Al-Muntasir

Al-Muntasir
Dirham of al-Muntasir minted in Samarra in 862
11th Caliph of the Abbasid Caliphate
Reign	861 to 862
Predecessor	al-Mutawakkil
Successor	al-Musta'in
Born	837
Died	25 June 862
Dynasty	Abbasid
Father	al-Mutawakkil
Religion	Islam

Abu Ja'far Muhammad (Arabic: أبو جعفر محمد‎‎; 837 – 25 June 862), better known by his regnal title al-Muntasir bi-llah (المنتصر بالله, "He who triumphs in God") was the Abbasid caliph in Baghdad from 861 to 862, during the "Anarchy at Samarra".

Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari records that in A.H. 236 (850-851) al-Muntasir led a pilgrimage. The previous year al-Mutawakkil had named his three sons as heirs and seemed to favour al-Muntasir. However, afterwards this seemed to change and al-Muntasir feared his father was going to move against him. So, he decided to strike first. Al-Mutawakkil was killed by a Turkish soldier on December 11, 861.

On that same day as the assassination, Al-Muntasir succeeded smoothly to the throne of the Caliphate with the support of the Turkish faction. The Turkish party then prevailed on al-Muntasir to remove his brothers from the succession, fearing they would seek to revenge his involvement in the murder of their father. In their place, he was to appoint his son as heir-apparent. On 27 April 862 both brothers, although al-Mu'tazz did so after some hesitation, wrote statements of abdication.

Al-Muntasir was lauded because, unlike his father, he loved the house of ʻAlī (Shīʻa) and removed the ban on pilgrimage to the tombs of Hassan and Hussayn. He sent Wasif to raid the Byzantines.

Al-Muntasir's reign lasted less than half a year; it ended with his death of unknown causes on 7–8 June 862. There are various accounts of the illness that led to his death, including that he was bled with a poisoned lancet. Al-Tabari (p. 222-3) states that al-Muntasir is the first Abbasid whose tomb is known, that it was made public by his mother, a Greek slave-girl and that earlier caliphs desired their tombs to be kept secret for fear of desecration. Joel L. Kraemer in his translation of al-Tabari notes on page 223:

"'Ayni comments, citing al-Sibt (b. al-Jawzi), that Tabari's statement here is surprising since the tombs of the Abbasid caliphs are in fact known, e.g., the tomb of al-Saffah is in Anbar beneath the minbar; and those of al-Mahdi in Masabadhan, Harun in Tus, al-Ma'mun in Tarsis, and al-Mu'tasim, al-Wathiq and al-Mu'tawakkil in Samarra."

Bibliography

• William Muir, The Caliphate: Its Rise, Decline, and Fall.

Al-Muntasir Abbasid Born: 837 Died: 862
Sunni Islam titles
Preceded by Al-Mutawakkil	Caliph of Islam 861–862	Succeeded by Al-Musta'in