The Aghlabids

Dynasty and government serve as the world’s market place, attracting to it the products of scholarship and craftsmanship alike.

The wares on its market are as pure silver and fine gold whenever the established dynasty avoids:

• injustice
• prejudice
• weakness
• double-dealing, with determination keeping to the right path and never swerving from it,

The wares become as dross and debased metals whenever the dynasty is:

• influenced by selfish interests and rivalries
• swayed by vendors of tyranny and dishonesty

The intelligent critic must judge for himself as he looks around, examining this, admiring that, and choosing this.

A similar and even more improbable story is one privately discussed by those who attack the ‘Alid descent of Idris b. Idris b. ‘Abdallah b. Hasan b. al-Hasan b. ‘All b. Abi Talib, who became imam after his father in Morocco.

They hint at the punishable crime of adultery by insinuating that the unborn child left after the death of the elder Idris was in fact the child of Rashid, a client of the Idrisids.

How stupid of these God-forsaken men! They should know that the elder Idris married into the Berber tribes and, from the time he came to the Maghrib until his death, was firmly rooted in desert life. In the desert, no such thing could remain a secret.

There are no hiding places there where things can be done in secret. The neighbors (if they are women) can always see and (if they are men) always hear what their women are doing, because the houses are low and clustered together without space between them.

Rashid was entrusted with the stewardship of all the women after the death of his master, upon the recommendation of friends and partisans of the Idrisids and subject to the supervision of them all.

Furthermore, all Moroccan Berbers agreed to render the oath of allegiance to the younger Idris as his father’s successor. They voluntarily agreed to obey him.

Had they told each other some such scandalous story or heard it from someone else, even a vengeful enemy or scandal-mongering rebel, some of them at least would have refused to do those things. No, this story originated with the ‘Abbasid opponents of the Idrisids and with the Aghlabids, the ‘Abbasid governors and officials in Ifriqiyah

This happened in the following manner.

When the elder Idris fled to the Maghrib after the battle of Fakhkh, alHadi sent orders to the Aghlabids to lie in wait and keep a sharp watch out for him.

However, they did not catch him, and he escaped safely to the Maghrib. He consolidated his position, and his propaganda was successful.

Later on, arRashid became aware of the secret Shi’ah leanings of Wadih, the ‘Abbasid client and governor of Alexandria, and of his deceitful attitude inconnection with the escape of Idris to the Maghrib, and ar-Rashid killed Wadih.

Then, ashShammakh, a client of ar-Rashid’s father, suggested to arRashid a ruse by means of which to kill Idris.

Ash-Shammakh pretended to become his adherent and to have broken with his ‘Abbasid masters. Idris took him under his protection and admitted him to his private company.

Once, when Idris was alone, ash-Shammakh gave him some poison and thus killed him. The news of his death was received by the ‘Abbasids most favorably, since they hoped that it would cut the roots and blunt the edge of the ‘Alid propaganda in the Maghrib. News of the unborn child left after Idris’ death had not (yet) reached them.

Thus, it was only a brief moment until the (‘Alid) propaganda reappeared. The Shi’ah was successful in the Maghrib, and Shi’ah rule was renewed through Idris, Idris’ son. This was a most painful blow to the ‘Abbasids. Weakness and senility had already taken hold of the Arab dynasty.

No longer could the Abbasids aspire to the control of remote regions. Far away as the elder Idris was in the Maghrib, under the protection of the Berbers, ar-Rashid had just enough power, and no more, to poison him with the help of a ruse.

Therefore, the ‘Abbasids now had recourse to their Aghlabid clients in Ifrigiyah. They asked them to:

• heal the dangerous breach caused by the Idrisids
• take measures against the woe that threatened the Abbasid dynasty from that direction
• uproot he Idrisids before they could spread.

Al-Ma’mun and the succeeding caliphs wrote to the Aghlabids to this effect.

However, the Aghlabids were also too weak to control the Berbers of Morocco. They might better have tried to embarrass their own rulers as the Idrisids embarrassed them, because the power of the caliphate had been usurped by non-Arab slaves, who diverted to their own purposes its entire control and authority over men, taxes, and functionaries.

The contemporary Abbasid poet described it:

“A caliph in a cage Between Wasif and Bugha He says what they tell him, like a parrot.”

The Aghlabid amirs, therefore, were afraid of possible intrigues and tried all kinds of excuses.

