The Abbasids came to power in 750 by overthrowing their Umayyad predecessors. The Abbasid revolution represented more than a change of dynasty; Abbasid rule substantially transformed the Islamic tradition. Some of the more obvious effects of Abbasid rule were a new concept of the caliphate; a shift in the locus of political power to the eastern city of Baghdad; the establishment of Islam as a predominantly universalist and multiethnic faith (as opposed to an Arab religion); an increase in the rate of conversion; influence and borrowing from Persian culture; and substantial advancements in the fields of science, technology, literature, and philosophy.
The Abbasids derive their name from the Prophet Muhammad’s uncle, ‘Abbas (d. 653), from whom the first Abbasid caliph, Abu al-‘Abbas al-Saffah (r. 750–54), traced his genealogy. By emphasizing this genealogical link, the Abbasids appealed for support from Muhammad’s family and presented themselves as Muhammad’s true successors. Moreover, in their rise to power, the Abbasids painted themselves as champions of Islamic justice who stood in contrast to the morally corrupt Umayyads. Although the Abbasids had begun as morally driven revolutionaries, they soon settled into a dynastic patrimonial monarchy. Shortly after assuming power, the Abbasids also abandoned their sympathy for minority groups such as the Shi‘i factions and began pandering to the numerically stronger proto-Sunnis.
At the time of the Abbasids, the Islamic tradition was still in its nascent stage, and its political drift was unclear. Given the numerical strength of their Persian supporters, the Abbasids adopted both the Iranian tradition of centralized monarchy as well as Iranian practices of government. They developed a secret service and bureaucracy as well as a court culture. The main ideological initiative of the Abbasids was to emphasize their position as God’s deputies and the Prophet’s successors. Over the years, a number of Abbasid rulers echoed statements such as that made by Caliph Mansur (r. 754–75): “I am simply the authority of God on this Earth.”
From among the Abbasids, Caliph Ma’mun (r. 813–33) was the most determined to construct a high imperial ideal that would free the office of deputyship from reliance on the military as well popular religious leaders. To fulfill this aim, he appealed directly to his subjects and emphasized high culture and the intellectual prominence of the caliphate and the ‘ulama’. Ma’mun’s successor, Mu‘tasim (r. 833–42), adopted a similar strategy, but in a more tempered manner. Under Mutawakkil (r. 847–61) the influence of the more literal-minded Sunnis increased and the Mu‘tazilis and neo-Greek philosophers were pushed to the peripheries. Mutawakkil was assassinated by a band of Turkic slave-soldiers, who dominated Baghdadi politics until the Shi‘i Buyids seized Baghdad in 945. Gradually, more and more of the provinces of the caliphate became independent under new dynasties. These new dynasties continued to follow the practices and ideology of patrimonial monarchy as developed under the Abbasids.
Although their empire soon fragmented, the Abbasids remained a local power that symbolically represented the caliphate. Their swift downfall can be attributed to a lack of consistent imperial strategy—they had no defining imperial or state ideology. Although they could have adopted the Shi‘i view of the imamate as their state ideology, the Abbasids abandoned Shi‘ism soon after they ascended to power. In the later Sunni milieu, the unclear role of the deputy was detrimental to their political hold. Moreover, the power of the centralized government was mitigated by the power shared with senior judges in major cities. These judges, although appointed by the deputy, ruled by a law in which they alone, and not the state, possessed authority.
Despite its swift fragmentation, the Abbasid empire had a lasting impact on the religious and political landscape of the current Muslim world. The Iranian tradition of patrimonial monarchy initially adopted by the Abbasids was emulated by all later Islamic dynasties. Moreover, the political precedent set by the Abbasids continued to govern how state officials and citizens understood political authority and the ruler–ruled relationship.
See also Baghdad; Ma’mun (786–833); Umayyads (661–750)
Further Reading
Antony Black, The History of Islamic Political Thought: From the Prophet to the Present, 2004; Amira K. Bennison, The Great Caliphs: The Golden Age of the ‘Abbasid Empire, 2009; Hugh N. Kennedy, The Early Abbasid Caliphate: A Political History, 1981.
MASHAL SAIF