Abbasa bint al-Mahdi (; 765 – after 804) was a famous

Abbasid The Abbasid Caliphate or Abbasid Empire (; ) was the third caliphate to succeed the prophets and messengers in Islam, Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib (566–653 C ...

princess. She was the daughter of Abbasid caliph

al-Mahdi Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Manṣūr (; 744 or 745 – 785), better known by his regnal name al-Mahdī (, "He who is guided by God"), was the third Abbasid Caliph who reigned from 775 to his death in 785. He succeeded his ...

, sister of caliph Musa al-Hadi and

Harun al-Rashid Abū Jaʿfar Hārūn ibn Muḥammad ar-Rāshīd (), or simply Hārūn ibn al-Mahdī (; or 766 – 24 March 809), famously known as Hārūn al-Rāshīd (), was the fifth Abbasid caliph of the Abbasid Caliphate, reigning from September 786 unti ...

Life

Abbasa was the daughter of the third

Abbasid caliph The Abbasid caliphs were the holders of the Islamic title of caliph who were members of the Abbasid dynasty, a branch of the Quraysh tribe descended from the uncle of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, Al-Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib. The family came ...

, and a concubine of the

Abbasid harem The harem of the caliphs of the Abbasid Caliphate (750–1258) in Baghdad was composed of their mothers, wives, slave concubines, female relatives and slave servants (women and eunuchs), occupying a secluded portion of the Abbasid house ...

by the name of Rahim, thus she was the mother of his oldest surviving girl child, Abbasa. She was the

half-sister A sibling is a relative that shares at least one parent with the other person. A male sibling is a brother, and a female sibling is a sister. A person with no siblings is an only child. While some circumstances can cause siblings to be raise ...

of al-Hadi, Harun al-Rashid, Ulayya, and

Ibrahim ibn al-Mahdi Ibrāhīm ibn al-Mahdī (; 779–839) was an Abbasid prince, singer, composer and poet. He was the son of the third Abbasid caliph, al-Mahdi, and the half-brother of the poet and musician Ulayya. Ibrahim was contemporary of Abbasid caliph al-Ha ...

. She was born during her grandfather reign, her father became caliph in 775. When Abbasa was a young her father arranged her marriage to a cadet member of Abbasid House. Her husband was Muhammad ibn Sulayman, a prominent member of a cadet branch of the Abbasid dynasty, who was a long-time governor of

Kufa Kufa ( ), also spelled Kufah, is a city in Iraq, about south of Baghdad, and northeast of Najaf. It is located on the banks of the Euphrates, Euphrates River. The estimated population in 2003 was 110,000. Along with Samarra, Karbala, Kadhimiya ...

and

Basra Basra () is a port city in Iraq, southern Iraq. It is the capital of the eponymous Basra Governorate, as well as the List of largest cities of Iraq, third largest city in Iraq overall, behind Baghdad and Mosul. Located near the Iran–Iraq bor ...

. however her husband died in mid-November 789 and Abbasa became a widow. She married again another Abbasid member during the reign of her brother

. Her second marriage was with

Ibrahim ibn Salih Ibrāhīm ibn Ṣāliḥ ibn ʿAlī al-Hāshimī (; died 792) was a member of the Banu al-Abbas who served as a governor of various provinces in Syria and Egypt in the late eighth century. Career Ibrahim was a son of Salih ibn Ali, a military c ...

, a member of another cadet branch of the Abbasid dynasty: he was a first cousin to the first two Abbasid caliphs

al-Saffah Abu al-ʿAbbās Abd Allāh ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-ʿAbbās (‎; 721/722 – 8 June 754), known by his laqab, ''laqab'' al-Saffah (), was the first caliph of the Abbasid Caliphate, one of the longest and most impor ...

() and

al-Mansur Abū Jaʿfar ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad al-Manṣūr (; ‎; 714 – 6 October 775) usually known simply as by his laqab al-Manṣūr () was the second Abbasid caliph, reigning from 754 to 775 succeeding his brother al-Saffah (). He is known ...

(). He also became a son-in-law to the third Abbasid caliph

() by virtue of his marriage to the latter's daughter Abbasa. Ibrahim died in 792, shortly after having been appointed governor of Egypt a second time.; ; . After her second husband's death, Abbasa spend rest of her life as a widow in his brother's caliphal palace. She died around 800s.

Siblings

Abbasa was related to

house both by birth and through marriage like all other Abbasid princess. She was contemporary and related to several Abbasid caliphs, princes and princesses.

Myths and legends

There are several myths and legends around Harun and his family. One notorious myth was that Harun al-Rashid was known for being unhappy with the fact that he was a relative of Abassa's, as he was attracted to her. To keep Abassa in his life, he had her marry

Ja'far ibn Yahya Jafar ibn Yahya Barmaki or Jafar al-Barmaki (, , Jafar bin yaḥyā) (767–803), also called Aba-Fadl, was a Persian vizier of the Abbasid caliph Harun al-Rashid, succeeding his father ( Yahya ibn Khalid) in that position. He was a member of the ...

. The marriage was supposed to be one of convenience, but Abassa fell in love with her arranged husband. At night, a

slave Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...

woman would be sent to Ja'far's bedroom, and Abassa took the slave woman's place one evening. Her husband was surprised. Abassa would get pregnant and give birth to

twin Twins are two offspring produced by the same pregnancy.MedicineNet > Definition of Twin Last Editorial Review: 19 June 2000 Twins can be either ''monozygotic'' ('identical'), meaning that they develop from one zygote, which splits and forms two ...

boys in secret. The twins would be raised in

Mecca Mecca, officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, is the capital of Mecca Province in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia; it is the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow valley above ...

. Harun eventually found out about the relationship, and had Ja'far killed. Abassa was either killed, or, sent into

exile Exile or banishment is primarily penal expulsion from one's native country, and secondarily expatriation or prolonged absence from one's homeland under either the compulsion of circumstance or the rigors of some high purpose. Usually persons ...

References

Sources

* * * * * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Abbasa bint al-Mahdi 760s births 8th-century women from the Abbasid Caliphate 8th-century people from the Abbasid Caliphate 9th-century women from the Abbasid Caliphate 9th-century people from the Abbasid Caliphate Year of death unknown Daughters of Abbasid caliphs 9th-century deaths 8th-century Arab people