Al-Fadl ibn Rawh ibn Hatim al-Muhallabi () (d. 794) was a member of the
Muhallabid family and a provincial governor for the
Abbasid Caliphate
The Abbasid Caliphate or Abbasid Empire (; ) was the third caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib (566–653 CE), from whom the dynasty takes ...
. He was the last of the Muhallabid governors of
Ifriqiya
Ifriqiya ( '), also known as al-Maghrib al-Adna (), was a medieval historical region comprising today's Tunisia, eastern Algeria, and Tripolitania (roughly western Libya). It included all of what had previously been the Byzantine province of ...
, serving there from 793 until his death.
Career
Al-Fadl was the son of
Rawh ibn Hatim al-Muhallabi, who was governor of Ifriqiya from 787 until 791. Following Rawh's death,
Nasr ibn Habib al-Muhallabi became governor of the province, but al-Fadl, who was then in charge of the
Zab region, wanted the position for himself. He therefore left Ifriqiya and made his way to the court of the caliph
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 ...
, who he convinced to give him the appointment instead. Nasr was then dismissed and al-Muhallab ibn Yazid was made interim governor, until al-Fadl returned to the province in the spring of 791 and took up his new position.
Al-Fadl's governorship quickly became troubled due to his poor relations with the garrison troops (''
jund''), who he dealt with harshly as a result of their continued preference for Nasr. These tensions became particularly acute in
Tunis
Tunis (, ') is the capital city, capital and largest city of Tunisia. The greater metropolitan area of Tunis, often referred to as "Grand Tunis", has about 2,700,000 inhabitants. , it is the third-largest city in the Maghreb region (after Casabl ...
, where al-Fadl's governor and nephew al-Mughirah ibn Bishr ibn Rawh was detested by the local ''jund''. The latter eventually wrote to al-Fadl, asking that a new governor be appointed, but al-Fadl refused their request. In response, the ''jund'' took matters into their own hands, organizing themselves under
'Abdallah ibn al-Jarud and expelling al-Mughirah from the city.
Following al-Mughirah's expulsion, Ibn al-Jarud initially attempted to reach an accord with al-Fadl, writing him to insist that no disloyalty against him was meant and asking that a suitable replacement be sent. Al-Fadl responded by appointing his cousin 'Abdallah ibn Yazid ibn Hatim over Tunis and sent him to take command of the city. When 'Abdallah ibn Yazid drew near to Tunis, however, he was met by a group sent by Ibn al-Jarud to speak to him; defying Ibn al-Jarud's orders, they attacked 'Abdallah ibn Yazid and killed him.
Now believing that reconciliation with al-Fadl was impossible, Ibn al-Jarud instead decided to rebel against him. He wrote to the commanders of each city in Ifriqiya, reminding them of how al-Fadl had abused them and urging them to join his cause. With much of the ''jund'' flocking to Ibn al-Jarud's side, al-Fadl was forced to march against the rebels. In the resulting battle, al-Fadl was defeated and he retreated back to
al-Qayrawan; Ibn al-Jarud's army, however, pursued him and besieged the city for a short time. Eventually the inhabitants of al-Qayrawan agreed to open their doors to the rebels, allowing Ibn al-Jarud and his army to enter it in September 794. Following the conquest, al-Fadl and his followers departed from the city and headed to
Qabis, but Ibn al-Jarud decided to not allow this and instead had al-Fadl killed.
Notes
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794 deaths
Abbasid governors of Ifriqiya
Muhallabids
Year of birth missing
8th-century Arab people
Ifriqiya under the Abbasid Caliphate
8th-century people from Ifriqiya