the descendants of Hasan bin Ali *> were either
imprisoned or in hiding. In Dhul Hijja 144 A.H. Mansoor went to Hajj
and sent Mohammad bin Imran bin Ibrahim bin Talha and Malik bin
Anas to the descendants of Hasan &
who were in prison with a
message asking them to hand over Mohammad and Ibrahim to
Mansoor. Their father Abdullah bin Hasan Muthanna bin Hasan
pleaded ignorance about them and sought his permission to appear
,
before the caliph. Mansoor said, "As long as Abdullah bin Hasan does
not bring his sons into my presence, l will not see him." When
Mansoor was coming to Iraq on his return journey from Hajj, he
ordered Rabah to send the captives to him in Iraq. Rabah took all the
captives yoked, handcuffed and chained and then put them on camels
without saddles and sent them off to Iraq under escort. Mohammad
and Ibrahim, disguised as Bedouins, met their father on the way and
sought his permission to rebel. But Abdullah bin Hasan exhorted and
instructed them to be patient and not to be hasty. When those captives
were ushered into Mansoor' s presence, he called Mohammad bin
Abdullah bin Amr bin Uthman to come before him, he abused him
and gave him 150 lashes. Mansoor was hostile to him because the
Syrians were his supporters and he commanded great respect there.
When the prisoners were shifted to Iraq, Mohammad Mahdi sent his
brother Ibrahim to Iraqand Khorasan to propagate to the people there
and to instigate them to oppose the Abbasids. Mansoor was sure of
Mahdi' s presence in the Hijaz. One of the strategies he adopted to
deceive and trace him was that he used to have letters written
constantly and sent them to those inhabitants of different cities who he
supposed were Mahdi's supporters and might know his whereabouts.
Those letters contained tributes to Mahdi and criticism of Mansoor
and his shortcoming and inducements to rebellion. By these actions.
he thought that one of his spies might get access to Mohammad

Mahdi and arrest him. He did not succeed in his aim and Mohammad
Mahdi continued to get information about the letters from his friends.
He could not accurately gage the strength of his supporters and
followers and he overestimated his following. His brother Ibrahim
traveled through Basra, Kerman, Isfahan, Khorasan, Mousil and Syria,
and enlisted missionaries and sympathizers. He came to the capital, ate
with Mansoor and the latter failed to recognize him. The next time
Mansoor came to inspect the construction of Baghdad, Mohammad
Mahdi w^s present there among Mansoor' s men. His spies informed
him that Ibrahim was present there but he could not find and arrest him.
In the same way, despite his best efforts to locate him in Hijaz, Rabah
failed to catch him. At last, Abu Aim, the Administrator of Khorasan
sent a letter to Mansoor in 145 A.H. that secret conspiracies were on
the increase there and all the Khorasanis were awaiting a revolt by
Mohammad Mahdi. As soon as he read it, he sent for Mohammad bin
Abdullah bin Amr bin Uthman from the jail, handed him over to the
executioner and had his head chopped off and sent it to Khorasan.
Along with it, he sent a few persons who swore as witnesses that the
head belonged to Mohammad bin Abdullah and his grand mother
was Fatima bint Mohammad $s. In this way the Khorasanis were
fraudulently led to believe that Mohammad Mahdi was put to death
s
and that it was his head. Then he enclosed Mohammad bin Ibrahim
Mahdi's cousin, alive in a pillar of the construction. Then Abdullah
bin Hasan bin Hasan bin Ali, Mahdi's father, and Ali bin Hasan bin
Hasan bin Ali, Mahdi's uncle, were killed. Then Ibrahim bin Hasan
bin Hasan bin Ali, Mahdi's uncle, and Abbas bin Hasan bin Hasan bin
Ali, Mahdi's cousin, were tortured to death. Mansoor' s stone-
heartedness is very shocking. Banu Umayyah were opponents and
enemies of the Alawiites and the Abbasids were extremely intimate
and allies with the Alawiites. Banu Umayyah did not bear any close
But they had very close relations with the
relation with the Alawiites.
Abbasids. The Alawiites vehemently opposed Banu Umayyah and
frequently used arrows and swords against them but they did not
fight with the Banu Abbas. Taking all these things into consideration
and reflectingon the fact that Banu Uniayyah never arrested and
killed any Alawiite on mere suspicion and the only Alawiites that
were slain by them were those who fought against them on the
battlefield we can consider being an enemy of theUmayyahs was
safer than being an ally of the Abbasids. Mansoor killed many
innocent descendants of Hasan mercilessly. Yazid bin Muawiya's
killing of Husain 4 b pales into insignificance if we look at the murders
of the^ SUdat (members of the Prophet's family) in respect to the
number of crimes committed. Perhaps this is only an indication of the
blind lust man has for this world, which can make an intelligent man
act like a murderer, to achieve what he wants.
The Revolt of Mohammad Mahdi Nafse

Zakiah (the pure soul)
When Mansoor had Abdullah bin Hasan and other descendants of
Hasan 4* killed, Mohammad Mahdi, after hearing of it, did not think it
honorable to wait any longer. He was confident that the masses would
support him and cancel their oaths to Mansoor. He consulted his
friends in Madinah concerning the revolt. On the day of the revolt by
chance, the administrator of Madinah, Rabah had been informed by
his spies that Mohammad Mahdi was going to revolt on that day. He
sent for Jafar bin Mohammad bin Husain and Husain bin Ali bin
Husain and a few of the Quraish and said to them, "If Mohammad
Mahdi rebels, I shall kill you." As the talk was going on, they heard
the call of Allahu Akbar (God is the Greatest) and they immediately
knew that Mohammad Mahdi had revolted. In the beginning, he had
only 150 supporters. He first went to the jail and freed Mohammad
bin Khalid bin Abdullah Qasri and his nephew Nazir bin Yazid bin
Khalid and the others were was locked up with them. Then he went to
the Governor's headquarter and arrested Rabah and his brother Abbas
and Ibn Muslim bin Oqba. Then he came to the mosque and delivered
a sermon in which he highlighted Mansoor' s bad habits and his
criminal activities and promised to do justice with the people and
asked for their co-operation.
After that he deputed Uthman bin Mohammad bin Khalid bin Zuhair
to the post of chief justice, Abdul Aziz bin Muttalib bin Abdullah
Makhzumi to the arsenal, Uthman bin Obaldullah bin Abdullah bin
Omar bin Khattab to the post of chief of police. He then sent a
302 The History of islam
representative with a message to Mohammad bin Abdul Aziz asking

him why he sat inside the house hidden. Mohammad bin Abdul Aziz
promised to extend co-operation to him. Ismail bin Abdullah bin Jafar
did not Mohammad Mahdi. A few others also
take the oath for
evaded the Mansoor received the news nine days after the
oath.
rebellion of Mohammad Mahdi and the imprisonment of Rabah. He
was extremely worried and he rushed to Kufa and sent a letter as a
promise of amnesty in the name of Mohammad Mahdi. He wrote as
follows:
jt jJlij
I <jt bCj fi\ jj —JJ ill I I
ifj-T" (H-l Cr-f '

J jl
Ol pjli* i)I
S* Crt ^ O jLdip L-lii J> j^Jj
In the Name of Allah, The Most gracious. The Most Merciful.

