al-Mahdī

…province against the ʿAbbāsid caliph al-Mahdī. Preaching a doctrine combining elements of Islam and Zoroastrianism, al-Muqannaʿ carried on warfare for about three years in the field and for two years longer in his fortress of Sanām before he was eventually defeated and committed suicide. He was the hero of the…

…palace of al-Manṣūr’s heir apparent, al-Mahdī, grew up the three suburbs of Ruṣāfah, Al-Shammāsiyyah, and Al-Mukharrim, the forerunners of the modern city. By 946 the seat of the caliphate was fully established on the east bank, and Ruṣāfah grew to rival the Round City.

Al-Mahdī (ruled 775–785) actively persecuted the Manichaeans, whom he defined as heretics so as to deny them status as a protected community. He also tried to identify Manichaeans who had joined the Muslim community without abandoning their previous ideas and practices. ʿAbbāsid “purification of Islam”…

…al-Rashīd was the son of al-Mahdī, the third Abbasid caliph (ruled 775–785), and al-Khayzurān, a formerly enslaved girl from Yemen and a woman of strong personality who greatly influenced affairs of state in the reigns of her husband and sons. The elder prince, al-Hādī, was four when Hārūn was born.…