Sometimes, they belittled the Maghrib and its inhabitants. At other times, they tried to arouse fear of the power of Idris and his descendants who had taken his place there. They wrote the ‘Abbasids that he was crossing the borders of his territory.

They included his coins among their gifts, presents, and tax collections, in order to show his growing influence and to spread terror about his increasing power, to magnify (the dangers) which would lie in attacking and fighting him, as they were being asked to do, and to threaten a change in allegiance if they were forced to that. Again, at other times, they attacked the descent of Idris with the (aforementioned) lie, in order to harm him.

They did not care whether the accusation was true or not. The distance (from Baghdad) was great, and, weak-minded as the Abbasid children and their non-Arab slaves were, they took anybody’s word and listened to anybody’s noise. They went on in this manner until the Aghlabid rule came to an end.

The nasty remark (about the Idrisid genealogy) then became known to the mob. Some slanderers listened eagerly to it, using it to harm the Idrisids when there were rivalries. Why do such God-forsaken men stray from the intentions of the religious law, which knows no difference between definite (fact) and (mere) guess?

Idris was born in his father’s bed, and “the child belongs to the bed.” 147 It is a (Muslim) article of faith that the descendants of Muhammad are above any such thing (as adultery). God removed every turpitude from them and cleansed them. Idris’ bed is free of all uncleanliness and all turpitude.

This is decided in theQur’an.148 Whoever believes the contrary confesses his guilt and invites unbelief. I have refuted the accusation against Idris here at length, in order to forestall doubts and strike out against the envious. I heard the story with my own ears from a man who was hostile to (the Idrisids) and attacked their descent with this lying invention.

In his self-deception, he passed on the story on the authority of certain historians of the Maghrib who had turned their backs on Muhammad’s descendants and were skeptical concerning their ancestors. But the situation (of the Idrisids) is above all that and not susceptible of such a taint.

No space should be devoted to refuting such an accusation, since) to deny a fault where (the existence of) a fault is impossible is (in itself) a fault. 149 However, I did defend them here in this world and, thus, I hope that they will defend me on the Day of Resurrection.

It should be known that most of those who attack the (‘Alid) descent of (the Idrisids) are themselves persons who claim to be descendants of Muhammad or pretend to be connected with his descendants, and who envy the descendants of Idris.

The claim to (Muhammadan) descent is a great title to nobility among nations and races in all regions. Therefore, it is subject to suspicion. Now, both in their native Fez and in the other regions of the Maghrib, the descent of the Idrisids is so well known and evident that almost no one can show or hope to show as well-established a pedigree. It is the result of continuous transmission by the more recent nations and generations on the authority of the older preceding ones. The Idrisids count the house of their ancestor Idris, the founder and builder of Fez, among their houses.

His mosque is adjacent to their quarter and streets. His sword is (suspended) unsheathed atop the main minaret of their residence. There are other relics of his which have been attested to many times in an uninterrupted tradition, so that the tradition concerning them is almost as valuable as direct observation (as to its reliability). Other descendants of Muhammad can look at these signs which God gave to the Idrisids.

They will see the Muhammadan nobility of the Idrisids enhanced by the majesty of the royal authority their ancestors exercised in the Maghrib. They will realize that they themselves have nothing of the sort and that they do not measure up even halfway to any one of the Idrisids.

They will also realize that those who claim to be Muhammad’s descendants but do not have such testimonies to confirm their claim as the Idrisids have, may at best find their position conceded (as possibly true), because people are to be believed with regard to the descent they claim for themselves, but there is a difference between what is known and what is mere guess, between what is certain and what is merely conceded as possibly true.

When they realize these facts, they are choked in their own spittle (which they swallow in impotent jealousy). Their private envy causes many of them to wish that they could bring down the Idrisids from their noble position to the status of ordinary, humble persons.

Therefore, they have recourse to spite and persistent malevolence and invent erroneous and lying accusations such as the one discussed. They justify themselves by the assumption that all guesses are equally probable.

They should prove that!

We know of no descendants of Muhammad whose lineage is so clearly and obviously established as that of the descendants of Idris of the family of al-Hasan.

The most distinguished Idrisids at this time are the Banu ‘Imran in Fez. They are descendants of Yahya al-Juti b. Muhammad b. Yahya al-‘Addam b. alQasim b. Idris b. Idris. They are the chiefs of the ‘Alids there. They live at the present time in the house of their ancestor Idris. They are the leading nobility of the entire Maghrib. We shall mention them in connection with the Idrisids, if God wills.

