Al-Hadi

Al-Hadi was born in 759 or 762^[a] as the eldest son of al-Mahdi and al-Khayzuran bint Atta. He had three full-siblings; Harun,^[4] Isa,^[5] and a sister Banuqah (or Banujah).^[6] His mother was born in Mecca and brought up in Jurash.^[7] She had two sisters, Salsal bint Atta^[8] and Asma bint Atta,^[5] and a brother Ghitrif ibn Atta.^[8] She was al-Mahdi's favorite wife, and he consulted her on matters of defense and administration. Officers and clerics approached her to get favors from the caliph, and petitioners regularly gathered outside her residence. Her influence in public and political life increased gradually from interferer and decisive incursions during her husband's reign to more powerful and wider ones during the reigns of her two sons.^[9] Al-Hadi also had an elder-half sister Abbasa, two other half-sisters Ulayya and Aliyah, and several half-brothers; Ubaydallah, Ibrahim, Mansur, Ali, and Abdallah.

Al-Hadi was appointed as the first crown prince by his father at the age of 16 and was chosen as the leader of the army.^[10] Prior to his death, al-Mahdi supposedly favored his second son Harun as his successor, taking him on multiple military expeditions in 779 and 781 to train him to be the next caliph, as his own father prepared him, but died before the formal transfer of the crown prince title could occur. In addition, based on her actions during al-Hadi's rule, Khayzuran might have also played a role in this. Alternatively, al-Rashid was a general and may have accompanied his father to war in this role.

His father, Al-Mahdi give military commands to al-Hadi in 167 AH / 783-784 CE. Caliph al-Mahdi sent his heir apparent Musa al-Hadi and Yazid ibn Mazyad al-Shaybani to Tabaristan. In 168/784–785, the new army was reinforced by Sa'id al-Harishi with 40,000 soldiers. Yazid al-Shaybani defeated Wandad Hurmuzd in a decisive battle in which Wandad Hurmuzd himself was wounded. The large number of Abbasid troops and Yazid al-Shaybani's military capability compelled Wandad Hurmuzd to surrender to Musa in Gorgan, on the condition of a pardon that his influence in Tabaristan would not be harmed. In return, he pledged to cease stirring up disturbances and attacking Abbasid garrisons.^{[11][12][13][14]} Musa al-Hadi took Wandad Hurmuzd with him to Baghdad, but al-Hadi delayed his return to Baghdad after he heard of the conspiracies being woven against him to remove him from the succession and transfer it to his brother Harun al-Rashid. al-Hadi did not return to Baghdad until he heard of his father al-Mahdi's death, whereupon he was proclaimed Caliph of the Muslims.^[15]

In August 785, Al-Mahdi died unexpectedly during an expedition with his son Harun, who rushed back to Baghdad to inform his mother. To secure the succession for her son al-Hadi, who was not in the capital, she called the viziers and had them pay the army wages to secure order, and swear allegiance to al-Hadi as caliph in his absence. She held control until al-Hadi returned to Baghdad, and ascended to the throne, with his brother Harun al-Rashid becoming his crown prince. This was a point of contention for al-Hadi as he spent the majority of his rule attempting to wrest the title of crown prince from Harun and install his young son Ja'far in his place. al-Hadi's attempts to convince Harun to resign from his title lead to the latter leaving the capital, and not returning till al-Hadi's death. al-Hadi's attempts also created conflict between him and his mother Khayzuran, who was in favor of Harun being the successor.^[16]

Al-Hadi was considered an "enlightened ruler" by his constituents and continued the "progressive" moves of his Abbasids predecessor. Like his father he was very open to the people of his empire and allowed citizens to visit him in the palace at Baghdad to address him. He was physically strong and famous for his bravery and talent in government and generosity. However, he was cruel, daring and zealous. Al-Hadi was especially malevolent to non-Muslim citizens, as he continued his father's persecutions and quashed multiple internal uprisings. He crushed a Kharijite rebellion, repelled a Byzantine invasion and seized some territory in the process.^[17]

Al-Hadi appointed Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz ibn Abdallah as governor of Medina in 785 and he remained in office (785–786) throughout al-Hadi's reign.^[18]

Also during his reign, al-Hadi appointed his paternal uncle Sulayman ibn Abi Ja'far as the Amir al-Hajj to led the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca.^[19]

