Beautiful Egypt 197 – Go to Your Work – March 12, 2017

   In the previous article, we tackled the conflict between al-Sarri and al-Jarawy and their children, as well as the ensuing incidents which had a great impact on Egypt. So much so that Egypt was ruled by two people at a time! In fact, it came to pass that al-Ma’mun decreed that Ubaydullah govern his provinces, and that Ali bin al-Jarawy rule his, provided that both pay the allotted taxes. Lots of wars broke out between the two parties. Then, Abdullah bin Taher was assigned Egypt’s affairs. So, he came over with a great army. Ali bin al-Jarawy joined him. They defeated Ubaydullah who, consequently, fled.

   At that time, Abu Saleh al-Tamimi returned with a letter of reassurance from the Ubayd to the Caliph who had sent Abu Saleh to al-Ma’mun, asking him what to do with Abdullah bin Taher. This took place after Ubayd’s clerk had attempted reconciling the former with Abdullah. So, Ubayd wrote a reassurance letter and ordered Abu Saleh to take it to the Caliph. Thus, Ubaydullah was deposed, having ruled Egypt for about four years and seven months. He went to al-Ma’mun who forgave and treated him kindly.

Abdullah bin Taher (211-212 Hijri) (826-827 A.D.)

   Abdullah bin Taher bin al-Hussayn bin Mus’ab was assigned Egypt’s affairs by al-Ma’mun after fighting Ubaydullah. It is said he was a man of letters: a talented poet. Also, he was generous, which made poets sings his praise. In 212 Hijri, he went to Alexandria, delegating Eissa bin Yazid al-Juludi to head the prayers in the capital. In fact, Abdullah went to the fortress of Alexandria to combat a gang of Moroccans who were led by Umar bin Eissa, the Andalusian.

   Historians have no common opinion regarding his war with that gang. Some of them assert that he fought and expelled them from Alexandria, whereas others maintain that they left Alexandria in fear of him. A third group says that he besieged the fortress of Alexandria until they came seeking peace. He reconciled with the Andalusians, provided that they leave Alexandria and go wherever they please. Historian, Mr. Abdul Aziz Jamal al-Din writes, “… They went to him, seeking peace. He reconciled with the Andalusians, provided that they leave Alexandria and go wherever they please, and that they do not take any Egyptian citizen aboard their ships: neither a slave nor a runaway rebel. If they did, the treaty would be violated and Abdullah would be entitled to kill them. Thus, they left. Bin Taher sent someone to search their ships;he found a group of whom he made it a point not to be taken with them. So, he ordered that their ships be burnt. Consequently, they pleaded the retrieval of the term, and he consented, assigning Alexandria’s affairs to Elias bin Assad bin Saman.” Then, Abdullah bin Taher returned to al-Fustat.

   As for his tenure, historians maintain that he ruled Egypt well and arranged her affairs wisely. He ruled her for about one year and five months, after which he delegated Eissa bin Yazid al-Juludi and headed to Iraq. Al-Ma’mun assigned him the affairs of Khorasan after his father’s death. On the other hand, Eissa bin Yazid al-Juludi took over Egypt’s affairs.

Eissa bin Yazid al-Juludi (212-214 Hijri) (827-829 A.D.)

   As we mentioned beforehand, Eissa bin Yazid was assigned Egypt’s affairs after Abdullah bin Taher had delegated him. So, al-Ma’mun established him on Egypt as Abdullah’s delegate until 213 Hijri (829 A.D.).

   Then al-Ma’mun deposed Abdullah bin Taher and assigned his brother al-Mu’tasim Mohammed bin Harun who assigned Eissa the affairs of Egypt in his stead, having appointed Saleh bin Shayrazad the tax-collection affairs. Yet, the latter laid heavy taxes on the Egyptians and treated them unjustly, which ignited rebellions against him, and al-Houf people gathered to fight him under the leadership of Abdul Salam bin Abu Madi and Abdullah bin Hulays al-Hilali.

   In effect, Eissa bin Yazid decided to support Saleh, sending him an army led by his son Mohammed. A fierce war broke out between the two parties, only to end in the defeat of Eissa’s army which was annihilated, except for Eissa’s son. When al-Mu’tasim got to know of this, he deposed Eissa who had then ruled Egypt for almost one year and seven months, appointing Umayr bin al-Walid in his stead.

Umayr bin al-Walid (214 Hijri) (829 A.D.)

   Umayr bin al-Walid of Tamim was delegated by al-Mu’tasim to rule Egypt. No sooner had he settled down, than the people of al-Houf rebelled against him. So, he mobilized armies to resist them, assigning the country’s affairs to his son Mohammed. Eissa bin Yazid joined Umayr in the fight. The two armies engaged in a fierce war. Umayr was killed in one of the battles, which is why he ruled Egypt for two months only. Some historians maintain that Mohammed bin Umayr ruled the country for one month after his father’s death. Then Eissa bin Yazid was reassigned Egypt’s affairs.

Eissa bin Yazid’s Second Term (214-215 Hijri) (829-830 A.D.)

   Al-Mu’tasim reassigned Eissa the affairs of Egypt after Umayr bin al-Walid’s death. Eissa continued fighting the people of al-Houf until the two armies met at al-Matariya near Ain Shams. A fierce war broke out in which Eissa’s army was defeated and many of the soldiers killed, which is why he sought refuge in al-Fustat.

   When al-Ma’mun got to know about the wars taking place in Egypt, he asked his brother al-Mu’tasim to go there. Historians assert that al-Ma’mun told his brother, “Go to your work and see to its correction.” Al-Mu’tasim marched from Baghdad to Egypt, leading a four-thousand-soldier army. He fought the people of al-Houf, defeated and annihilated them before proceeding to al-Fustat together with Eissa bin Yazid. He stayed there until matters calmed down, then went to the Levant in 215 Hijri (830 A.D.), having deposed Eissa bin Yazid and assigned Abdaweyah bin Habalah in his stead. Thus, Eissa’s second term lasted for about eight months.

   As for the Coptic Church at that time, we mentioned in a previous article that Pope Mark II, the forty-ninth patriarch, departed on Easter Eve in 819 after concluding the Mass. He had beseeched God to relieve him from worldly pains, especially that the Andalusians had given him quite a hard time in Alexandria. So much so that he left the city. Also, al-Natrun Valley wilderness, which was inhabited by many monks, was raided and ransacked. Many of the monks and their families were killed. Their churches and cells were demolished. Thus, the wilderness became a wasteland. Pope Mark II was succeeded by Pope Jacob, the fiftieth patriarch.

Pope Jacob (819-830 A.D.)

   He became patriarch during the tenure of al-Ma’mun. It is said that Pope Jacob was a priest at Abba Maqar Monastery in Wadi al-Natrun. Due to the raiding of the place, he proceeded to a monastery at Thebes (Luxor). Yet, he kept watching in order to return to his monastery. After a while, he saw a vision in which he got to know that God had summoned him to return to Wadi al-Natrun. So, he hurried, together with the remaining monks, to his monastery where he led a life of fast, prayer, and worship. Thus, many of those who yearned for monasticism became his disciples, and … such stories will never end in Beautiful Egypt.

General Bishop

Head of the Coptic Orthodox Cultural Center