The recompense of those who wage war against Allah and His
Messenger and do mischief in the land is only that they shall be
killed or crucified or their hands and their feet be cut off from
opposite sides, or be exiled from the land. That is their disgrace
in this world, and a great torment is theirs in the Hereafter.
Except for those who (having fled away and came back
then)
(as Muslims) with repentance before they your power;
fall into
in that case, know that Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.
(Q. 5:33-34)
In between, you and me stand Allah and His Prophet's contract and
obligation. give you safety and pardon for yourself, your family and
I
your followers in respect of life, money and goods. Furthermore,

whatever blood you have shed or people's money you have usurped,
you are forgiven. 1 grant you 100,000 dirhams additional. Besides
these things, all your wants will be met and your wishes fulfilled. You
will be allowed to live in the city you like. Those of your followers
who are once granted safety and pardon will never be charged or
303
punished. If you want to be satisfied on these points, you may
send
your agent to me and have a contract written by me and be confident
in all respects."
When the letter was received by Mohammad Mahdi, he wrote in

reply:
^ J.
1^1 y* kiLJlP yil O I obi dib O
'—a.* i -'
. i"Uli 1^1*1 Jli-j ^jVl J Up O^p dj O
# P
0-“
•#
^ -H/J O
* + * + 9+ , , * 9 0 ', 0
^
,+
<1>LS
**
<Jj p-fpLJ-J
m 9 f *+ 9 ++ 9 S
$
9 00
,j-» pi—! O OvjljJI pfl"dj <*jl yA)*! «,»?
iyU* U oUtij Cy^
These are the Verses of the manifest Book (that makes clear
truth from falsehood, good from evil).
We recite to you some of the news of Musa (Moses) and Fir'aun
(Pharaoh) in truth, for a people who believe (in this Qur'an, and
in the Oneness of Allah).
Verily, Fir'aun (Pharaoh) exalted himself in the land and made

weakening (oppressing) a group (i.e. Children
its people sects,
of Israel) among them: killing their sons, and letting their

(i.e. those who
females live. Verily, he was of the Mufsidun
tyrants).
commit great sins and crimes, oppressors,
And We wished to do a favor to those who were weak (and

rulers and to make
oppressed) in the land, and to make them
them the inheritors.
them in the land, and We let Fir'aun (Pharaoh)

And to establish
them that which they
their hosts receive
from
and Hamlin and
feared. (28:1-6)
We grant you the same sort
‘,°o his “us lnd"o» -"out tas oneof our <
nTtr h"ou
in the
become heir to his authority
The History of Islam
304
that we, the noble and of
presence of his descendants? You also know
pure blood, never ran after the government. We are not the sons of
among Banu Hashim is equal to
those accused and turned out. None
us in relation, priority and greatness. We are from the descendants of
Fatima bint Amr in the age of Ignorance. In Islam we descend from

Fatima bint Mohammad £. Allah has made us higher and better than
you. Among the Prophets our father, Mohammad 2s is the greatest of
alland among the predecessors, there is Ali bin Abi Talib & who was
the first to embrace Islam. Among the impeccable wives, Khadija was
the first to perform her Salat (prayer). Among the girls is Fatima, the
Prophet's daughter, who is superior to all the women of the world.
Among the children are Hasan *&> and Husain *&> who are the leaders
of those who will go to Paradise. Hashim bears dual relation with Ali
bin Abi Talib & and Hasan bin Ali bin Abi Talib is similarly doubly
connected with Abdul Muttalib. I am a superior Banu Hashim in
terms of purity of blood. My father is well known among Banu
Hashim. I have no mixed blood of non- Arabs nor do I have the mark
of a slave-girl.I make Allah stand witness between you and me and
say that you obey me I grant you safety and pardon for your life and
if
property and forgive you of all your misdeeds and crimes you have
committed. But I will not be responsible for a specific judgment set out
by Allah or any Muslim's right or contract because in this respect, as
you know, I am quite helpless. Undoubtedly, I deserve the caliphate
more them you and I am a better keeper of promises. You granted
safety and pardon and your word to some persons before me. So,
what type of safety and pardon do you grant me, the safety and
pardon granted to Ibn Hubairah, or to your uncle Abdullah bin Ali or
to Abu Muslim?
Upon receiving the letter, Mansoor twisted with anger and

discomfort. He then wrote the following letter and dispatched it to
Mohammad Mahdi:
I read your letter. Your pride
is based on the proximity of women,
which can deceive only the ignorant people of the market. Allah has
not created women
equivalent to uncles, fathers and guardians. He
has made uncle the deputy of the father and given priority to the
the
nearest mother in His Boole lid he respected the relation
of women,
Amina [the Prophet's M mother] would have been the leader of the
people of Paradise. Allah made those greater in rank whom He liked.

As for your mention of Fatima Umm
Abi Talib, it can be said that
Allah did not let any of her sons or daughters embrace Islam. Had He
chosen from among the men on the basis of relation. He would have
chosen Abdullah bin Abdul Muttalib and he was no doubt better in all
respects. But Allah chose for the sake of
His religion whom He liked.
He says:
jAj Cr* oAj c*^ ^
Verily, Muhammad *) guide not whom you like, but

you (O
Allah guides whom He wills. And He knows best those who are
the guided. (Q.28:56)
sent the Prophet #, his four uncles were

living. He
When Allah
revealed the verse.
And warn your tribe (O Muhammad *) of near kindred.

(Q.26:214).
punishment and invited them to the
fear Allah's
So, he made them
accepted the true rehgton and my
father
true religion. Two of the four
refused to accept the true rel.gton and
was one of them. The other two cham
Talib). So, Allah severed them
one of them was your father (Abu and
did no. allow any relatio
of and the Prophet *
authority
parties of believe...and.
inheritance between the two
that he bears a doub e
^ re ahonwdh
You have written about Hasan
have the same double relation wnh
Abdul Muttalib and then that you
Prophet * ts Khmrul Awwalem-
the Prophet £ My reply is this that the He had paternal relattons
Zi aZI the best of the first and the last.
You dunk that youtare th

with Banu Hashim and Abdul Muttalib.
and your parents
best among the Banu Hashim
of non-Arab blood nora 'race o
reputation !nd you have no mixture made
a slave-girl m your line. I see that
you have made yourself as a
tribe of
of pride better than the entire
words’ Howwilyouanswr
How can we not disapprove of your
Allah tomorrow? You have crossed the limits and dKla u «eh
to you in person and
^° traits, that
better than those who are far superior
306
is, Ibrahim the Prophet g. No one from amongst the descendants of

your father is and none
better of them became great except the sons of
slave-girls. After the Prophet's » death none

among you was born
better and greater than Ali bin Husain (Imam Zainul Abdeen) and he
is and they were undoubtedly better
superior to the slave-girl's sons
than your grandfather Hasan bin Hasan. After him no one among you
was bom like Mohammad bin Ali. His grandmother was a slave-girl
and she is better than your father. His son Jafar is better than you and
his grandmother was a slave-girl. Your statement that you are the sons
of the Prophet & is wrong. Allah says in his Book,
Muhammad (g) 4 s not the father of any of your men, but he is

the Messenger of Allah and the last (end) of the Prophets. And
Allah is Ever All-Aware of everything. (Q. 33:40)
Yes, you are the son of the Prophet's daughter and undoubtedly this
relation is close but it not entitled to inheritance nor can it be a heir
is
to authority nor is leadership legally theirs. So how can you be an heir

by jdrtue of Your father wanted it most. He made
this relationship?
Fatima 4— *»' ^ come out in the light of day, concealing her illness
and buried her at night but the people did not recognize anyone but
the sheikhain (two sheiks, Abu Bakr and Umar ^.)
(Editor' s Note: He is insinuating unjustly that Ali * brought his wife

out to be seen by people because it would influence them to choose
him as the Caliph because of his close connection to the Prophet
£
through his daughter and he buried her secretly so that
the loss of this
connection would not be established in the peoples mind. goes on He
to insinuate that in spite of these efforts the
people chose Abu Bakr
and Umar over him.]
All the Muslims are unanimous on the

