Beautiful Egypt 195 – A Hard Time – February 26, 2017

   In the previous article, we tackled the second era of al-Ma’mun’s tenure which was in Baghdad. Historians counted the true beginning of his tenure which was a blend of lenience and strictness, justice and forgiveness. We also tackled the tenure of Tahir bin al-Hussein and his disobedience of the Caliph and sudden death, as well as the internal rebellions which the Abbasid State had witnessed.

Egypt’s Conditions

   During that hard time, Egypt went through a lot of turmoil that lasted for about ten years (200-210 Hijri) (815-825 A.D.). In fact, Ubaydullah bin al-Sirri seized the opportunity when the Caliph was busy overcoming the rebellions which the Abbasid State had been witnessing, especially that of Nasr bin Shabath, and rebelled in Egypt arousing seditions therein.

   Security was shaken in Egypt due to the advent of many Andalusian Arabs who were expelled by al-Hakam bin Hisham. So, they went to Alexandria where they robbed money, raped women, and threatened safe citizens. When al-Ma’mun got to know, he ordered Abdullah bin Tahir who, had been done with Nasr, to march to Egypt and overcome seditions there. Abdullah went to Egypt, fought and chased the rebels. So, the Andalusians fled to Crete. He also overcame Ubaydullah bin al-Sarri and his rebellion which, however, broke out once more.

   Historians maintain that when this tumult broke out, al-Ma’mun came to Egypt to overcome the rebellion ignited by the Egyptians to combat the corrupt rulers: “On 16 Dhul Hjja, 216 Hijri, al-Ma’mun marched to Egypt after heading to Damascus, say historians. He wanted to overcome the seditions that broke out therein due to the fact that the people of Lower Egypt, including Copts, rebelled against Eissa bin Mansur, the proconsul of Egypt, due to his bad reputation and mistreatment of them. This was in 220 Hijri. Al-Ma’mun came to Egypt to see to the reasons of the rebellion and listen to the people’s complaint from his proconsul’s misdemeanor. So, he strove to save the people, and used power to overcome the rebellion, thus, restoring order and security to the country.” Historians maintain that he spent forty days in Egypt, conducting several reforms.

Egypt’s Proconsuls

   We spoke about Egypt’s proconsuls in the article entitled, “The First Evil” and stopped at the end of Abbad bin Mohammed’s tenure (196-198 Hijri) (812-813 A.D.). Al-Muttalib bin Abdullah took over Egypt’s affairs in his stead.

Al-Muttalib bin Abdullah (198 Hijri) (813-814 A.D.)

   Al-Muttalib bin Abdullah bin Malik bin al-Haytham of Khuza’a was appointed by al-Ma’mun proconsul of Egypt after Abbad had been arrested. He lived in al-Askar. His tenure was tumultuous due to the presence of two factions, one of which supported al-Amin, and the other al-Ma’mun. Though that time was short, it witnessed four police heads, namely, Hubayra bin Hashim, Mohammed bin Assama, Abdul Aziz bin al-Wazir, and Ibrahim bin Abdul Salam who was deposed to restore Hubayra bin Hashim! Al-Ma’mun deposed al-Muttalib after seven and a half months, then arrested and imprisoned him, appointing al-Abbas bin Mussa in his stead.

   At that time, al-Ma’mun had become Caliph after his victory over his brother, al-Amin and the latter’s death.

Al-Abbas bin Mussa (198 Hijri) (814 A.D.)

   Al-Abbas bin Mussa bin Eissa was assigned Egypt’s affairs in al-Muttalib’s stead. When he got to know of this, he delegated his son, Abdullah to rule her. So, he came over together with al-Hassan bin Ubayd and ordered that al-Muttalib be imprisoned. Abdullah was cruel to the Egyptians, which made them hate him a lot and rebel against him. Egypt’s army united with the people. So, Abdullah fought them. Moreover, al-Hassan compelled the Egyptian army to fight Abdullah who after a short time treated the people harshly and threatened everybody. In effect, they rebelled against him. So, he fought them. But the Egyptians overcome and ousted him. It is said that they killed him. Then, the Egyptians set al-Muttalib free from prison and restored him to his position. He remained in office until al-Abbas came to Egypt, camped in Belbeis, then in al-Houf, after which he got sick, only to return to Belbeis and die there in 199 Hijri (815 A.D.). Some historians maintain that al-Muttalib poisoned him to death, which is how al-Abbas’ tenure came to an end, having delegated his son to rule instead of him. Al-Abbas’ tenure was one of the cruelest in Egypt: for it was quite tumultuous.

Al-Muttalib bin Abdullah’s Second Term (199 Hijri) (815 A.D.)

   Al-Muttalib’s second tenure started after the people had rebelled against Abdullah bin al-Abbas and al-Hassan bin Ubayd and expelling them from the country. Al-Muttalib was kind to the Egyptians. So, many of them supported him. Consequently, he was able to expel whoever supported al-Abbas and his son until al-Abbas came to Egypt and wars broke out between them. Then, al-Abbas died. When this news reached al-Ma’mun, he established al-Muttalib proconsul of Egypt: for he was busy fighting his brother. Thus, al-Muttalib continued to rule Egypt until al-Ma’mun settled down. So, al-Ma’mun deposed him, appointing al-Sarri bin al-Hakam in his stead in 200 Hijri (816 A.D.)

   But war grew fierce between al-Muttalib and al-Sarri, and a huge number of soldiers from both of their armies was killed. The war ended up in al-Muttalib’s defeat and fleeing from Egypt, having ruled her for about a year and seven months. As for the people and the army, they defended themselves before al-Sarri’s troops until the latter reassured them. Thus, he entered Egypt and ruled her.

Al-Sarri bin al-Hakam (200-201 Hijri) (816 A.D.)

   Al-Sarri bin al-Hakam bin Yusuf bin al-Muqawwam took over Egypt’s affairs after the deposal of al-Muttalib. He gave attention to restoring Egypt and her villages. Yet, lots of misunderstandings occurred between the proconsul of Egypt and the nobles of Khorasan there, leading to the a break up between them, which is why the proconsul was deposed after ruling the country for six months. There are many stories concerning the deposal of al-Sirri. Some historians assert that al-Ma’mun deposed him, while others say that he decided to resign. A third party maintains that the sentries arrested and imprisoned him in accordance with the Caliph’s decree. Soliman bin Ghalib took over Egypt’s affairs after al-Sarri.

Soliman bin Ghalib (201 Hijri) (816 A.D.)

   Soliman bin Ghalib bin Jamil bin Yahya became proconsul of Egypt after al-Sarri had been deposed. He appointed Abu Dhikr bin Junadah chief of police; but he mistreated the Egyptians. Matters, however, did not remain this way: for the relationship between the proconsul and the soldiers deteriorated. Consequently, they fought. Thus, al-Ma’mun deposed him and restored al-Sirri after Soliman had ruled Egypt for about five months. Thus, during the same year, Egypt witnessed three tenures, starting with al-Sirri, then Soliman, then al-Sirri for a second time, which explains why Egypt witnessed a lot of tumult.

   During that year also, al-Ma’mun declared Ali al-Reda heir apparent, which increased seditions in the Abbasid State, especially in Baghdad as we mentioned beforehand. What stories! Stories never end in Beautiful Egypt.

General Bishop

Head of the Coptic Orthodox Cultural Center