Al-Musta'sim: Difference between revisions

Abu Ahmad Abdallah (future caliph '''Al-Musta'sim''') was a son of the Abbasid caliph [[al-Mustansir I|al-Mustansir]], and his mother was Hajir.<ref>{{cite book | last1=Rizvi | first1=Sayyid Saeed Akhtar | last2=Shou | first2=Salman | title=Utumwa: Mtazamo wa Kiislamu na wa Nchi za Magharibi | publisher=Al-Itrah Foundation | year=2005 | isbn=978-9987-9022-4-8 | page=64}}</ref> He was born in 1213. After the death of his father, al-Musta'sim succeeded to the throne in late 1242.

 

 

News of the [[Assassination|murder]] of [[al-Muazzam Turanshah]] and the inauguration of Shajar al-Durr as the new Sultan reached Syria. The Syrian Emirs were asked to pay homage to Shajar al-Durr but they refused and the Sultan's deputy in Al Karak rebelled against Cairo.<ref>{{harvnb|al-Maqrizi|1997}}, p.462/vol.1</ref> The Syrian Emirs in Damascus gave the city to [[an-Nasir Yusuf]] the Ayyubid Emir of [[Aleppo]] and the Mamluks in Cairo responded by arresting the Emirs who were loyal to the Ayyubids in Egypt.<ref>a-Maqrizi,pp.462-463/vol.1</ref> In addition to the Ayyubids in Syria, the ''Abbasid caliph'' al-Musta'sim in Baghdad also rejected the Mamluk move in Egypt and refused to recognize Shajar al-Dur as a Sultan.<ref>The Abbasid Caliph al-Musta'sim sent a message from Baghdad to the Mamluks in Egypt that said: "If you do not have men there tell us so we can send you men." – ({{harvnb|al-Maqrizi|1997}}, p.464/vol1)</ref><ref>In Egypt there was also objection from people who did not like Shajar al-Durr allowing Louis IX to depart from Egypt alive</ref> The refusal of the Caliph to recognize Shajar al-Durr as the new Sultan was a great setback to the Mamluks in Egypt as the custom during the Ayyubid era was that the Sultan could gain legitimacy only through the recognition of the Abbasid Caliph.<ref name="Shayyal, p.115/vol.2">Shayyal, p.115/vol.2</ref><ref>Despite the fact that the Ayyubids ruled as independent monarchs, they were spiritually royal to the Abbasid [[Caliphate]] It took the Mamluks some years till they could adjust this point. In 1258 the Abbasid Caliphate was destroyed with Baghdad by the Mongols. During the reign of Sultan [[Baibars]] a puppet Abbasid Caliphate was installed in Egypt which gave the Mamlukes full independence and freedom from any external power ( Shayyal, p.109/vol.2 )</ref> The Mamluks, therefore, decided to install Izz al-Din Aybak as a new Sultan. He married Shajar al-Durr who abdicated and passed the throne to him after she had ruled Egypt as sultan for about three months.<ref>{{harvnb|al-Maqrizi|1997}}, p.463/vol.1</ref> Though the period of Shajar al-Durr's rule as a sultan was of short duration, it witnessed two important events in history: one, the expelling of [[Louis IX of France|Louis IX]] from Egypt, which marked the end of the Crusaders' ambition to conquer the southern [[Mediterranean basin]]; and two, the death of the Ayyubid dynasty and the birth of the Mamluk state which dominated the southern Mediterranean for decades.