Al-Ghalib

Al-Ghalib
الغالب
Heir apparent of the Abbasid Caliphate
Tenure1001–1019
Born992
Baghdad
Died1019
Baghdad
Burial
Baghdad
Names
Abu'l-Fadl Muhammad ibn al-Qadir
DynastyAbbasid
Fatheral-Qadir
ReligionSunni Islam

Abu'l-Fadl Muhammad ibn al-Qadir (Arabic: أبو الفضل محمد بن القادر) better known by his regnal name al-Ghalib bi'llah (Arabic: الغالب بالله),[1] was an Abbasid prince, son of caliph al-Qadir. He was nominated heir in 1001, however he died before his father.

Biography[edit]

Muhammad was born in December 992,[2] and was the oldest son of Caliph al-Qadir (r. 991–1031). Muhammad, then only eight or nine years old, was proclaimed as heir apparent, with the title of al-Ghalib Bi'llah, in 1001.[3][4] This nomination was a response to pretenders to the caliphate from other branches of the Abbasid dynasty; in Transoxiana, a distant cousin, Abdallah ibn Uthman, a descendant of the 9th-century caliph al-Wathiq, pretended to be al-Qadir's designated heir and won the support of the local Karakhanid ruler.[5] This event provided al-Qadir with the occasion to formally proclaim his son as heir without waiting for approval by his Buyid overlords. The Karakhanids soon recognized the Abbasid caliph's suzerainty for the first time, and dropped their support of the pretender.[6][4]

However, al-Ghalib died in January 1019, while his father was still alive.[7] In 1030, al-Qadir named another son, Abu Ja'far, the future al-Qa'im, as his heir, a decision taken completely independently of the Buyid emirs who ruled over Baghdad at the time.[8][9]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Busse 2004, p. 581.
  2. ^ Busse 2004, p. 249.
  3. ^ Sourdel 1978, p. 378.
  4. ^ a b Busse 2004, pp. 70, 153.
  5. ^ Busse 2004, p. 70.
  6. ^ Küçükaşcı 2001, p. 127.
  7. ^ Busse 2004, p. 154.
  8. ^ Sourdel 1978, p. 379.
  9. ^ Busse 2004, p. 72.

Sources[edit]

  • 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.
  • Sourdel, D. (1978). "al-Ḳādir 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. 378–379. OCLC 758278456.