point that the maternal
grandfather, maternal uncle and mother's
sister cannot be heirs. Next,
you are proud of Ali's conversion to Islam before answer others. The
to that is that the Prophet g at the time of his death, ordered
somebody else to lead the Saltit (prayer) and afterwards the peopl®
.continued to make others the leader and Caliph one after the other
and did not pick or choose him although he was also one of the six
persons from among those who the Caliph was chosen. The people
took him to be a misfit for this job and spared him and did not
consider him to be entitled to it. Abdur Rahman preferred Uthman
to him and he is an accused in the matter. (Editor: Insinuating unjustly
that he was involved in the murder of Uthman *£>.) Talha 4 » and
Zuhair 4* fought him and Sa'd 4 » refused to take oath for him.
Afterwards he took the oath for Muawiya's <&>. Then your father again
wished to be caliph and fought. His friends parted with him. His
supporters became suspicious as to his right to be ruler and judge and
then they unanimously fixed two persons to decide the matter. Both of
those chosen agreed on his dismissal (Editor: He is selectively
applying the facts, please refer back to the Vol. I concerning Amr bin
Aas and Musa Ashari's judgment concerning Muawiya 4* and AH
Then Hasan 4® became caliph and he sold out the caliphate to
Muawiya 4* for clothes and money and presented his supporters
to
Muawiya 4* and entrusted the leadership to the incapable (Editor:
He
means your family sold the caliphate to Banu Umayyah).
So, even if
you were entitled to it, you have already sold it and received
its price.
Then your uncle Husain 4s- rebelled against Ibn Marjanah
(Ibn Zeyad).
The people joined Ibn Zeyad against your uncle to
such an extent that
they killed your uncle, cut off his head
and presented it to Ibn Zeyad
Then you rebelled against Banu Umayyah.
They put you to death
hung one of you on the branches of a date
palm, burnt him in the fire’
m that way
they killed Yahya bin Zaid in Khorasan.
Your men wen'
lulled and your children
and women were imprisoned and made to sit
on camek without veils, sen. them
to Syria like slave
blood Xn ‘YT
00
P ^
revenge for the k’lhngs and
girls on sale until
d6manded comP ensation for
your
j
we made you the
you want to dY,
|
pr0perty ' We venerated your elders. Do
decetvcd Ya Y Y 8
*
h
“ aCC ° Un ' ? Perhaps
You h— been
H,„.
over Hamza a auJ,
they used
7 T "" *y°uurur Iarner
~ mention
,0 1 1
father having a prio
priority
308 The History of is i aTn
fighting and killing. Banu Umayyah used to curse him as the

unbelievers are cursed in the obligatory prayers. So, we quarreled
with them, \ye narrated the virtues of those who were cursed, we
adopted measures against Banu Umayyah and punished them.
strict
Our greatness during the days of ignorance yvas by virtue of our

supplying water to the pilgrims, and this privilege was available to
Abbas + only. Your father quarreled with us over it. Umar bin Al-
Khattab 4* gave his judgement in our favor. So, we have been the
owner of this honor both during the days of ignorance and the time of
Islam. During the famine in Madinah Umar bin Al-Khattab 4* prayed
to Allah for rain by means of our father and he sent down rain.
Though your father was alive, he did not ask for rain through him. Do
you know that when the Prophet m breathed his last, none except
Abbas 4b from among Banu Abdul Muttalib was left? Therefore,
the
legacy was transferred to the paternal uncle.
Then several persons
from Banu Hashim wanted to be caliph but none
except the
descendants of Abbas 4fc were successful. The authority of
cup bearing
already belonged to him, the Prophet's legacy from Abdul
Muttalib
and the caliphate came to his descendants. In short no distinction
between this world and hereafter between the days of
ignorance and
Islam remained which Abbas 4b was not the inheritor, of. When Islam
spread, Abbas 4b had stood surety for Abu Talib and his descendants
and cared for them during the famine. Had Abbas 4b not been spared
in the expedition of Badr, Abu Talib and Aqeel would have starved to
death and would have continued to lick the utensils of Utbah and
Shaibah, but Abbas 4b kept providing them with food. He saved your
honor, protected you from slavery and continued to supply food and
clothing.Then in the battle of Badr, he had released Aqeel by paying
the ransom. So, why do you brag before us? We cared for your family
during unbelief, paid your ransom, saved the honor of your elders,
became the heirs to the last Prophet #, took revenge for yob and
achieved what you failed to achieve. Peace be upon you.
Itis understood that in the matter of racial
pride Mohammad Mahdi
undoubtedly storied the rivalry and what Mansoor wrote, he wrote
replying to this rivalry. However, Mansoor went beyond the limit in
his reply. Mohammad Mahdi wrote nothing negative about Abbas
But Mansoor unnecessarily used impertinent words about Ali bin Abi
Ali 4* when he said that the latter took
Talib 4 b. He has also slandered
during the day time for the sake of increasing his
out Fatima Zahra
the caliphate. He also was very rude regarding the
chances of getting
Hasan *. The fact is that Hasan bin Ali &did not sell out the
caliphate rather he unified and reconciled the two warring factions of
the Prophet's prophecy. Abbas 4*

the Muslims and thereby he fulfilled
helped Abu Talib without doubt and brought up Aqeel and kept him
with him. But to speak of it satirically and ironically does not befit a
favors is considered
person of noble bearing. Actually to mention such
to be a sign of meanness and by
mentioning such things, he has
displayed his lowness.
arrangements - for Madinah,

Aftermaking the administrative
Mohammad Mahdi sent Mohammad Muawiya bin
bin Hasan bin
Abdullah bin Jafar to Makkah, Qasim bin Ishaq to Yemen
and Musa
Abdullah toSyria-as Amirs. So Mohammad bin Hasan and Qasim
bin
bin Ishaq Madinah together. The Abbasid administrator of
left
Makkah fought and lost and Mohammad bin Hasan occupied it

letter, Mansoor sent Isa bin
After dispatching the above mentioned
Isa was accompanied by
Musa to fight with Mohammad Mahdi.
Mohammad bin Saffah, Katheer bin Haseen Abdi and Humaid bin
time of departure Isa bin Musa and other
Qahtaba and at the
that they got the better of Mohammad
commanders were instructed if
should not kill him but give him pardon and safety. If he
Mahdi, they
went into hiding then the civilians of Madinah
who know him should
be arrested and those from among the descendants of Abi Talib who
visited them should have names record and the commanders
their
should send them to him and those who refused to call on them, the
commanders should confiscate their money and property. When Isa
bin Musa reached Feed, he sent for a few people from
Madinah by
letter. Abdullah bin Mohammad bin Omar bin Ali bin Abi Talib, his
brother Omar bin Mohammad bin Ali bin Abi Talib, Abu Aqeel
Mohammad bin Abdullah bin Aqeel came out of Madinah and went
arrival, he
to Isa. When Mohammad Mahdi was informed of his
consulted with his men on whether they should fight outside of

