Al-Abbās ibn Mūsā ibn ʿĪsā () (died 815) was a minor member of the

Abbasid dynasty The Abbasid dynasty or Abbasids () were an Arab dynasty that ruled the Abbasid Caliphate between 750 and 1258. They were from the Qurayshi Hashimid clan of Banu Abbas, descended from Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib. The Abbasid Caliphate is divid ...

. He held various posts in the late eighth and early ninth centuries, and played a supporting role in the events of the

Fourth Fitna The Fourth Fitna, Fourth Muslim Civil War, or Great Abbasid Civil War resulted from the conflict between the brothers al-Amin and al-Ma'mun over the succession to the throne of the Abbasid Caliphate. Their father, Caliph Harun al-Rashid, had name ...

Career

Al-Abbas was a grandson of Isa ibn Musa, the nephew of the first two Abbasid caliphs as-Saffah 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 ...

and initial heir-apparent to the latter. Shortly after the accession of

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 ...

in 786 he is mentioned as serving as deputy 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 ...

for his father

Musa Musa may refer to: Places *Mūša, a river in Lithuania and Latvia * Musa, Azerbaijan, a village in Yardymli Rayon * Musa, Iran, a village in Ilam province, Iran * Musa, Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari, Iran * Musa Kalayeh, Gilan province, Iran * Abu M ...

, and later in Harun's reign he was appointed as full governor of that same city. In 805 he led the annual

pilgrimage A pilgrimage is a travel, journey to a holy place, which can lead to a personal transformation, after which the pilgrim returns to their daily life. A pilgrim (from the Latin ''peregrinus'') is a traveler (literally one who has come from afar) w ...

, and he also served as governor of

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 ...

at an unspecified date. Following the death of Harun in 809, al-Abbas was initially employed by his successor

al-Amin Abū Mūsā Muḥammad bin Hārūn al-Amīn (; April 787 – 24/25 September 813), better known by just his laqab of al-Amīn (), was the sixth Abbasid caliph from 809 to 813. Al-Amin succeeded his father, Harun al-Rashid, in 809 and ruled unt ...

to act as an emissary to

al-Ma'mun Abū al-ʿAbbās Abd Allāh ibn Hārūn al-Maʾmūn (; 14 September 786 – 9 August 833), better known by his regnal name al-Ma'mun (), was the seventh Abbasid caliph, who reigned from 813 until his death in 833. His leadership was marked by t ...

Khurasan KhorasanDabeersiaghi, Commentary on Safarnâma-e Nâsir Khusraw, 6th Ed. Tehran, Zavvâr: 1375 (Solar Hijri Calendar) 235–236 (; , ) is a historical eastern region in the Iranian Plateau in West Asia, West and Central Asia that encompasses wes ...

, but in the midst of the growing conflict between the two brothers he was soon persuaded to switch sides and offer his allegiance to al-Ma'mun instead. In March 812 he participated in the failed coup of al-Husayn ibn Ali ibn Isa, in which he was responsible for personally apprehending both al-Amin and his mother Zubaydah bint Ja'far, and he was subsequently selected to lead the first pilgrimages undertaken in al-Ma'mun's name, in 812, 813 and 814. In June 814 al-Abbas was appointed as governor of

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

by al-Ma'mun, and he deputized his son Abdallah to take control of that province in his name. Abdallah quickly developed poor relations with the local '' jund'', however, and after less than three months in office he was overthrown by an army revolt, while the ex-governor al-Muttalib ibn Abdallah al-Khuza'i was freed from prison and restored to power in his place. Al-Abbas then responded by setting out for Egypt in an effort to intervene, but in February 815 he suddenly died at Bilbays, allegedly due to poisoning.; ; .

Notes

References

* * * * * * * * {{Governor of Egypt during Abbasid Caliphate, state=expanded 815 deaths Abbasids Abbasid governors of Mecca 9th-century Abbasid governors of Egypt 9th-century Arab people 8th-century Arab people