Al-Hadi was also notorious for his cruelty and persecution of the Alids and the Shia, he imposed further restrictions on the Alids and the remaining descendants of the Umayyad caliphate, and treated them cruelly. He cut all the allowances al-Mahdi previously assigned them due to fear of an Alid uprising.^[20] He ordered his agents to watch all 'Alids' activities and place some spies among them^[21] and ordered them to register their presence daily with local authority. In 786, the Alids of Hijaz led by Ali ibn Husayn staged an uprising in response to these conditions. They gained control of Medina, released prisoners, imprisoned Abbasid agents, and made Masjid al-Nabi his command center. Then, they set out to Makkah, were denied entry by its people and forced to confront the Abbasid army led by al-Hadi in the valley of Fakhkh, whereupon Ali ibn Husayn and his companions were defeated and killed at the Battle of Fakhkh. This event became famous, and ibn Husayn became known as Shahid Fakhkh (the martyr of Fakhkh). However, ibn Husayn's cousin, Idris bin Abdallah, escaped to Morocco aided by Wadih, an Egyptian postal manager. After the event of Fakh, al-Hadi accused Alid Musa ibn Ja'far al-Husayni al-Hashmi, one of his brother's advocates, of provoking the revolutionaries. He arrested the Alid and sentenced him to execution, but died before he could implement his decision.

There was no wanting for internal conflicts as well. At al-Mahdi's untimely death, Al-Khayzuran, his mother, reportedly wished to continue to engage in politics as she had become accustomed to during al-Mahdi's reign: "Khayzuran wanted to dominate her son. She continued to give audiences in her chambers and discuss state affairs:

"She continued to monopolize decision-making without consulting him (al-Hadi), she behaved as she had before, during the reign of al-Mahdi, people came and went through her door. She used to exercise her authority over him in all his affairs without consulting him at all, assuming sole control over matters of ordaining and forbidding, just as she had done previously with his father."^{[citation needed]}

In the first months of al-Hadi's short reign as caliph, he allowed his mother to implement the same political freedoms his father allowed and al-Hadi was in full submission to his mother, Khayzuran. He responded positively to all the requests and demands coming to her, and when she talked to officials and other audiences and made decisions and only reported her decisions to him, he did not object and approved them. Al-Khayzuran took advantage of the fact that al-Hadi never rejected her personal request, and disguised her friends desires and the supplicants who come to her as her own in order to obtain what they wanted. It eventually came to the point in which petitioners lined up at Khayzuran's gate in order to attain their own goals and even letters from all the provinces were sent to her court to report the affairs to her and ask her for favors for themselves, and al- Hadi heard of how his officers and governors used to go to his mother Khayzuran in hopes that what they wanted from him would be done through her words. However, al-Hadi, began to oppose her participation in state affairs; he felt she overreached, and over time he retaliated against his mother's political power. He was not inclined to allow her displays of authority and attempted to exclude her from politics. After a serious incident, he told her:

"Do not overstep the essential limits of womanly modesty and overdo in person the role of the generous donor. It is not dignified for women to enter upon affairs of state. It is not in the power of women to intervene ... in matters of sovereignty. Look to your prayers and your prayer beads."^{[citation needed]}

The harem system first became fully institutionalized in the Islamic World under the Abbasid caliphate,^[22] when the Abbasid harem was established.^[23] At this point, however, Muslim women had not yet been fully secluded from society in a harem.

The growing seclusion of women and decline of women's rights that would permeate the Abbasid Caliphate and the region's latter nations were illustrated by the power struggle between the Caliph al-Hadi and his mother al-Khayzuran, who refused to live in seclusion but instead challenged the power of the Caliph by giving her own audiences to male supplicants and officials and thus mixing with men.^[24] Her son considered this improper, and he publicly addressed the issue of his mothers public life by assembling his generals and asked them:

'Who is the better among us, you or me?' asked Caliph al-Hadi of his audience.

'Obviously you are the better, Commander of the Faithful,' the assembly replied.

'And whose mother is the better, mine or yours?' continued the caliph.

'Your mother is the better, Commander of the Faithful.'

'Who among you', continued al-Hadi, 'would like to have men spreading news about your mother?'

'No one likes to have his mother talked about,' responded those present.

'Then why do men go to my mother to speak to her?'^[25]

Al-Khayzuran would not be oppressed or silenced, much to al-Hadi's chagrin. The conflict was finally exposed in public when she interceded in favor of a supplicant, Abdallah ibn Malik, and publicly demanded a reply from her son, who lost his temper and openly yelled at her and they both discussed:

Khayzuran: You must meet my request.

al-Hadi: I will not do it.

