Ishaq ibn al-Muqtadir

Ishaq ibn al-Muqtadir (Arabic: اسحاق ابن المُقتدر; 910s – March 988) was an Abbasid prince, son of the Abbasid caliph al-Muqtadir. He was a contemporary of the caliphs al-Qahir, al-Radi, al-Muttaqi, al-Mustakfi, al-Muti and al-Ta'i', three of whom were his brothers. As a son of al-Muqtadir, he was also a candidate to the succession to caliphal throne during the reigns of his brothers, but it was his son Ahmad became caliph as al-Qadir in 991.

Biography

Ishaq was the son of Caliph al-Muqtadir (r. 908–932) from the concubine Dimna.^[1][2] Ishaq was born in Baghdad and he spent most of his life there.

Ishaq had a tragic childhood. Al-Muqtadir was assassinated when Ishaq was very young. After his father's death his uncle al-Qahir became caliph even though his father had already nominated his elder half-brother Abu al-Abbas (the future al-Radi). His uncle was supported by some army commanders because they didn't want to be executed for al-Muqtadir's murder by his sons.

Ishaq had inherited some of the inheritance on his father's death. His uncle, al-Qahir, rule from 932 until 934, when he refused to abdicate in favour of al-Radi (r. 934–940), he was blinded and cast into prison.^[3][4] Al-Radi died in 940 and was succeeded by his brother, al-Muttaqi, who in turn was succeeded by his cousin al-Mustakfi in 944. Al-Mustakfi was hostile towards al-Muqtadir's surviving sons, but was deposed by the Buyid ruler Mu'izz al-Dawla in 946 and was succeeded by al-Muti, a son of al-Muqtadir. Ishaq spent his life as a junior courtier in his brother's court.

During al-Muti's reign it was expected that he would be succeeded by one of his brothers (especially Ishaq) however he nominated his son al-Ta'i as heir.

With his wife, called Tamanni, Ishaq had a son, Ahmad, the future al-Qadir.^[5] Ahmad received a good education; he is recorded as having collected Shafi'i works on jurisprudence (fiqh) by Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Harawi.^[6] Ishaq also had a daughter named Amina.

Death and aftermath

When Ishaq died in March 988, his son Ahmad quarreled with his half-sister, Amina, over the inheritance. She reported him to their cousin, caliph al-Ta'i (r. 974–991), as seeking to replace him as caliph. To escape capture, Ahmad went into hiding for a while, before seeking refuge with the governor of the swamps of Bathihah near Basra, Muhadhdhib al-Dawla, for about three years.^[6][7]

References

Sources

• Busse, Heribert (2004) [1969]. Chalif und Grosskönig - Die Buyiden im Irak (945-1055) [Caliph and Great King - The Buyids in Iraq (945-1055)] (in German). Würzburg: Ergon Verlag. ISBN 3-89913-005-7.
• Küçükaşcı, Mustafa Sabri (2001). "Kādir-Billâh". TDV Encyclopedia of Islam, Vol. 24 (Kāânî-i Şîrâzî – Kastamonu) (in Turkish). Istanbul: Turkiye Diyanet Foundation, Centre for Islamic Studies. pp. 127–128. ISBN 978-975-389-451-7.
• Massignon, Louis (1994). The Passion of Al-Hallaj: Mystic and Martyr of Islam. Translated by Herbert Mason. Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-691019192.
• Sourdel, Dominique (1978). "al-Ḳāhir Bi'llāh". In van Donzel, E.; Lewis, B.; Pellat, Ch. & Bosworth, C. E. (eds.). The Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition. Volume IV: Iran–Kha. Leiden: E. J. Brill. pp. 423–424. OCLC 758278456.
• Zetterstéen, K. V. (1987). "al-Ḳāhir Bi 'llāh". In Houtsma, Martijn Theodoor (ed.). E.J. Brill's first encyclopaedia of Islam, 1913–1936, Volume IV: 'Itk–Kwaṭṭa. Leiden: Brill. p. 627. doi:10.1163/2214-871X_ei1_SIM_3803. ISBN 978-90-04-08265-6.