They are the descendants of ‘Imran b.Muhammad b. al-Hasan b. Yahya b. ‘Abdallah b. Muhammad b. ‘All b. Muhammad b. Yahya b. Ibrahim b. Yahya alJuti. The chief of their (house) at this time is Muhammad b.Muhammad b. Muhammad b. ‘Imran.

To these wicked statements and erroneous beliefs one may add the accusations that weak-minded jurists in the Maghrib leveled against the imam al-Mahdi, the head of the Almohad dynasty. 152 He was accused of deceit and insincerity when he insisted upon the true oneness of God and when he complained about the unjust people before his time. All his claims in this respect were declared to be false, even down to his descent from the family of Muhammad, which his Almohad followers accept.

Deep down in their hearts it was envy of al-Mahdi’s success that led the jurists to declare him a liar. In their self-deception, they thought that they could compete with him in religious scholarship, juridical decisions, and religion. He then turned out to be superior to them. His opinion was accepted, what he said was listened to, and he gained a following.

They envied this success of his and tried to lessen his influence by attacking his dogmas and declaring his claims to be false.

Furthermore, they were used to receive from al-Mahdi’s enemies, the Lamtunah kings (the Almoravids), a respect and an honor they received from no one else, because of the simple religion (of the Almoravids).

Under the Lamtunah dynasty, religious scholars held a position of respect and were appointed to the council, everybody according to his influence among his people in his respective village.

The scholars, therefore, became partisans (of the Almoravids) and enemies of their enemies. They tried to take revenge on al-Mahdi for his opposition to them, his censure of them, and his struggle against them. This was the result of their partisanship for the Lamtunah and their bias in favor of the Lamtunah dynasty. Al-Mahdi’s position was different from theirs. He did not share their beliefs.

What else could be expected of a man who criticized the attitude of the ruling dynasty as he did and was opposed in his efforts by its jurists? He called his people to a holy war against them.

He uprooted the dynasty and turned it upside down, despite its great strength, its tremendous power, and the strong force of its allies and its militia. Followers of his killed in the struggle were innumerable. They had sworn allegiance to him until death. They had protected him from death with their own lives.

They had sought nearness to God by sacrificing themselves for the victory of the Mahdi’s cause as partisans of the enterprise that eventually gained the upper hand and replaced the dynasties on both shores.

Al-Mahdi himself remained always frugal, retiring, patient in tribulation, and very little concerned with the world to the last; he died without fortune or worldly possessions.

He did not even have children, as everybody desires but as one often is deceived in desiring. I should like to know what he could have hoped to obtain by this way of life were it not (to look upon) the face of God, for he did not acquire worldly fortune of any kind during his lifetime.

Moreover, if his intention had not been good, he would not have been successful., and his propaganda would not have spread. “This is how God formerly proceeded with His servants.

The (jurists’) disavowal of (al-Mahdi’s) descent from Muhammad’s family is not backed up by any proof. Were it established that he himself claimed such descent, his claim could not be disproved, because people are to be believed regarding the descent they claim for themselves.

Leadership over a people is vested only in men of their own skin. But al-Mahdi exercised leadership over all the Masmudah. They agreed to follow him and be guided by him and his Harghah group, and, eventually, God gave complete success to his propaganda. In this connection, it must be realized that al-Mahdi’s power did not depend exclusively on his Fatimid descent, and the people did not follow him on that account (only).

They followed him because of their Harghah-Masmudah group feeling and because of his share in that group feeling which was firmly rooted in him. (Al-Mahdi’s)Fatimid descent had become obscured and knowledge of it had disappeared from among the people, although it had remained alive in him and his family through family tradition. His original (Fatimid) descent had, in a way, been sloughed off, and he had put on the skin of the Harghah-Masmudah and thus appeared as one of their skin.

The fact that he was originally of Fatimid descent did not harm him with regard to his group feeling, since it was not known to the members of the group. Things like that happen frequently once one’s original descent has become obscured.

One might compare the previous story the story of Arfajah and Jarir concerning the leadership of the Bajilah.

Arfajah had belonged to the Azd but had put on the skin of the Bajilah so successfully that he was able to wrangle with Jarir over the leadership before ‘Umar, as has been reported.

This example makes one understand what the truth is like.