Madinah or defend by remaining inside. When the counselors
310
disagreed, following the Prophet #, he

ordered the same trench to be
dug, which the Prophet had originally used. Meanwhile Isa bin
#
Musa camped at Awad. Mohammad Mahdi forbade the people of
Madinah to fight outside the city and so no one was allowed to go out.
When Isa approached near to Madinah, he allowed the people to go
out of the was a mistake that he cancelled his first order. The
city. It
people of Madinah in large numbers along with their families went to

the mountains for safety because of this, only a very small number
remained with Mohammad Mahdi in Madinah to fight Isa. was at
It
that time that he realized his blunder and he sent his men to bring them
back but they could not. Isa left Awad and camped at a distance of four
miles from Madinah. He deployed a part of the army on the road to
Makkah so that Mohammad Mahdi would not be able to escape and go
to Makkah. Then he sent word to him, "Caliph Mansoor grants you
pardon and safety, invites you towards judgment by the Book and
Sunnah and threatens you with the consequences of rebellion."
Mohammad Mahdi sent back the reply that he was a man who never
turned his back for fear of being killed. On 12 Ramadan 145 A.H., Isa
bin Musa went ahead and camped at Jurf. On 14 Ramadan 145 A.H.
he stood at a high place and spoke loudly, "O the people of Madinah!
I grant you safety provided you don't intervene between Mohammad
Mahdi and me and stay neutral."
The Madinah people heard and began to abuse him and Isa went
back. The next day he went to the same place again with the
intention
of fighting and spread out his commanders around
Madinah.
Mohammad Mahdi also came out to face him. His flag was held by
Uthman bin Mohammad bin Khalid bin Zubair and
his saying was
Ahad, Ahad (One, One). Abu Ghulmash was come out from
the first to
his side to challenge the enemies. Several renowned commanders
from Isa s side came onto the field to answer his challenge
but they all
lost their lives. Then the battle
began with both sides exhibiting real
bravery. The commanders of both sidesdisplayed wonderful
swordsmanship and breached the opposing lines.
Then at Isa's
instance Humaid bin Qahtaba moved
towards the nearest wall of the
trench with his troops. Mohammad Mahdi's m<?n tried to prevent
them by shooting arrows at them but Humaid continued his forward
inarch firmly and leveled it to the ground, crossed the trench and
began hand to hand combat with Mohammad Mahdi's soldiers. This
gave Isa the chance to fill up the moat at several places to make a way
across it. The cavalry crossed the moat and pounced upon
Mohammad Mahdi's army and a fierce battle ensued. Mohammad
Mahdi's army was small and the invaders out-numbered them several
battle continued from
times over and they were more fully armed. The
morning to the time of the mid-afternoon prayer. Mohammad Mahdi
permission men save themselves if they liked.
granted open to his to
followers requested him repeatedly to save himself and to go to
His
Basra or Makkah and after collecting men and weapons anew Jo face
you
his opponents again. But he gave the same reply to all, saying. If
go anywhere you like
want to save yourselves, you are at liberty to
because of fear of the enemy." Finally, only 300 men

but I cannot flee
bin Khudair
were left with him and at- that time one of his men, Isa
burnt the register containing the names of those
who took the oath
and Rabah bin Uthman and
with him. Then he went to the jail killed
door of his room and
his brother. Mohammad bin Qasri shut the
survived After doing this, he came back to

Mohammad Mahdi and
again. His cavalry cut off the legs of their horses, broke
began to fight
of death and attacked the
into piecestheir sheaths, took the pledge
fierce and horrible that Isa's army suffered
enemies The attack waS so
fled. A few of Isa's men climbed
and around a
a defeat and retreated
took a black covering
hill and went down its
other side into Madinah,
waved it over the minaret of the mosque
of an Abbasid woman and
men were out of their W1 ts when they
like a flag.
Mahdi's
Mohammad
men had taken possession of Madinah
saw it They thought that Isa's
Isa's fleeing soldiers took advantage of the
and they moved backward.
and attacked again. One of the groups
opportunity they rallied
and began to fighfwith
Ghaffar's side
entered the city from Banu
was contrary to what he expected.
Mohammad Mahdi. The situation
not expect that Banu Chaffar would allow a
Mohammad Mahdi did
hansel to this he moved
way for the enemy to enter. Resolving
Qahtabato single combat but
forward and called out to Humaid
bin
Mohammad Mahd Is
Humaid did not dare to come out to face hmu
enemies. Isa bin Khudair was
men again launched the attack on the,
Musa went forward and called him
fighting very valiantly. Isa bin
loudly, "I grantyou safety and pardon. Give up fighting," But Isa bin
Khudair did not care about this and continued until he fell down
exhausted and mortally wounded, Mohammad Mahdi began to fight
over his dead body. Isa bin Musa's soldiers attacked him from
all
sides and he retaliated and pushed them back. He displayed
such
matchless valor and his martial art was so superior, that none from
among bin Musa's soldiers dared to fight with him. At last,
Isa
some
one speared him from behind. As he bent down a
little under its
impact, Humaid bin Qahtaba rushed forward and pierced his, chest
with his javelin.
When two javelins passed through his chest from the
and the back, he fell dead. Humaid
front
bin Qahtaba quickly got
down from his horse and severed his head
and brought it to Isa bin
Musa, Immediately after the death of this valiant warrior, Madinah
ell to Isa He sent his head and the letter of victory
bin Musa.
to
Maôor by the hands of Mohammad bin
Abilkaram bin Abdullah bin
Ah bm Abdullah bm Jafar and Qasim
Hasan bin Zaid bin Hasan bin
A ‘ b ‘" bl Tallb This d,saster
'
occurred
on Monday 15 Ramadan
14S
MaT
broihe
AM.
Wm between the afternoon prayer and
£?°
M Kbin ?
the sunset prayer, fsa bin
hammad Mahdi s d -d body on a cross
Wada '' HiS
r in
Mohammad Mahdi's
'
between
BaqL In
Sis,er ^nab
,hiS batlle
took permission
other Musa Abdullah Hamza bin Abdullah bin Mohammad bin

AhbmHusam Ah brn Zaid bin Ali bin Husain
bin All, Zaid bin
Hasan bin Zaid bm Hasan fought on Mohammad
Mahdi's side It is
8 6 fa ‘ he AH and
2a ‘ d Wre Mans °°^ supporters,
f
°
sZT!"^ 1
the re k
ere 0ther hiashmite and Alawiite fathers
who w , 7a .
St °ne an0ther Perha s the

P '
and sons
tesgh
sivhrtoff Banu
n !uu s .
y horrified at
Abbas killings and annihilation as was Ali bin
btoam (Zamul Abedeen) who was
so shocked and terrified having
been wuness to the scene at Karbala that he never did anything
££ Umayyah and su PP° rted 'hem. In the same way
defit
TT I0 "*”',
am0nS the AlaWi “ eS mnsid ered opposition
n
destruction. Mohammad Mahdi
of Banu
suffered
y aUSe OWn rela,ives did not su
rih Uk alienaled ° there 50
PP° rt him and
when ha took
that
oTl LT!
r
° Un d am “
-
the oath from
RatJTwn
h bm Uthman, n^ u caliphate after imprisoning
he sent for Ismail bin Abdullah
bin Jafar, an old
man, to take the oath. He wrote back, "Nephew, you will be killed.
How can I take the oath for you?" Hearing his reply some people who
had taken the oath retracted it. Hamadah bint Muawiya came to
Ismail bin Abdullah and said tohim, "Your statement has alienated
many people from Mohammad Mahdi but my brothers are still with
him. I am afraid they may also be killed with him." In brief, alienation
of his relatives and members of him from growing
his family kept
powerful otherwise, the caliphate might have possibly come to the
descendants of Hasan 4». If he had escaped and stayed clear of
Madinah or had not revolted so soon and had waited for his brother
to follow suit and both of them had revolted together, success would
have been sure. Mansoor and the Abbasids were lucky that the
Abbasid army had to fight Mohammad and Ibrahim one after another
while their strength remained undivided.
The Rebellion of Ibrahim bin Abdullah

