Abu al-Muẓaffar Yusuf ibn Muhammad al-Muqtafi (; 1124 – 20 December 1170) better known by his

regnal name A regnal name, regnant name, or reign name is the name used by monarchs and popes during their reigns and subsequently, historically. Since ancient times, some monarchs have chosen to use a different name from their original name when they accede ...

al-Mustanjid bi-llah () was the

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 ...

in Baghdad from 1160 to 1170. He was the son of previous Caliph

al-Muqtafi Abu Abdallah Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Mustazhir (; 9 April 1096 – 12 March 1160), better known by his laqab, regnal name al-Muqtafi li-Amr Allah (), was the List of Abbasid caliphs#Abbasid Caliphs (25 January 750 – 20 February 1258), Abbasid ca ...

Biography

Al-Mustanjid was born in 1124. He was the son of caliph

and his mother was an

Umm walad In the Muslim world, the title of ''umm al-walad'' () was given to a Concubinage in Islam, slave-concubine who had given birth to a child acknowledged by her master as his. These women were regarded as property and could be sold by their owners, ...

named Thawus. His full name was Yusuf ibn Muhammad al-Muqtafi and his Kunya was ''Abu al-Muzaffar''. When Yusuf was a young prince his father became Caliph in 1136. His father ruled for almost twenty-four years until his death in 1160. When his father died, he ascended to the throne. He continued the policies of his father and he also confirmed Awn al-Din ibn Hubayra as his vizier. Awn al-Din had previously served as the vizier to his father. Awn al-Din'sMakdisi (1971), pp. 802–803 Tenure marked the final decline of the

Seljuq Seljuk (, ''Selcuk'') or Saljuq (, ''Saljūq'') may refer to: * Seljuk Empire (1051–1153), a medieval empire in the Middle East and central Asia * Seljuk dynasty (c. 950–1307), the ruling dynasty of the Seljuk Empire and subsequent polities * S ...

influence in the Abbasid court (cf. Abbasid–Seljuk war), and saw a flowering of Hanbali learning in Baghdad. Ibn Hubayra was also involved in the conquest of

Fatimid The Fatimid Caliphate (; ), also known as the Fatimid Empire, was a caliphate extant from the tenth to the twelfth centuries CE under the rule of the Fatimid dynasty, Fatimids, an Isma'ili Shi'a dynasty. Spanning a large area of North Africa ...

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 ...

Nur ad-Din Zangi Nūr al-Dīn Maḥmūd Zengī (; February 1118 – 15 May 1174), commonly known as Nur ad-Din (lit. 'Light of the Faith' in Arabic), was a Turkoman (ethnonym), Turkoman member of the Zengid dynasty, who ruled the Syria (region), Syrian province ...

. One of al-Muqtafi's wives, al-Mustanjid's stepmother, wanted her own son to succeed. She gained over many amirs to her side, and had their slave-girls armed with daggers to kill the new caliph. Al-Mustanjid discovered the plot and placed the rebel son and mother in prison. Around this time, Fatimid dynasty was at last extinguished, having lasted for 260 years. Their conqueror,

Saladin Salah ad-Din Yusuf ibn Ayyub ( – 4 March 1193), commonly known as Saladin, was the founder of the Ayyubid dynasty. Hailing from a Kurdish family, he was the first sultan of both Egypt and Syria. An important figure of the Third Crusade, h ...

, though himself an orthodox Muslim, initially didn't proclaim the

Sunni Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any successor and that his closest companion Abu Bakr () rightfully succeeded him as the caliph of the Mu ...

faith in the midst of a people still devoted to the tenets and practice of the

Shi'a Shia Islam is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that Muhammad designated Ali ibn Abi Talib () as both his political successor ( caliph) and as the spiritual leader of the Muslim community ( imam). However, his right is understoo ...

sect. But he soon found himself able to do so; and thus the spiritual supremacy of the Abbasids again prevailed, not only in Syria, but throughout Egypt and all its dependencies. There is little else to say than that this caliph continued to occupy a more or less independent position, with a vizier and courtly surroundings, and supported by only a small force sufficient for an occasional local campaign.

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* *''This text is adapted from

William Muir Sir William Muir (27 April 1819 – 11 July 1905) was a Scottish oriental studies, Orientalist, and colonial administrator, Principal of the University of Edinburgh and Lieutenant Governor of the North-Western Provinces of British Raj, Brit ...

public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work to which no Exclusive exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly Waiver, waived, or may be inapplicable. Because no one holds ...

, The Caliphate: Its Rise, Decline, and Fall.'' 1170 deaths 12th-century Abbasid caliphs 1124 births Sons of Abbasid caliphs {{Islam-bio-stub

Biography

See also

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