Abbasid Caliphate

“ With him expired the eastern Caliphate of the Abbasids, which had lasted 524 years, from the entry of Abuʽl-Abbas into Kufa.
In vain, three years later, did Abu’l-Qasim Ahmad, a scion of the race of the Abbasids, who had taken refuge in Egypt with Bibars the Mameluke sultan, and who had been proclaimed caliph under the title al-Mostanṣir billāh (“he who seeks help from God”) , make an effort to restore a dynasty which was now for ever extinct. At the head of an army he marched against Bagdad, but was defeated and killed before he reached that city. ”

“ The multitude quieted down before the solemn words of Abu Bekr. But just then a messenger hurried up with the report, that the citizens of Medîna—the Ansâr, had assembled to choose for themselves a chief. The moment was critical. The unity of the faith was at stake. A divided power would fall to pieces, and all might be lost. The mantle of the Prophet must fall upon one successor, and on one alone. The sovereignty of Islam demanded an undivided Caliphate; and Arabia would acknowledge no master but from amongst the Coreish. The die must be cast, and at once. ”

“ Both the Christian and the Moslem pontiff was the real temporal sovereign of a small state; each claimed to be spiritual sovereign over the whole of the Faithful; each was recognized as such by a large body, but rejected by others. But in truth the spiritual recognition of the Abbaside caliphs was more nearly universal in their last age than it had ever been before." With the fall of Bagdad fell the caliphate as a temporal sovereignty; but it survived, or was resurrected, in its spiritual functions, to become merged, a little later, in the supremacy of the sultan of the Ottoman Turks. ”

“ A nation composed thus of ennobled soldiery, pampered, factious and turbulent, formed too often a dangerous element of sedition and intrigue. But, nevertheless, it was the real backbone of Islam, the secret of conquest, the stay of the Caliphate. Crowded harims multiplied the race with marvellous rapidity. The progeny of the Arab sire (whatever the mother) was kept sedulously distinct, so as never to mingle with the conquered races. ”

“ Their arrogant and factious spirit had its focus in Al-Kufa and in Al-Basra; in both these cities, indeed, it had already under 'Omar shown itself; for even he had not been able effectually to curb their insolence. The Arabs were impatient of control, partly because the success of Islam was due to their arms; partly because, in the brotherhood of the Faith, all Believers, specially those of Arab blood, stood on equal ground. The power of the Caliph, indeed, as successor to the Prophet, was absolute, uncontrolled by any constitutional authority whatever. ”

“ It was indeed a thing of which the brave old Caliph might proud. ‘The Arabs,’ so the tradition runs, ‘were on all sides rising in rebellion. Apostasy and disaffection began to raise their heads; Christians and Jews to stretch out their necks; and the Faithful were left like a flock of sheep without a shepherd—their Prophet gone, their numbers few, and their foes a multitude.’ It was in face of all this that Abu Bekr sent off beyond recall his only force, and left Medîna open and, to the outward eye, defenceless. ”

“ We now enter upon the history of the new dynasty, under which the power of Islam reached its highest point.
1. Abuʽl-Abbas inaugurated his Caliphate by a harangue in which he announced the era of concord and happiness which was to begin now that the House of the Prophet had been restored to its right. He asserted that the Abbasids were the real heirs of the Prophet, as the descendants of his oldest uncle Abbas. Addressing the Kufians, he said, “Inhabitants of Kufa, ye are those whose affection towards us has ever been constant and true ”

“ Khalid retired to Hims, and did not long survive. His manner of life when in the full tide of prosperity, may be gathered from the brief notice that in the Plague, from which he fled with his family to the desert, he is said to have lost no fewer than forty sons. Soon after, in the eighth year of 'Omar's caliphate, he died. ”

“ After Othmân’s death the city was for some days in the hands of the insurgents. No one ventured to accept the Caliphate. Sád and Zobeir had already quitted the city; and all the members of the Omeyya clan who were able had effected their escape to Mecca. The rebels themselves were at their wits’ ends: ‘If we quit Medîna,’ they said, ‘and no Caliph is appointed, anarchy will burst forth everywhere. It appertaineth unto you (addressing the men of Medîna) to appoint a Caliph. Wherefore look ye out a man for the throne, and make him Caliph. ”