When Mansoor had come on a visit to inspect the building of
Baghdad, Ibrahim bin Abdullah, Mohammad Mahdi's brother, was
with him in disguise. He escaped to Kufa and Mansoor sent out spies
to hunt him down. When he thought that Ibrahim was in Basra, he
sent aspy to every house there, though Ibrahim was with Sufyan bin
Hibban Qammi at his house in Kufa. It was a well-known fact that
Sufyan was a close friend of Ibrahim. Sufyan was horrified to see how
tight the surveillance was. He mapped out a plan to allow Ibrahim to
leave safely. He went
Mansoor and said to him, "Give me in writing
to
a permit for free passage for me and my slaves and a small body
of
soldiers so that I may arrest Ibrahim wherever we find him."
Mansoor
did accordingly. Sufyan returned home he had Ibrahim put
on his
slave's clothes, took him with them and left Kufa
with his small force.
He came to Basra, deployed the soldiers to search each house.
When
the soldiers had left, he sent him to Ahwaz and
he himself went into
hiding. Sufyan bin Muawiya was the Amir of Basra
at that time. When
he found out, he collected the deployed soldiers
and started searching
for Ibrahim bin
Abdullah and Sufyan bin Hibban but without success.
Mohammad bin Haseen was the Amir of Ahwaz. When Ibrahim
reached Ahwaz, he stayed with Hasan bin
Habeeb. His spies informed
the Amir of
Ahwaz that Ibrahim was in Ahwaz. He began searching
314 The History of isiam
for him. Ibrahim remained hidden in Habeeb's house for a long time
and continued to let people participate in the propagation for his
cause. In 145 A.H. Yahya bin Zeyad bin Hibban Nabti called Ibrahim
to Basra and enthusiastically began to invite the people to take
the
oath for Mohammad Mahdi. A large group of learned and influential
people took the oath. 4000 people were enrolled in the Basra Register
as having taken the oath. During this period, Mohammad
Mahdi
revolted in Madinah and wrote to Ibrahim to revolt in Basra. Mansoor
had sent a few commanders to Basra as a precautionary measure
so
that they might help the Administrator of Basra,
Sufyan bin Muawiya,
if there was any sign of mutiny.
If Ibrahim had risen in revolt then as
Muhammad Mahdi had requested, Mansoor would have been
quite
helpless and both the brothers
would have gathered strength.
However, at that time, Ibrahim was
sick in Basra and so he
temporarily delayed his revolt. When
Mansoor sent the army to fight
with Mohammad Mahdi, Ibrahim
rebelled in Basra on 1 Ramadan 145
A.H. Jafar and Muhammad, the
sons of Sulaiman bin AH, Mansoor's
cousins had been lying in wait along
with 600 men outside of Basra by
the orders of Mansoor. As
soon as the brothers heard the news of
Ibrahims rebelhon, they attacked and
only 50 men were sent out to
face those 600 men yet they
defeated them and forced them to flee.
Ibrahim -captured all of Basra and
took the oath from the people in
general and proclaimed a general
amnesty and pardon. He then
withdrew two hundred thousand dirhams
from the treasury and
distributed it at the rate of 50 dirhams
each of his mertThen he
to
sent
Muglura to Ahwaz along with 100 soldiers.
The administrator of
Ahwaz, Mohammad bin Haseen, came out
with 4000 soldiers to fight
the small force but they defeated
the 4000 soldiers and
Muehira
captured Ahwaz. Ibrahim sent Amr bin
Shaddad to Persia where the
Governor Ismail bin All bin Abdullah bin
Abbas bin Abdul Muttalib
and his brother Abdus Samad clashed
with him but they suffers
defeat and Amr bin Shaddad
occupied Persia. Similarly, Haroon bin
bhams Ajh was ordered to march
towards Wasit and he defeated
Mansoor's Governor Haroon bin
Humaid Ayadi and captured Wasit
Mohammad Mahdi and Isa bin Musa dashed with
each nib
8 t0 Muhammad Mahdi's martyrdom, Basra, Persia
Wasit and a 1
wasit big part of Iraq had gone out of
Mansoo^s control. Syria
Phase) 315
The Caliphate of the Abbasids (First
the Kufans had also been waiting

was soon to go out of his hands and
government stood no chance of survival.
and watching. Mansoor's
Basra on 1 Ramadan and continued the series of
Ibrahim revolted in
end of the month. Immediately after the end of
victories until the
Ibrahim received the news of Mohammad Mahdi's death.
Ramadan
Eid at the end of Ramadan and in the
He offered the prayer for the
the news was heard by those who
sermon announced the news. When
Mansoor's administrator, their spirits
were engaged in fighting with
Mansoor's commanders and
were dampened. It encouraged
received the news, they
administrators. When the people of Basra
recognized Ibrahim as their caliph in place of Mohammad Mahdi and
they did before. There
were ready to show their readiness more than
men Basra. The people from
were many Kufans among Ibrahim's in
Basra wanted Basra to be the capital and

command center for
Kufans disagree
deploying troops in the surrounding areas. But the
take his army towards
with them and suggested' that Ibrahim should
Ibrahim agreed with
Kufa where the inhabitants were waiting for him.
making his son his
them and made up his mind to go to Kufa after
Mansoor, he was very
deputy there. When the news reached
messenger to Isa bin Musa asking
disturbed. Immediately he sent a
He wrote to Mahdi in Khorasan
him to come at once to him at Kufa.
immediately. So all the administrators
and asked him to invade Persia
asked those who were
who were safe from danger were called. He
commanders not to lose heart. Troops from all sides
near to Mansoor's
hundred thousand man army
began to pour in fast until a one
When he had received the news of Ibrahim's attack,
collected in Kufa.
Mansoor did not change his clothes for 50 days. He
often kept sitting
mat. Ibrahim bin Abdullah with a one hundred

on his prayer
thousand man army camped at a distance of 30 or 40 miles from
Kufa,
and Isa bin Musa arrived in Kufa with his own army. Mansoor sent
Isa bin Musa to confront Ibrahim and deployed Humaid bin Qahtaba
at the vanguard. Ibrahim was advised to dig a moat around
the
military camp but his men said that they were not the attacked but the
attackers so no moat was needed. His men advised Ibrahim to send
soldiers to fight in divisions so that in case of the defeat
of one
division of the army another fresh division might be sent in as
reinforcements. However, Ibrahim disapproved of the suggestion and
ordered the soldiers by arraying themselves

to stand and fight
according to Jhe traditional way. bin Qahtaba fled after beingHumaid
defeated. Isa tried to stop him by rebuking him but he did not
stop
Isa then threw himself into the battle. However, most of his men
could
not stand the pressure and started fleeing. Isa still stood firm
on the
battlefield when there was no doubt of his immanent defeat,
but
Jafar
and Muhammad, Sulaiman bin Ali's sons, arrived behind
Ibrahim
with their army. Ibrahim's soldiers grew nervous
at the fresh invasion
and diverted their attention towards them. Isa
regrouped his men and
attacked and the runaway soldiers rallied. Humaid bin Qahtaba also
regrouped -and attacked with
his men. Ibrahim's army was
between
invading armies, which cut
the battlefield in size and his soldiers
™ holeheartedI y- At ^st, they became disarrayed
and began to flee. Finally, only
400 men were left with him. They were
° arrest Hasan bin

Abdullah in Basra anH Ibrahim bin
“ i
‘ mpnS ° n Ha ™Pnsoned Yaqub
Dawood also. bin
Miscellaneous Eve nt*
8 f
brother
hl kming ° f Mohammad Mahdi and
MaôLTa S sZed
Qutaiba Bahli and
bin Abdallah
thaTof Mo
* th
'
,“
e
^ ^
P °' BaSra t0 Salim bin
I
his
as
*" (theame.TT
Commanded Jafar He sent Harith
-» f-es withhlm .
Mohammad Mahdi, 0pIe *° take the

° ath to
was lashed"?'
*"* (igloos am
judgment) in^
f,?
UHanifa a '^whogavea
and brought ° ff ,a
Ibrahim bin Abdullah was
3
before
Wl>ere constr
M Wh ° imprisoned him in
uction
is sa H 13 * Mansoor wanted
workT°?h C Clty
was s,i11 in progress, it
'
Wh
Whe " o'
he refu -d
to an D(y
n Wm
,
,0 the 15051 of
.
. he was * s
°ZTj ^justice.
8 ed t0 count and
keep the Records of
317
the bricks used in the construction. In that state of captivity he died in

150 A.H. Besides these famous scholars other scholars like Ibn Ajlan,
Abdul Humaid bin Jafar and others who gave religious judgments to
take the oath for Mohammad Mahdi and his brother Ibrahim were
persecuted like wise.
In 146 A.H., the Turks in Khazar revolted and marched from Babul
Abwab to Armenia killing and slaughtering Muslims. That same year
the Muslims launched a naval attack on Cyprus. When the Khwarij
Mansoor transferred Ma'an bin Zaidah from the
rebelled in Sistan,
governorship of Yemen to Sistan where he ended the disorder and
fighting. He remained there until 151 A.H. until he was eventually
murdered treacherously by the Khwarij.
Abdullah Ushtar Ibn Mohammad Mahd!

