Ibrahim ibn al-Mahdi

Ibrahim ibn al-Mahdi إبراهيم بن المهدي
Born	779 Baghdad, Abbasid Caliphate
Died	839 Baghdad/Samarra, Abbasid Caliphate
Spouse	Umm Muhammad (divorced) Bid'ah Rayyiq Shāriyah Khishf Shaja
Names Ibrahim ibn Muhammad al-Mahd ibn Abdallah al-Mansur
Dynasty	Abbasid
Father	Al-Mahdi
Mother	Shakla
Religion	Islam
Occupation	Singer, Composer, Arabic poet

Ibrāhīm ibn al-Mahdī (Arabic: إبراهيم بن المهدي; 779–839) was an Abbasid prince, singer, composer and poet. He was the son of the third Abbasid caliph, al-Mahdi, and the half-brother of the poet and musician Ulayya. Ibrahim was contemporary of Abbasid caliph al-Hadi, al-Rashid and his three nephews caliph al-Amin, al-Ma'mun, al-Mu'tasim.

Biography

Ibrahim was the son of Abbasid caliph al-Mahdi, he was born during the Caliphate of his father. His full name was Ibrahim ibn Muhammad al-Mahd ibn Abdallah al-Mansur.

Ibrahim's mother was Shaklah, a Negress. Her father was Khwanadan, steward of Masmughan. She had a brother named Humayd. She was acquired by Al-Mahdi together with Al-Bahtariyah, when she was a child. He presented her to his concubine Muhayyat, who, discovering a musical talent in the child, sent her to the famous school of Taif in the Hijaz for a thorough musical education. Years later Al-Mahdi, then caliph, took her as his concubine. She gave birth to Al-Mahdi's powerful and dark-skinned son Ibrahim.

Umm Muhammad was the daughter of Salih al-Miskin and Umm Abdullah bint Isa ibn Ali. She married Harun in November-December 803 in Al-Raqqah. She had been formerly been married to Ibrahim, who had repudiated her.

During the Fourth Fitna, Ibrahim was proclaimed caliph on 20 July 817 by the people of Baghdad, who gave him the regnal name of al-Mubarak (Arabic: المبارك) and declared his reigning nephew al-Ma'mun deposed. Ibrahim received the allegiance of the Hashemites. He had to resign in 819, and spent the rest of his life as a poet and a musician. He is remembered as "one of the most gifted musicians of his day, with a phenomenal vocal range", and a promoter of the then innovative 'Persian style' of song, 'which was characterized inter alia by redundant improvisation'.

Ibrahim died in 839 during the Caliphate of his younger nephew al-Mu'tasim.

Siblings

Ibrahim was related to several Abbasid caliphs. He was also contemporary to several Abbasid caliphs, princess and princesses. Ibrahim was at one point married to Abbasid princess Umm Muhammad.

No.	Abbasids	Relation
1	Musa al-Hadi	Half-brother
2	Harun al-Rashid	Half-brother
3	Abbasa bint al-Mahdi	Half-sister
4	Ubaydallah ibn al-Mahdi	Half-brother
5	Ulayya bint al-Mahdi	Half-sister
6	Banuqa bint al-Mahdi	Half-sister
7	Mansur ibn al-Mahdi	Half-brother
8	Aliyah bint al-Mahdi	Half-sister
9	Ali ibn al-Mahdi	Half-brother
10	Abdallah ibn al-Mahdi	Half-brother
11	Isa ibn al-Mahdi	Half-brother

Sources

• Abbott, Nabia (1946). Two Queens of Baghdad: Mother and Wife of Hārūn Al Rashīd. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0-86356-031-6.
• Kilpatrick, H. (1998). Meisami, Julie Scott; Starkey, Paul (eds.). Encyclopedia of Arabic Literature. Vol. 1. Taylor & Francis. p. 387. ISBN 978-0-415-18571-4.
• Al-Tabari; John Alden Williams (1988). Al-̣Tabarī: Volume 1, The Reign of Abū Ja'Far Al-Maṇsūr A. D. 754-775: The Early ‛Abbāsī Empire. Al-Tabari. the Early Abbasi Empire. Cambridge University Press. p. 46. ISBN 978-0-521-32662-9.
• al-Tabari, Muhammad Ibn Yarir; Bosworth, Clifford Edmund (1989). The History of al-Tabari Vol. 30: The 'Abbasid Caliphate in Equilibrium: The Caliphates of Musa al-Hadi and Harun al-Rashid A.D. 785-809/A.H. 169-193. Bibliotheca Persica. State University of New York Press. ISBN 978-0-88706-564-4.
• Fishbein, Michael (2015). The History of al-Tabari Vol. 31: The War between Brothers: The Caliphate of Muhammad al-Amin A.D. 809-813/A.H. 193-198. SUNY series in Near Eastern Studies. State University of New York Press. p. 187. ISBN 978-1-4384-0289-5.