Abdallah II of Ifriqiya explained

Abu 'l-Abbas Abdallah II
أبو العباس عبد الله
Emir of Ifriqiya
(902 – 27 July 903)
Predecessor:Ibrahim II ibn Ahmad
Successor:Abu Mudhar Ziyadat Allah III
Death Date:27 July 903
Full Name:Abu al-Abbas Abdallah ibn Ibrahim ibn Ahmad ibn Muhammad
Issue:Abbas,
Ziyadat Allah
Issue-Type:Children
Father:Ibrahim ibn Ahmad
Spouse:unknown
House:Aghlabid
Module:
Embed:yes
Serviceyears:c. 890–902

Abu 'l-Abbas Abdallah II (Abū l-ʿAbbās ʿAbd Allāh; died 27 July 903) was the Emir of Ifriqiya from 902 to 903.

Mounting reports of the cruel atrocities of his father Ibrahim II made their way to Baghdad, prompting the Abbasid Caliph al-Mu'tadid to finally react. The Caliph dispatched a messenger who arrived in Tunis in late 901/early 902 with his written instructions. Citing the mistreatment of his subjects, the Caliph recalled Ibrahim II to Baghdad and deprived him of the governorship of Ifriqiya, appointing in his stead his son Abu al-Abbas Abdallah (then on campaign in Sicily).

Surprisingly, Ibrahim II dutifully accepted the news without objection. With apparently genuine repentance, donning the garments of a penitent and declaring a pious change of heart, Ibrahim II remitted tributes, abolished illegal taxes, opened his jails, manumitted his slaves, and delivered a large chunk of his treasury to the jurists of Kairouan to distribute to the needy. Ibrahim II abdicated his power to his son Abu al-Abbas Abdallah, who returned from Sicily in February–March 902 to assume title as the new emir Abdallah.[1]

Abdallah took over the Emirate after his father Abu Ishaq Ibrahim II was forced to abdicate after a tyrannical rule. He immediately set about trying to reduce the autonomy of the Kutama Berbers in order to stop the Ismailite mission of Abu 'Abdullah al-Shi'i, but without success. An effort to replace the Malikite law schools with Hanifites from Iraq also failed. Abdullah was murdered by his son Abu Muda Ziyadat Allah in 903[2] [3] in order to secure his throne.

Notes and References

  1. Amari (1858: v.2, p.76)
  2. Book: Melton, J. Gordon . Faiths across Time [4 volumes]

    5,000 Years of Religious History [4 volumes] ]

    . 2014-01-15 . Bloomsbury Publishing USA . 978-1-61069-026-3 . en.
  3. Abun-Nasr, 1987