When Mohammad Mahdi revolted, the governor of Sindh was
man Omar bin Hafs bin Uthman bin Qabisah bin Abi
Mansoor's
Mohammad Mahdi had sent his son Abdullah
Sufrah. After the revolt,
alias Ushtar to his uncle Ibrahim in Basra. From there Ushtar at the
instance of his uncle, took a swift-paced she-camel and set out for
Sindh because sympathy and possible reinforcements were expected
from the governor. Abdullah Ushtar reached Sindh, invited Omar bin
Hafs to tneir cause and he accepted, recognized Mohammad Mahdi's
caliphate, the symbols of the Abbasids and incorporated
defaced
Mohammad Mahdi's name into the Friday sermon. During the same
period, news of Mohammad Mahdi's death reached the governor. He
informed Abdullah Ushtar of the incident and offered his
condolences. Ushtar said,"Now my life is in danger. Where should I
go and what should do?" There were many kings in Sindh who had
I
converted to Islam during Omar bin Abdul Aziz's regime and who
ruled according to his directives in their jurisdictions. They recognized
the reigning caliphs but followed all the supporters of Islam and stuck
to the rights of their rule. Omar bin Hafs told Ushtar to go to a certain
state of a Sindhi .King. He loves the Prophet £ and is known for the
fulfillment of his commitments. He you kindly,
will surely treat
affectionately and Abdullah Ushtar expressed his
respectfully.
willingness. Omar received a written pledge from that king for Ushtar
through correspondence and sent Ushtar to him. The Sindhi king

married his daughter to him. He lived there until 151 A.H. and during
that period about 400Arabs drawn from the adjoining areas collected
at Ushtar's place.By chance, Mansoor came to know that Abdullah
Ushtar was living with the King of Sindh and a small group of Arabs
were with him. Mansoor recalled Omar bin Hafs from
the
governorship of Sindh and sent him to Egypt in the same capacity.
He
dispatched Hisham bin 'Amr Taghlibi to Sindh as governor.
At the
time of departure, he ordered him to arrest
Ushtar at any cost. If the
Smdhi King refused to hand him over, he should
attack him. Hisham
bin Amr tried his best to recover Abdullah Ushtar but the Sindhi King
would not give him up. At last, they
prepared to fight. The part of the
country where Ushtar was staying
was attacked by Safih, Hisham bin
Amr s brother. One day it so happened that
Ushtar in the company of
10 horsemen went along the
Sindh River for sightseeing. Suddenly
they came across Safih's army.
Safih tried to arrest him. Ushtar
and
Jus men fought At last, Ushtar and his men
were killed. Hisham bin
anSO° 1 ° f'
inCiieM He Wr °'e back *°
^
lhat thE
coZrf of
country oTI t
that, king must be destroyed. So a chain of
battles began.
^
CaP d ‘ *
““"'O'- Ushtar's wife along
wi h^herTon 'T
Madinah LZ 7 T5 8ht
M H- to be under the guardianship
and sem to Mansoor He sent them
of the deceased's
-
fairly.
to
Mahdi bin Mansoor's
” “
Successio n
At the time of his death, Abdullah Saffah had made
Mansoor his heir-
by MUSa h ™- Now acting;
Was to the caliph after
™
whe^ M Mansoor. However
5
dangers ° f Mohammad Mahdi
and IbmClr7 *T
needed
n^ tfown 1 MaT b “ 5
bi " MuSa
ccessor Flrst- he
'
s hel P'
¥ to
but Isa
-
mentioned it to Isa
refused to arc eP •.
" ansoor lhen manipulated
to allow
Khalid bin Barmak anrf ^ cWefs Fartid ate *» ««
considtatSns Zfun" 7 7““ P
from theê^XÛ hen he de P osed Isa Bin Musa
‘
w *uc *' capacity he had been serving

since Saffah's time , w
Moh ™ad
his place The bin Sulaiman as governor ,n
dmnl 77 “* 8 ovemorah ‘P led to the liquidation
of Ws Power
power and he
hTrS TI!.'
realized his mistake of disagreeing with
Mansoor.
In short, by rendering Isa powerless Mansoor, by virtue of his

cunningness, deceit, allurement and hypocrisy took from the people
the oath for the succession of Mahdi. He tried to console Isa bin Musa
too by making him the successor after Mahdi. Khalid bin Barmak gave
publicity to the statement that Isa abdicated in his presence and so the
Amir Al-Muminin made his son his successor. For this act, Mansoor
had spent money lavishly and pleased the people by giving away gifts
and rewards to them on the occasion. Isa bin Musa had contributed
most to strengthening and saving Mansoor's government. It was Isa
who defeated and killed Mohammad Mahdi and Ibrahim and relieved
him of a great danger. In exchange for these services he rendered he
was rewarded with dismissal from the succession and Mahdi bin
Mansoor superseded him. After the deposition from the governorship
of Kufa, he went to Rahba in Kufa, settled down there and began to
pass a quiet life.
Slowly and gradually all the obstacles in Mansoor' s way were cleared
except Spain, his government was firmly established in all the Islamic
countries by 148 A.H. In 149 A.H., the construction of Baghdad was
also completed. Because of the above situations and incidents, the
Muslims did not have time to declare Jihad on the Romans. In 149
A.H., Abbas bin Mohammad, Hasan bin Qahtaba and Mohammad bin
Ash'ath invaded the Romans and scored many victories against them.
Ustad Sees's revolt

In 150 A.H. Ustad Sees claimed to be a prophet in Khorasan.
Thousands of people accepted his prophethood at once. The
inhabitants of Herat, Badghais, and Sistan assembled under his flag
and the greater part of Khorasan fell to him. Mansoor was extremely
concerned and pensive on hearing this. The ruler of Mardrood named
Jasm, observed the situation and attacked him with all his might. Jasm
was defeated and killed. Then Khazim bin Khuzaima used strategy
and surrounded Ustad Sees's army and attacked him on two flahks.
70,000 'men of Ustad Sees were killed. He was besieged along with
14,000 remaining men in a mountain. After a prolonged siege, he
surrendered along with his men to Khuzaima and Mansoor was
informed of Ustad Sees's capture.
The History of isi am
The Building of Rosafah