Khayzuran: I already assured the chief of police that it will be done.

al-Hadi: He is a son of a harlot. I will not do it for him.

Khayzuran: Then I will never ask you for any more favours.

al-Hadi: I do not care.

al-Hadi continued:"Wait a moment and listen well to my words.. Whoever from among my entourage - my generals, my servants - comes to you with a petition will have his head cut off and his property confiscated. What is the meaning of those retinues that throng around your door every day? Don't you have a spindle to keep you busy, a Koran for praying, a residence in which to hide from those besieging you? Watch yourself, and woe to you if you open your mouth in favour of anyone at all."

Khayzuran departed in absolute anger, and never had any words with him again, sweet or bitter. This situation between the royal mother and her son was never resolved and it remained an open wound. Al-Tabari says others refer to al-Hadi's overtures to Harun. One account al-Tabari cites has al-Hadi attempting to poison his mother:

"Yahya b. al-Hasan related that his father transmitted the information to him, saying: I heard Kalisah telling al-'Abbas b. al-Fadl b. al-Rabi that Musa sent to his mother al-Khayzuran a dish of rice, saying, "I found this tasty and accordingly ate some of it, so you have some too!" Khalisah related: But I said to her, "Don't touch it until you investigate further, for I am afraid that it might contain something to your detriment." So they brought in a dog; it ate some and fell down dead. Musa sent to al-Khayzuran afterwards and said, "How did you like the dish of rice?" She replied, "I enjoyed it very much." He said, "You can't have eaten it, because if you had, I would have been rid of you. When was any Caliph happy who had a mother (still alive)?" (v. 30 pp. 43–44)

Al-Hadi moved his capital from Baghdad to Haditha shortly before his death.^[26]

Al-Hadi had two wives. One was Lubabah, the daughter of Ja'far, son of Caliph al-Mansur. The second was Ubaidah, daughter of Ghitrif ibn Atta and thus the niece of Al-Khayzuran bint Atta (Ghitrif ibn Atta's sister).^[27] One of his concubines was Ghadir also known as Amat-al-Aziz, who had belonged to Rabi ibn Yunus, the powerful and ambitious chamberlain of caliphs al-Mansur and al-Mahdi. She was first presented to al-Mahdi, who, inturn presented her to al-Hadi. She was his favourite concubine, and bore him his two oldest sons.^[28] After al-Hadi's death Harun al-Rashid married her.^[29] Another concubine was Rahim, who was the mother of his son, Ja'far.^[28] Another concubine was Hilanah. After al-Hadi's death, she became a concubine of his brother Harun al-Rashid.^[30] His other sons were al-Abbas, Abdallah, Ishaq, Isma'il, Sulayman and Musa. Of the two daughters, one was Umm Isa, who married Caliph al-Mamun, and the other was Umm al-Abbas, who was nicknamed Nunah.^[31] All of them were born of concubines.^[28] His two sons, Isma'il and Ja'far married Harun-Rashid's daughters, Hamdunah and Fatimah respectively.^[32]

Al-Hadi died in Baghdad in September 786, after ruling for over an year. His brother, Harun al-Rashid, performed his funeral prayer. He was buried in 'Isa Abad. Al-Tabari notes varying accounts of this death, including an abdominal ulcer or assassination prompted by al-Hadi's own mother. According to a note in the SUNY translation of al-Tabari, the Kitab al-'Uyun reports that al-Khayzuran feared al-Hadi would recover from his illness and therefore had slave girls suffocate him. The note further observes that al-Tabari records al-Hadi's assertion of independence from his mother, his prohibition of her involvement in public affairs, and his threats to Harun's succession, concluding that "his death appears as too opportune for so many people concerned that it should have been a natural one."^[51] The famous Muslim historian Ibn Khaldun discredited this claim, however.^[52]

The historian al-Tabari notes varying accounts of al-Hadi's death, e.g. an abdominal ulcer or assassination prompted by al-Hadi's own mother.

Al-Hadi was succeeded by his younger brother, Harun al-Rashid. Upon his accession, Harun led Friday prayers in Baghdad's Great Mosque and then sat publicly as officials and the layman alike lined up to swear allegiance and declare their happiness at his ascent to Amir al-Mu'minin.^[53] He began his reign by appointing very able ministers, who carried on the work of the government so well that they greatly improved the condition of the people.^[54]

• Al-Fadl ibn Salih
• Ibrahim ibn Salih, brother-in-law of al-Hadi