The Economic Role of the Caliphs' Sons in Egypt (132-232 AH / 750-847 CE)-.
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Abstract
First: Their Participation in Managing Funds, Endowments, and Grants
Second: Their Influence on Wealth Distribution and Public Spending
Section One: The Economic Role of the Caliphs' Sons
After the Abbasids seized power and the caliphate, wealth became the ultimate goal and objective of the caliphate, a tool they used to gain the loyalty of commanders and subjects. When Abu al-Abbas al-Saffah addressed the people of Kufa, he said: "God has brought you our state, so you are the happiest and most honored people in our eyes. I have increased your stipends by one hundred dirhams, so prepare yourselves, for I am al-Saffah, the one who permits bloodshed and the avenger who destroys." The Abbasids displayed extreme zeal and keen interest in accumulating and hoarding wealth to secure their state and the stability of its institutions. Consequently, matters were controlled by them and dictated by their whims. Caliph Abu Ja'far al-Mansur adopted a serious and decisive financial policy. In his sermon in Baghdad on the Day of Arafah, al-Mansur said: "O people, I am but God's sovereign on His earth, ruling you with His guidance and support. I am His treasurer of His treasury, acting according to His will, distributing it according to His desire, and giving it by His permission. God has made me a lock upon it; if He wills to open me for your stipends, the distribution of your treasury, and your provisions, He will open me; and if He wills to close me..."
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References
(1 ) Al-Tabari, History of the Prophets and Kings, vol. 7, p. 426.
( 2) Surah Al-Ma'idah, part of verse 3.
( 3) Al-Tabari, History of the Prophets and Kings, vol. 8, p. 89.
( 4) He is Ismail ibn Ali ibn Abdullah ibn Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib ibn Hashim ibn Abd Manaf, Abu al-Hasan al-Hashimi (d. 147 AH/764 CE), the uncle of al-Saffah and al-Mansur. He was with them at al-Humaymah and went out with them when they went out to seek the caliphate. He was appointed governor of the Hajj season in the year 137 AH during the caliphate of al-Mansur and was governor of Basra. Ibn Asakir, History of Damascus, vol. 9, p. 24; al-Dhahabi, History of Islam, vol. 3, p. 818.
( 5) Ibn Khayyat, History of Khalifa ibn Khayyat, p. 127. ( ) He is Sulayman ibn Ali ibn Abdullah ibn Abbas (d. 142 AH/759 CE): The Abbasid prince, uncle of al-Saffah and al-Mansur, one of the most generous and praised men. Al-Saffah appointed him governor of Basra and its surrounding districts, the Tigris region, Bahrain, and Oman in 133 AH. He remained there until al-Mansur dismissed him in 139 AH. He stayed in Basra until his death. Ibn Khayyat, Tarikh Khalifa ibn Khayyat, p. 127; al-Dhahabi, Tarikh al-Islam, vol. 3, p. 882.
( 6) He is Isa ibn Musa ibn Muhammad al-Abbasi (d. 167 AH/783 CE): The Abbasid prince, nephew of al-Saffah. He resided in Kufa until his death. Ibn Asakir, Tarikh Dimashq, vol. 48, p. 7; al-Dhahabi, Siyar A'lam al-Nubala', vol. 7, p. 434. ( ) He is Salih ibn Ali ibn Abdullah ibn Abbas al-Hashimi (d. 151 AH/768 CE): Uncle of al-Saffah and al-Mansur, and the first Abbasid caliph to govern Egypt. He pursued Marwan ibn Muhammad when he fled from Syria and killed him at Busir in 132 AH. Al-Saffah then appointed him governor of Egypt in early 133 AH. He died in Qinnasrin. (Ibn Asakir, Tarikh Dimashq, vol. 23, p. 357;
(8)al-Dhahabi, Siyar A'lam al-Nubala', vol. 7, p. 18).
( 9) He is al-Abbas ibn Muhammad ibn Ali ibn Abdullah ibn Abbas (d. 186 AH/802 CE): Brother of al-Mansur and al-Saffah. Al-Mansur appointed him governor of Damascus and all of Syria. He also served as governor of al-Jazira during the reign of Harun al-Rashid. Al-Mansur sent him to conquer the Byzantines with sixty thousand men. (al-Khatib al-Baghdadi, Tarikh Baghdad, vol. 14, p. 5;
(10) Ibn Asakir, Tarikh Dimashq, vol. 26, p. 394).
(11 ) He is Abdullah ibn Salih ibn Ali ibn Abdullah ibn Abbas (d. 186 AH): He was with his father in al-Humayma in the Sharah region of Balqa. Al-Rashid appointed him governor of al-Awasim in the year 98 AH. (Al-Khatib al-Baghdadi, vol. 11, p. 152; Ibn Asakir, Tarikh Dimashq, vol. 29, p. 178).
( 12) He is al-Fadl ibn Salih ibn Ali ibn Abdullah ibn Abbas (d. 172 AH/788 CE): Al-Mansur appointed him to lead the Hajj pilgrimage in the year 138 AH. He was appointed governor of Egypt by al-Mahdi at the end of the year 168 AH while he was in Iraq. His governorship lasted less than a year. He was appointed governor of Damascus, where he renovated the gates of its mosque and the dome in its courtyard. (Ibn Asakir, Tarikh Dimashq, vol. 48, p. 317).