When Ustad Sees revolted, Khorasan was governed byMahdi.
He
lived Merv. Khazim bin Khuzaima also lodged with him
at
and
attacked at the instance of Mansoor. Becoming free from
this trouble,
Mahdi went to Mansoor. At that time, the dominating
elements of
power were the Arab tribes and they alone were
responsible for all the
territorial victories. The non-Arabs and Khorasanis did not claim to
be
equal to (he Arabs in military expertise.
The Arab tribes were always
feared because if they united in opposition, they
could topple the
government at any time. Imam Ibrahim
was the first to realize this fact
and adopted the policy of
strengthening the non-Arabs and utilizing
Hls success °rs also followed
“ ^“
££l d
N
h
",
B
H Saffah h3d AtU Sulamih kilIed and
k as ^
minister, who was originally
Wonted
a Zoroastrian
-
suit. Following
After a
reitorcdh
reptod
^ was
a Mansoor
him and
3
T
Muslimandamilita Tehief of Abu Muslim,
‘he governor of a state.
Abu Ayyub
made him the minister again
Zoroastnans were assigned as ^he
military chiefs and
vanous governors of
states and their power continued to rise buMhe militarv
Arabs was dominant. This pohcy reminds
hdtan Kmg°n f" us of tte
Akbar and his dual policy, which
he had adopted to
safegutird himself against the
powerful and influential
tadia. He Pattons in
thought ,t essential to breathe a new life into thTdead
Hindu community and make them
powerful in order to avert
êssen the danger from and

the Pattons so much so that he made Man
0f India and con*‘
weaken nue d his efforts to
the Pattons everywhere. The
Abbasids also reduced the Arab
ATabTri^rr 0CCaS 0n °
0 * revolt with the support of the
'
‘ f Mahdi S
Wea a^ tSTo Man
k, r the Arab
from Khorasan and
cornû^ û f°°
' soldie to hi order to receive
* Way thal
independence" of in 'h T ex, “bited their
showTg T" ct rtheT r ng wm - were n ° i in the '« b ‘>
fear
ear. P3
fireworshiDnina 7
U was
Perhaps ,t
tJ
this
Tb*
independence
or
^
ca,i P h unnecessarily like the
the Abbasids in perpetual
of mind that never deterred
them from joining every new movement and every new claimant to
the caliphate. Qasam bin Abbas bin Obaidullah bin Abbas, after
watching and studying the condition of the army, cleverly created a
rivalry and animosity between two Arab tribes, Rabia and Mudar.
Then he advised Mansoor, saying, "A 9 there is enmity between the
tribes of Mudar and Rabia, it is reasonable that you divide the army
into two parts. Keep the Mudar tribe under Mahdi because the
Khorasanis are their supporters and keep the Rabia tribe under you
because all the Yemenis are their sympathizers. With
two army
headquarters set up on different sides they will be kept afraid of each
other, ruling out any possibility of mutiny."
Mansoor liked the idea and for the living quarters of his son Mahdi
he
ordered Rosafah to be constructed to the north of
Baghdad in 151 A.H.
and to set up a separate cantonment for his forces
there. That same
year 153 A.H. Mohammad Ash'ath died on his
return journey from
the Roman territories.
In 153 A.H., Mansoor made a proclamation to the effect that all his
subjects should put on high caps that were made of bamboo
and
leaves. These caps were generally used by
Africans. In 154 A.H. Zafar
bin Asim invaded Rome. In 155 A.H. the Roman
emperor, becoming
exhausted from repeated invasions by the Muslims,
requested for
reconciliation and agreed to pay the Jizyah.
The Death of Mansoor

In 158 A.H., Mansoor
wrote to the administrator of Makkah to
arrest
Sufyan Thouri and Abbad bin Katheer and
send them to him. The
people apprehended that he might murder
them. The season of Haii
was approaching and Mansoor had
made up his mind to go to Hat
This caused concern among
the Makkans even more. Only
how many people would be arrested Allah knew
S1
AH
and killed. But the Makkan's
and ManSOOr died bef0re reachin
are aS f0ll0WS 10
8 Makkah The
T! for Baghdad with the lhe month °f Dhul Qada 158
ânsoor<eft
-
intention of Hajj.At the time

of d made WS son Mahdi his deputy there and made
foUoXgwm the
322 The History of l6 iam
"Protect the box containing my dairies and look for solutions to
your problems therein. Safeguard the city of Baghdad

and don't
change or shift the capital. I have accumulated treasure that will
suffice to pay the salaries of the soldiers and meet other
-
administrative expenditures even if no tax is collected for 10

years. Deal with your relatives kindly, honor them and appoint
them to high posts. I exhort you to treat the Khorasanis well for
they are your helpers and your right hand and have sacrificed
their lives and material for establishing the government and
rule of your family. I think you will not be able to forget their
love. Excuse their mistakes and please them with gifts and
rewards for their remarkable achievements. Beware! Don't seek
help from anybody belonging to Banu Sulaim. Don't allow your
women to poke their noses into your affairs. Protect the
community of the Prdphet M. Don't shed unnecessary and
unlawful blood. Abide by the limits prescribed by Allah. Attack
the atheists and stamp out alterations in the religion or any
schism. Do justice and don't be immoderate. Leave the spoils
for the soldiers for I have left you a huge treasure. Protect your
borders and see that the roads are safe and peaceful. Take care
of the peoples' property .Don't part with the group.
Always be
ready with cavalry and foot soldiers in as large numbers as
possible. Don't postpone your work for the morrow. Be firm in
times of adversity and misfortune. Don't be lazy. Make it easy
for the people to your court. Beware of the doorkeepers
visit
and see that they are not strict with the people."
Mansoor left Baghdad and arrived in Kufa. He entered in the state of
Ihram (the rituals) for Hajj and Umrah and sent ahead the sacrificial
animals. He had hardly traveled two or three stages from Kufa when
he was taken During that illness, he kept his liberated slave Rabi,
ill.
who was his doorkeeper and officer of his bodyguards, in attendance.

He died on 6 Dhul Hijjah 158 A.H. at Batan, a place three miles from
Makkah. No one except his chief attendants and Rabi
were present at
the time of his death.
They concealed the news of his death that day.
rhe next day Isa bin Ali, Isa bir\
Musa bin Mohammad, Abbas bin
'ddhammad bin Sulaiman, Ibrahim bin Yahya, Qasim bin Mansoor,
dasan bin Zaid Alawi, Musa bin Mahdi bin
Mansoor, and Ali bin Isa
323
bin MAhfin who accompanied him on the journey, were called to

appear in the court. Rabi announced the news of the caliph's death.
He then read out a paper written by Mansoor, which said:
In the name of AlUth, the Most Beneficent and Merciful. From
Abdullah Mansoor to who remain of Banu Hashim,
those
Khorasanis and the general Muslims. I am writing this will
during my lifetime, the last day
world and the first day
of this
of my hereafter. I offer you the greeting of peace and Pray Allah
not to put you into any mischief nor to divide you into sects nor
give you a chance to taste civil war. You have admitted to obey
my son Mahdi, abide by it and refrain from breach of trust and
betrayal.
Having read the paper Rabi beckoned Musa bin Mahdi bin Mansoor
to take the oath on behalf of his father
Mahdi as his deputy. He first
caught hold of Hasan bin Zaid's hands andâsked him to get up and
take the oath. Hasan complied, and the others followed suit one after
another. Isa bin Musa refused. Ali bin Isa bin Mahan said, "If you
refuse to take the oath, I shall chop off your head." Thus forced Isa bin
Musa also took the oath then the chiefs of the army and the general
public followed. Then Abbas bin Mohammad and Mohammad bin
Sulaiman visited Makkah and standing near to the Ka'bah, they took
the oaths of the people for Mahdi. Then Isa bin
Musa led the funeral
prayer. He was buried in the 'Mu'alla' graveyard in
between Hajoon
and Maimoon well. Then Rabi news of Mansoor' s death, his
sent the
ring and the Prophet's £ coverlet and staff to Mahdi.
The news
reached Mahdi in Baghdad on 15 Dhul
Hijjah 158 A.H. The
inhabitants of the city came to Mahdi and took
the oath.
Mansoor was Caliph for 22 years one week.

less He left seven sods and
one daughter. The
names of his sons were: Mohammad Mahdj, fafar
“ A Har Su,aiman ' Isa Yac ub ' and Sa »m. The name
' '
of his
danglul !?
ter was Ahyah
l
who was married to Ishaq bin Sulaiman bln

Ali.
Somebody asked Caliph
Mansoor, "Have you any wish that
has
Un£ulflUedr He said "° nl one w
y ' >sh is left to be
And 'tilt fulfilled
* P la rm and lha êrs of (he
are sitting Ground AhSdith
S around me. The next dayf° when the ministers
came to him
324
The History of is iani
with papers, registers of litigation and
had put the question to Mansoor was also
writing utensils, the^^T
present at the time. He
saiH°
Lo! Your wish has also been fulfilled."
Mansoor said, "These are nm
the people I wish for those, that
I long for have tom
clothes, bare fee*
and long hair and they narrate Ahadith"
^ r°°^
are left
M
in"i”
Islam 1
° Ab “ Abdulla h!
who know
ded Imam Malik ‘° compile the
the Shariah best.

