Beautiful Egypt 179 – «The Beginning of Evil» October 30, 2016

   In the previous article, we tackled al-Ma’mun’s troops’ conquest of Baghdad. We also spoke of Egypt’s proconsuls at the end of al-Rashid’s tenure until his death in 193 Hijri (809 A.D.) Today, we shall resume, speaking of Egypt’s proconsuls during al-Amin’s tenure as well as his war with al-Ma’mun and how Egypt was influenced by this.

   When al-Amin became caliph, Egypt’s soldiers rebelled against proconsul al-Hassan bin al-Bahbah. A war broke out, and many warriors from the two sides were killed. When al-Hassan settled down, he had Egypt’s taxes collected and sent them to the caliph. Al-Hassan ruled Egypt for about thirteen months, after which al-Amin appointed Hatim bin Hartama in his stead.

Hatim bin Hartama (194-195 Hijri) (810-811 A.D.)

   Hatim bin Hartama bin A’yan was appointed proconsul of Egypt by al-Amin instead of al-Hassan bin al-Bahbah. When he arrived at Belbeis, he summoned the people of al-Houf who came and paid him taxes. Then the people of Nethu and Tmy rebelled against Hatim. They made Uthman bin Mustanir al-Judhami their leader. They fought Hatim, but he overcame them, after which he headed toward the capital with about one hundred hostages from the people of al-Houf. The proconsul took care of Egypt’s affairs. He built the famous Qubbet al-Hawa. He remained in office for about eighteen months, after which al-Amin deposed him and appointed Jabir bin al-Ath’ath in his stead.

   Taghribirdi maintains that during Hatim’s tenure, “Al-Amin ordered that his son Mussa be prayed for after al-Ma’mun and al-Qassim. So, al-Amin and al-Ma’mun turned against each other, which was the beginning of evil and schism between the two brothers.”

   Also, al-Amin asked al-Ma’mun to pledge allegiance to his son heir apparent, having called him “al-Natiq bel Haqq”, which made matters worse. Then, al-Amin deposed his brother al-Qassim from the capitalisms, ordering him to stay in Baghdad. When al-Ma’mun got to know of this, he stopped sending correspondence to him and removed his name officially from royal attire and coins. Then, al-Amin declared his son heir apparent, thus deposing al-Ma’mun from succession. So, the latter called himself the “Imam of believers”. In effect, al-Amin sent an army to fight al-Ma’mun as we mentioned previously.

Jabir bin al-Ath’ath (195-196 Hijri) (811-812 A.D.)

   Jabir bin al-Ath’ath bin Yahya al-Naqqi al-Ta’i became proconsul of Egypt, and was handled the responsibility of collecting her taxes by al-Amin. He was said to have been kind and loved by all people. During his tenure, the armies of al-Amin and al-Ma’mun fought in Rey, then in Hamadan. Al-Amin’s army was defeated in both battles, which influenced the Egyptian troops. There was a hum concerning deposing al-Amin that al-Ma’mun might retaliate.

   The first people to raise this issue were Mohammed bin So’ayr and al-Sirri bin al-Hakam. Few people followed them, yet advocates of deposing al-Amin increased in number. Then bin al-Hakam led a large group, calling for deposing al-Amin and pledging allegiance to al-Ma’mun. Many people conformed to the call. Fierce battles broke out between Jabir bin al-Ash’ath and al-Sirri bin al-Hakam. Bin al-Hakam emerged victorious. Bin al-Ath’ath was ousted.

   So, he left Egypt in 196 Hijri (812 A.D.), having ruled Egypt for about a year. Al-Amin, then, assigned Egypt’s affairs to Abbad bin Mohammed. During that year, al-Amin and al-Ma’mun clashed. Al-Ma’mun promoted his minister al-Fadl bin Sahl, assigning him war as well as state affairs, while al-Amin was still in Baghdad. Yet, the latter was quite enfeebled. So, al-Hussein bin Ali bin Eissa deposed him, declaring al-Ma’mun caliph. Wars ensued, restoring al-Amin to his post, as we mentioned beforehand.

Abbad bin Mohammed (196-198 Hijri) (812-814 A.D.)

   Abbad bin Mohammed bin Hayyan al-Balkhy was a great commander who Hartama bin A’yan backed until al-Ma’mun appointed him proconsul of Egypt, which al-Amin did not like. So, he wrote the ruler of Qays al-Houf, Rabi’a bin Qays, as well as a group of Egyptians, seeking their help. So, they deposed al-Ma’mun and restored him, after which they prepared to fight Abbad, the proconsul of Egypt who dug a trench around Fustat. Wars broke about between the two parties.

   Historians have no common opinion regarding Abbad’s destiny. Some maintain that he was arrested and led to al-Amin who had him killed in 198 Hijri (814 A.D.), while others disagreed, asserting he had already been killed and that the two parties continued to fight until they got to know of al-Amin’s murder and al-Ma’mun’s caliphate. So, they stopped and strayed. Abbad was laid off, having ruled Egypt for a year and seven months. It is said that during Abbad’s tenure, a Behlul, the Lakhmid seized Alexandria.

   Historians maintain that Abbad was kind to the people. Also, he was an adept politician with military experience. So much so that he was able to attract many of al-Amin’s followers. Had it not been for the people of al-Houf’s resistance, he could have made it. Then, al-Ma’mun assigned al-Muttalib bin Abdullah the affairs of Egypt.

   Hence, Egypt was deeply influenced by the war that broke out between al-Amin and al-Ma’mun. She witnessed fierce battles between each man’s proconsuls and supporters. So much so that turmoil spread therein, during which the Roman Emperor thought it was a good opportunity to retrieve Egypt. Subsequently, he sent a fleet to conquer Damietta.

Caliph al-Ma’mun (198-218 Hijri) (813-833 A.D.)

   Al- Ma’mun was said to have been born on the selfsame day when his father, al-Rashid, became caliph. This took place in 170 Hijri (786 A.D.) His mother was Persian. Her name was Marajil. When he was thirteen, his father gave him priority in succession after al-Amin. So, he became caliph after al-Amin’s death.

   Al-Ma’mun resided in Merv, the capital of Khorasan. Unlike his predecessors, he never came to Baghdad, assigning the state’s affairs to his minister al-Fadl bin Sahl. Meanwhile, he took care of science and philosophy, which attracted sages to him. Yet, this led to the spreading of schisms in Iraq, Arabia, and Egypt. Also, the Alawites tried to retrieve the caliphate.

   Al-Ma’mun’s tenure can be split into two periods: the first 198-204 Hijri (813-819 A.D.), and the second 204-218 Hijri (819-833 A.D.)

Al-Ma’mun’s First Term

   He resided in Merv, leaving the state’s affairs to al-Fadl bin Sahl who became quite powerful. Some historians maintain that he did his best, while others assert that he did not keep al-Ma’mun informed of all the incidents that took place in his kingdom, and that he strove to make his relatives and supporters rulers and proconsuls, giving them absolute power in their posts.

   Historians add that al-Fadl started preparing for the deposition of Hartama bin A’yan and Tahir bin al-Hussein from Iraq. He enticed al-Ma’mun to issue directives that enable him to oust both men. This led to an increase in turmoil in Iraq as well as the outbreak of rebellions. So, it started by this story… Stories never end in Beautiful Egypt.

General Bishop 
Head of the Coptic Orthodox Cultural Center