Ishaq ibn al-Muqtadir (; 910s – March 988) was an

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 ...

prince, son of 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 ...

al-Muqtadir Abū’l-Faḍl Jaʿfar ibn Al-Mu'tadid, Aḥmad ibn Al-Muwaffaq, Ṭalḥa ibn Al-Mutawakkil, Jaʿfar ibn al-Mu'tasim, Muḥammad ibn Harun al-Rashid, Hārūn Al-Muqtadir bi'Llāh () (895 – 31 October 932 AD), better known by his regnal name a ...

. He was a contemporary of the caliphs

al-Qahir Abū al-Manṣūr Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad ibn Ṭalḥa ibn Jaʿfar ibn Muḥammad ibn Hārūn al-Qāhir bi'Llāh (), usually known simply by his regnal title al-Qahir bi'Llah (), was the nineteenth caliph of the Abbasid Caliphate from 932 ...

al-Radi Abu'l-Abbas Muhammad ibn Ja'far al-Muqtadir (; 1 January 909 – 23 December 940), usually simply known by his regnal name al-Radi bi'llah (), was the twentieth Caliph of the Abbasid Caliphate, reigning from 934 to his death. He died on 23 Decemb ...

al-Muttaqi Abu Ishaq Ibrahim ibn Jaʿfar al-Muqtadir () better known by his regnal title al-Muttaqi (908 – July 968, ) was the Abbasid Caliph in Baghdad from 940 to 944. His reign marked the start of the 'later Abbasid period' (940–1258). Biography Al- ...

al-Mustakfi Abu al-Qasim Abd Allah ibn Ali (11 November 908 – September/October 949), commonly known by his regnal name al-Mustakfi, was the Abbasid caliph in Baghdad from 944 to 946. Al-Mustakfi was a younger son of Caliph al-Muktafi, and hence a riva ...

al-Muti Abū ʾl-Qāsim al-Faḍl ibn al-Muqtadir (; 913/14 – September/October 974), better known by his regnal name of al-Mutīʿ li-ʾllāh (), was the Abbasid caliph in Baghdad from 946 to 974, ruling under the tutelage of the Buyid emirs. Al ...

and al-Ta'i', three of whom were his brothers. As a son of al-Muqtadir, he was also a candidate to the succession to caliphal throne during the reigns of his brothers, but it was his son Ahmad became caliph as

al-Qadir Abu'l-Abbas Ahmad ibn Ishaq (; 28 September 947 – 29 November 1031), better known by his regnal name al-Qadir (, , ), was the Abbasid caliph in Baghdad from 991 to 1031. Born as an Abbasid prince outside the main line of succession, al-Qad ...

in 991.

Biography

Ishaq was the son of Caliph

() from the concubine Dimna. Ishaq was born in Baghdad and he spent most of his life there. Ishaq had a tragic childhood. Al-Muqtadir was assassinated when Ishaq was very young. After his father's death his uncle

became caliph even though his father had already nominated his elder half-brother Abu al-Abbas (the future

). His uncle was supported by some army commanders because they didn't want to be executed for al-Muqtadir's murder by his sons. Ishaq had inherited some of the inheritance on his father's death. His uncle, al-Qahir, rule from 932 until 934, when he refused to abdicate in favour of

(), he was blinded and cast into prison. Al-Radi died in 940 and was succeeded by his brother,

, who in turn was succeeded by his cousin

in 944. Al-Mustakfi was hostile towards al-Muqtadir's surviving sons, but was deposed by the

Buyid The Buyid dynasty or Buyid Empire was a Zaydi and later Twelver Shi'a dynasty of Daylamite origin. Founded by Imad al-Dawla, they mainly ruled over central and southern Iran and Iraq from 934 to 1062. Coupled with the rise of other Iranian dyna ...

ruler

Mu'izz al-Dawla Ahmad ibn Buya (Persian language, Persian: احمد بن بویه, died April 8, 967), after 945 better known by his ''laqab'' of Mu'izz al-Dawla (, "Fortifier al-Dawla, of the Dynasty"), was the first of the Buyid emirs of Iraq (region), Iraq, ...

in 946 and was succeeded by

, a son of al-Muqtadir. Ishaq spent his life as a junior courtier in his brother's court. During al-Muti's reign it was expected that he would be succeeded by one of his brothers (especially Ishaq) however he nominated his son

al-Ta'i Abu Bakr ʿAbd al-Karīm ibn al-Faḍl (; 932 – 3 August 1003), better known by his regnal name al-Ṭāʾiʿ liʾllāh/biʾllāh (), was the Abbasid caliph of Baghdad from 974 to his deposition in 991. He was in office during the domination of ...

as heir. With his wife, called Tamanni, Ishaq had a son, Ahmad, the future

. Ahmad received a good education; he is recorded as having collected

Shafi'i The Shafi'i school or Shafi'i Madhhab () or Shafi'i is one of the four major schools of fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence), belonging to the Ahl al-Hadith tradition within Sunni Islam. It was founded by the Muslim scholar, jurist, and traditionis ...

works on jurisprudence () by Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Harawi. Ishaq also had a daughter named Amina.

Death and aftermath

When Ishaq died in March 988, his son Ahmad quarreled with his half-sister, Amina, over the inheritance. She reported him to their cousin, caliph

(), as seeking to replace him as caliph. To escape capture, Ahmad went into hiding for a while, before seeking refuge with the governor of the swamps of Bathihah near

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 ...

, Muhadhdhib al-Dawla, for about three years.

References

Sources

* * * * * {{cite encyclopedia , last = Zetterstéen , first = K. V. , author-link = Karl Vilhelm Zetterstéen , title = al-Ḳāhir Bi 'llāh , encyclopedia = E.J. Brill's first encyclopaedia of Islam, 1913–1936, Volume IV: 'Itk–Kwaṭṭa , editor-first = Martijn Theodoor , editor-last = Houtsma , publisher = Brill, location = Leiden , year = 1987 , isbn = 978-90-04-08265-6 , page = 627, doi = 10.1163/2214-871X_ei1_SIM_3803 910s births 988 deaths Sons of Abbasid caliphs 10th-century people from the Abbasid Caliphate 10th-century Arab people Arab Muslims