“ That the caliphate, whether of the Ottoman, Ommiad, or Abbassid dynasties, is in no way comparable with the Papacy is clearly evidenced by the fact that Islam has never in all its history regarded the Caliph as its spiritual head. ”

“ Months passed, and things did not mend at Al-Kufa. Most of the leading men, whose influence could have kept the populace in check, were away on military command in Persia; and the malcontents, in treasonable correspondence with the Egyptian faction, gained head daily. In an unlucky moment, Sa'id planned a visit to Medina, there to lay his troubles before the Caliph. ”

“ Abu Obeida was mild and kindly even to timidity; Amru an able counsellor, but lacking military dash. The mettle of none of the generals had yet been fully tested; and their independence one of another, in the absence of a general-in-chief, while it gave opportunity to each, had a paralysing effect on all. When, therefore, the cry reached Medîna for help, the Caliph exclaimed: ‘Khâlid, son of Welîd, is the man for this! ”

“ Al-Kufa and Al-Basra, unique in their own origin, had a singular influence on the destinies of the Caliphate and of Islam at large. The vast majority of the population were of pure Arabian blood. The tribes which, scenting from afar the prey of Chaldæa and Persia, kept streaming into Chaldæa from every corner of Arabia, settled chiefly there. ”

“ That able general rallied the retreating force, and with a sufficient remnant, including the brave Himyarite band under Dzul Kelâa, took up a strong position on the frontier, until help should come. Khâlid continued his flight, but was stayed at Wady al Cora.—‘By my life!’ wrote the indignant Caliph, ‘thou shalt come no further; thou pratest bravely when secure, but in battle thou art a coward. I have no patience with thee!’ And he said to those about him: ‘Truly Aly and Omar knew the man better than I. Had I listened to them, this mishap had not been.’ We hear no more of Khâlid ibn Saîd. ”

“ But the disintegration of the Caliphate was an idea which had as yet hardly entered into the minds of the Faithful. The unity of Islam, established by the precedent of the quarter of a century, was still, and long continued to be, the ruling sentiment of the nation. ”

“ Al-Kufa, and Mu'awiya, his point for the present gained, to Damascus. As 'Ali entered Al-Kufa, he heard wailing on every side. A chief man, whom he bade to pacify the mourners, answered: "O Caliph, it is not as if but two or three had been slain; of this clan alone hard by, an hundred and four score lie buried at Siffin. There is not a house but the women are weeping in it for their dead." ”

“ The Caliph is the very personification of such unity and is, primarily, the leader of Islam's armies against the foes of the Faith, or he bears a name bereft of all significance. In international life there is no room for mediæval structures, and [Pg 32] Turkey can live in peace with other states, especially with those possessing Mohammedan subjects, only if Caliphate pretensions be honestly put aside, even though the title be maintained as a formal one. ”

“ The North African Caliph lost his independence in 1911 ; and it would appear that no other potentate of consequence holds the office. The conference summoned to meet in Cairo in March 1925 has been postponed for a year ; should it, on convening, succeed in making an appointment, and should that appointment obtain recognition among Sunni communities, the fact will be that for many months the Islamic world will have remained without an independent Caliph. This has not happened since the death of the Prophet ; many a dynasty which claimed the Caliphate has fallen ”

“ The Egyptian court, chiefly owing to the jealousy of the vizier, sent no efficient aid to Basāsīrī, and after a year Bagdad was retaken by the Seljūk Toghrul Beg, and the Abbasid caliph restored to his rights. In the following years the troubles in Egypt caused by the struggles between the Turkish and negro elements in Mostanṣir’s army nearly brought the country into the dominion of the Abbasids. After several battles of various issue the Turkish commander Nāṣir addaula b. Hamdān got possession of Cairo, and at the end of 1068 plundered the caliph’s palace ”

“ The presidency at the annual Pilgrimage is always carefully recorded by the annalists of Islam. The Caliph was too much engrossed with the commotion throughout Arabia to proceed himself to Mecca on the first Pilgrimage of his reign, and he therefore commissioned Attâb, governor of the holy city, to preside in his stead. ”