Muwatta, he
You know that none except you
I am engaged
and
in the
I
S 8 Ca Ph
? and “
,
S aUth0rity ' Y °U
b^k
book for *e
the t f
benefit
?
of the people. Don't
are fr«-Writea
book with
fill the
°f Ibn Abbas and lha violence and prudence of Ibn Om^r
wd p
^
,
COmposit,on and compilation for
toiarTLlaftt the people."
y A " ah!
ManS°° r < “ d not sa tlmigsbut
taught me how to write .'
Y
Abdus Samad Mohammad said to Mansoor, "You have girded vour
15 tlme When thdr heartS

by .he are not °verawed
a Ll nhs
phs and
nd h-
thls awe cannot be established
,/ „ unless they forget
m ,hi!danEe[ ‘n
uZkZ eZ
It i 6 'bLtilyou P eU uence gfv. **
FJ,
TirA
The
Rahman bin Zevad h/h kT 7,
-
African,
f Abdur
n
y
Once during w caitahai h
“How do you find m
P
COmpared t0 that °f Banu
^T
friend since Ws a ‘“dent days.
3 V ’ S “ to Wm Maa«oor
said to him,
Umayyah?'
'
Abdur Rahman b bi^

‘n
'!
yad Said ' The «?««-
your reZT" n ^ are perpetrIL in
“id, "vCM^ d Tdoû
lh ,0f BanU Uma
n >df
don 1 f,t helpers." Abdur
>^ h " Mansoor
Rahman said.
^
'Omar bin Abdul A.> >

d *dn
Pious people. If he
is wicked th'
'
*• 8 is P ious, he will get
71
H W,cked
^^
Mansoor was fed im ™ W,U come to him." Once
Sukuman and Jd, 'Why
*To humiliate the
ha^Wh !Tu
8601 f°r MuqatiI
^
of Suryani and Non-Arabic

During Mansoor's regime translations
began to be made into Arabic. Geometry and 'Kalilah Dimnah'
books
were translated during his times.
He made the palmists and
astronomers live near him. It was during his caliphate that the
fought otherwise prior to it they were united.
Abbasids and Alawiites
In respect of his nature

and habits and his deeds and remarkable
achievements Mansoor Abbasi resembled Abdul Malik Umayyah.
Malik was the second caliph of the Marwan dynasty and
Abdul
dynasty. Abdul
Mansoor was also the second caliph of the Abbasid
from ruin. Similarly, Mansoor
Malik saved the Umayyah caliphate
Mohammad Mahdi and his brother
saved the Abbasid caliphate from
a Faqih (an expert on
Ibrahim. Abdul Malik was an Alim (scholar),
the traditions of the Prophet
Islamic law) and a Mohaddith (he related
Malik was
g). Similarly Mansoor was an Alim and Faqih, Abdul
and a miser. Mansoor was also
accused of being extremely economical
Both of them ruled for
notorious for these same two
characteristics.
difference between them was the
almost the same duration. The only
killed people even after granting
them aman
fact that while Mansoor
spotless on this point.
(peace and safety), Abdul
Malik remained
Mahdi bin Mansoor
Mohammad Al-Mahdi
-—
Abdul^He
2?
When
pu"r.h
Mahdi was
was
r
muhny caused by AbduIJabbar
Mansoor had him married to

bin Mansoor's familiar
born in Edaj
n
e
was sent to Khorasan. When he

his
in 126 A.H.
char/Jd ,,e,a g e
retur
mece. Saffah
H.s
and sent hun tc

—
name (kunya) was
mother's name was
there in 144 A.H.,

,
s daughter. He ma
m»
made
Abu
him the heir-apparent in 144 A.H.

administrator of the Southern and
Western parts of
^
leader °
appointed him Amir al-Hajj <
the throne of
m 15 H âscended
and following his father' s death /_i 4
ee or oath
.
the caliphate in
of allegiance)
Baghdad When the people
with him in Baghdad,
de cumoeu
'
^ y ^ e<
y , it (the

Abu Ja'far Al-Mansur (754 A.D.) From History of Islam 2

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Abu Ja'far Al-Mansur (754 A.D.) From History of Islam 2

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The Caliphate of the Abbasids (First Phase) 287

Abu Jafar Mansoor

According to another narrative, he was born in 101 A.H. He was

day, he made up his mind to accumulate wealth. Once he instructed

who does injustice and oppression. Orders must not be passed

The Revolt of Abdullah bln All

Death of Abu Muslim

out aboutAbu Muslim's movement, Mansoor left AmbUr and went to

Banu Hashim and noblemen of the court came to receive

have come to you, I shall keep trying to do good for you."

The Revolt of Sinb&d

governorship of Basra and recalled him.

The sect of Ravindiyeh

fact a sect consisting of the ignorant people of

which lived in Ravaind. It originated from recruits of Abu Muslim's

Zaidah's attacks that proved most effective. Mansoor watched

Abdul lab bar's Revolt and

wrote back in reply, an° ther man Abdul

Jabbar was bent upon So immediately he sent a large army

under the command Mahdi arrived at Rayy and

Uyainah bin Musa bin Kab

They conquered it and its administrator, a new Iranian Muslim,

The arrest and captivity of the Aiawiites

has already been mentioned that during the end of the

Banu Umayyah an assembly was held in Makkah which discussed the

nomination and election of the newMansoor who was also

present there voted for Mohammad bin

Abdullah. Mohammad bin Abdullah's father Abdullah bin Hasan has

had fake ietteis sen! To a"d

administrator of Madinah, Zeyad, he was let off. Because Zeyad made

1. Abdullah bin Hasan Muthanna bin Ali •&> (Mohammad Mahdi's

2. Ibrahim bin Hasan Muthanna bin Hasan bin Ali (Mohammad

Ishaq bin Ibrahim bin Hasan bin Hasan bin Ali

When Mansoor was informed of their arrest, he wrote back that

Building of Baghdad and Compilation

The killing of the Skd&t

The elders whom Rabah had arrested and imprisoned remained

of the Hijaz and In unknown places. They

he thought that one of his spies might get access to Mohammad

The Revolt of Mohammad Mahdi Nafse

representative with a message to Mohammad bin Abdul Aziz asking

ifj-T" (H-l Cr-f '

In the Name of Allah, The Most gracious. The Most Merciful.

your followers in respect of life, money and goods. Furthermore,

When the letter was received by Mohammad Mahdi, he wrote in

,j-» pi—! O OvjljJI pfl"dj <*jl yA)*! «,»?

iyU* U oUtij Cy^

We recite to you some of the news of Musa (Moses) and Fir'aun

in the Oneness of Allah).

Verily, Fir'aun (Pharaoh) exalted himself in the land and made

of Israel) among them: killing their sons, and letting their

And We wished to do a favor to those who were weak (and

them the inheritors.

them in the land, and We let Fir'aun (Pharaoh)

We grant you the same sort

‘,°o his “us lnd"o» -"out tas oneof our <

Fatima bint Amr in the age of Ignorance. In Islam we descend from

Upon receiving the letter, Mansoor twisted with anger and

people of Paradise. Allah made those greater in rank whom He liked.

Verily, Muhammad *) guide not whom you like, but

sent the Prophet #, his four uncles were

And warn your tribe (O Muhammad *) of near kindred.

,j-» pi—! O OvjljJI pfl"dj <jl yA)! «,»?

w uc ' capacity he had been serving