(13 ) He is Muhammad ibn Imam Ibrahim ibn Muhammad ibn Ali ibn Abdullah ibn al-Abbas al-Hashimi (d. 185 AH): He was appointed governor of Damascus by his cousin al-Mahdi, then by al-Rashid, and he was also in charge of Mecca and the Hajj season. He was a man of great importance and was considered a potential successor to the caliphate. Al-Dhahabi, Siyar A'lam al-Nubala', vol. 9, p. 88. ( ) He is Abd al-Wahhab ibn Ibrahim al-Imam ibn Muhammad, from the Banu Abbas (d. 157 AH/774 CE). His uncle, al-Mansur, sent him in 140 AH with seventy thousand men to Malatya, and sent al-Hasan ibn Qahtaba with him. The Byzantines feared them, and they rebuilt Malatya after it had been destroyed by the Franks. He performed the Hajj in 146 AH and led the summer campaigns in 15 AH and 152 AH. He died in Baghdad. (Ibn Khayyat, Tarikh Khalifa, p. 123; Ibn Asakir, Tarikh Dimashq, vol. 37, p. 299).
( 14) He is al-Sari ibn Abd Allah ibn al-Harith ibn al-Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib. Al-Mansur appointed him governor of al-Yamamah and also made him deputy governor of Mecca. (Ibn Khayyat, Tarikh Khalifa, p. 122; Ibn Kathir, al-Bidaya wa al-Nihaya, vol. 13, p. 386).
(15 ) He is Ja`far ibn Sulayman ibn Ali ibn Abdullah ibn Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib (d. 175 AH): He was a generous and praiseworthy man, a learned and virtuous scholar, and one of those described as courageous and chivalrous. He was born in al-Sharah in Balqa, and he held the governorship of the Hijaz and the governorship of Basra. Al-Dhahabi, Siyar, vol. 8, p. 239;
(16)Al-Dhahabi, Tarikh al-Islam, vol. 4, p. 593.
(17 ) He is Yahya ibn Muhammad ibn Ali ibn Abdullah ibn Abbas (d. 135 AH/752 CE): brother of al-Saffah and al-Mansur. He was among those who supported the Umayyads. When the Abbasids rose to power, al-Saffah appointed him governor of Mosul, then transferred him to the governorship of Fars, where he remained until his death. Ibn Asakir, Tarikh Dimashq, vol. 64, p. 366.
( 18) Al-Tabari, Tarikh al-Rusul wa al-Muluk, vol. 8, pp. 25-26.
( 19) Muruj al-Dhahab, vol. 3, p. 218.
(20 ) Al-Daniq: a thief (metaphorically). Al-Daniq: one-sixth of a dinar or dirham. Al-Tabari, Tarikh al-Rusul wa al-Muluk, vol. 7, p. 619;
(21) al-Zubaidi, Taj al-Arus, vol. 25, p. 310.
( 22) Tarikh al-Rusul wa al-Muluk, vol. 7, p. 655.
( 23) Al-Dinawari, Al-Akhbar al-Tiwal, p. 326.
( 24) Al-Tabari, History of the Prophets and Kings, vol. 8, p. 85.
(25 ) Al-Tabari, History of the Prophets and Kings, vol. 8, p. 26.
(26 ) Qati'at Risana is located near Bab al-Sha'ir in western Baghdad. Al-Hamawi, Mu'jam al-Buldan, vol. 4, p. 377.
( 27) Hilana, with a fatha on the ha' and a silent ya', followed by an alif and a nun, is the name of the steward of al-Mansur, the Commander of the Faithful. She held a high position with him, and it is said that she was named Hilana because she frequently said "Hiya al-an" (I am now) when she urged someone to do something quickly. She dug this basin on the eastern side and made it public, so it was named after her. At Bab al-Mahwal on the eastern side are fiefs granted to Hilana by al-Mansur. Al-Hamawi, Mu'jam al-Buldan, vol. 2, p. 320.
( 28) Al-Hamawi, Mu'jam al-Buldan, vol. 2, p. 320.
( 29) Al-Ya'qubi, Tarikh al-Ya'qubi, vol. 2, p. 466.
( 30) Al-Dhahabi, Shams al-Din Muhammad ibn Ahmad, Duwal al-Islam, Dar Ihya al-Turath al-Islami, Qatar, 1988, vol. 1, p. 101.
( 31) Ibn Kathir, Al-Bidaya wa'l-Nihaya, vol. 13, p. 408.
( 32) Al-Wuzara' wa'l-Kuttab, edited by Mustafa al-Saqqa et al., 2nd ed., Matba'at al-Babi al-Halabi, Cairo, 1980, p. 146.
( 33) Al-Kamil fi'l-Tarikh, vol. 5, p. 151.
( 34) Al-Tabari, Tarikh al-Rusul wa'l-Muluk, vol. 8, p. 25.
( 35) Ibn Kathir, Al-Bidaya wa'l-Nihaya, vol. 13, p. 479..