“ At last on the fifth day the rebels insisted that, before they quitted Medina, the citizens should elect a Caliph, and restore the empire to its normal state. Shrinking, no doubt, from the task which 'Othman's successor would have to face, 'Ali held back, and offered to swear allegiance to either Talha or Az-Zubeir. But in the end, pressed by the threats of the regicides and entreaties of his friends, he yielded; and so, six days after the fatal tragedy, 'Ali took the oath to rule "according to the Book of the Lord," and was saluted Caliph. ”

“ Abroad his rule was equally successful, and extended the boundaries of Islam in all directions.
'Amr. His death, 43 A.H.
'Amr held the government of Egypt during the rest of his long life, which, indeed, had been one of the most eventful in this history. No man influenced more than he the fortunes of the Caliphate. Brave in the field, astute in counsel, coarse and unscrupulous in word and deed, it was mainly to 'Amr that Mu'awiya owed his ascendency over 'Ali, and the eventual establishment of the Umeiyad dynasty. ”

“ After some days spent at Rabadza, the Caliph returned to Medîna.
Islam must be reimposed on all Arabia.
The army by this time was refitted. The tithes had begun to come in from many neighbouring tribes in token of submission. Medîna was no longer in peril, and the citizens breathed freely. But a heavy burden still lay upon the Caliph. Islam was to be the faith of all Arabia;—‘Throughout the peninsula there shall be no second creed,’ was the behest of Mahomet on his death-bed. False prophets must be crushed; rebels vanquished ”

“ Reign of Moqtadi.—In the first year of the Caliphate of al-Moqtadī bi-amri’llāh (“he who follows the orders of God”) , a grandson of Qāim, the power of the Seljuk empire reached its zenith. All the eastern provinces, a great part of Asia Minor, Syria with the exception of a few towns on the shore, the main part of West Africa acknowledged the caliph of Bagdad as the Imām. Yemen had been subjected, and at Mecca and Medina his name was substituted in the public prayers for that of the Fātimite caliph. ”

“ Museilima, we are told, deceived the people by pretended miracles, counterfeited the language of the Koran, and
1 See Life of Mohammad, p. 477. 28
instituted prayers like those of Mohammad. In short, his religion was but a wretched travesty of Islam. Though strongly supported by his own people both as their Prophet and their Ruler, he now felt that the meshes of Abu Bekr began to close round him. The Caliph's Generals were steadily reclaiming the coast of the Persian Gulf, and Khalid whom he dreaded most was not far behind. ”

“ On the other hand, conflicting news divided the Moslem camp. For some reason Khâlid was bent on attacking the Beni Yerbóa. The men of Medîna [44] were equally opposed to the design, for which they alleged that Khâlid had from the Caliph no authority. It would [33] have been better for him had he listened to the remonstrance. But he replied haughtily, ‘I am commander. In the absence of orders, it is for me to decide. I will march against Mâlik ibn Noweira with the men of Mecca, and with such others as choose to follow me. I compel no man.’ So he went forward and left the malcontents behind. ”

“ The millstone would grind round and round to the bitter end. Good had it been, if before it began to revolve, he had been taken to his rest. There was nought left for him but to be quiet and to see that no wrong was done to anyone.’ So he gave the governors leave to depart, saying only that if fresh campaigns were set on foot, he would approve of that; otherwise he would hold on his way.
As they took their leave, Káb, the Jewish convert, said, ‘It will be the grey mule that wins,’ meaning Muâvia, who overheard the saying and from that moment (so the tradition runs) kept the Caliphate in view. ”

“ Such Moslems as were under Turkish authority were not affected by the Caliphate of their Sultan. The relation of subjects to their rulers in Mohammedan realms not subordinated to Turkey were even less affected; and least of all did the matter signify to those followers of Islam ruled by non-Mohammedans. These are numerous and have steadily increased during the last centuries. An effective Caliphate, however explained, presupposes the political unity of all the faithful. ”

“ The chord of loyalty in the fickle city’s heart was touched; a tumult arose, and Abu Mûsa, unable to maintain his weak neutrality, was deposed. The Arab tribes rallied, and for the moment heartily, around such noted leaders as Cacâa, and Adî the son of Hâtim. And soon ten thousand men, partly by land, partly embarking on the river, set out to join the Caliph, who, advancing slowly from Dzu Câr, awaited their arrival. Thus reinforced, Aly was able to take the field effectively, and to march on the rebellious city with an imposing force. ”