We talked in the previous article about the visit of Pope Maqar I to the village where he was born and his meeting with his mother, who alerted him to the heavy load of his position as a shepherd responsible for his flock, and how the Pope was affected by her words that remained engraved before his eyes throughout his patriarchal time until his departure in 953. Pope Maqar I coincided with the Ikhshidid rule over Egypt until the time of the rule of his son, Unujur, and the rule of the caliphs ar-Radi, al-Muttaqi, al-Mustakfi and some of the rule of al-Muti’ li-llah.
We mentioned that during the rule of Caliph ar-Radi, the Ikhshidid State was established in Egypt and the Buwayhid State in the East. At the time of the rule of ar-Radi”, the religious disputes in Baghdad increased and exacerbated until the outbreak of some acts of violence that led to the spread of troubles, of which historians said it was the cause of great unrest in the country and led to the structural weakness of the Abbasid State. Caliph ar-Radi died in 329 AH (940 AD), after six years and a few days of the caliphate. Historians said about him, “Ar-Radi was a generous person who loved writers and nobles; he was the last caliph who had written poetry, preached on a pulpit, sat with well-educated people, and the last one whose expenses, salaries, treasury, kitchens and affairs were according to the order of the preceding caliphs.”
Caliph Ibrahim al-Muttaqi bi-llah, 329-333 AH (940-944 AD)
Ibrahim ibn al-Muqtadir ibn al-Mu’tadid ibn Ahmad al-Muwaffaq was the brother of Caliph ar-Radi, better known by al-Muttaqi. He was chosen after the death of ar-Radi, where the statesmen gathered and nominated him unanimously to take over the state’s affairs and rule. At the time of his rule, the influence of Bajkam, amir al-umara, increased in the state and there were many incidents that ended with his death at the hands of a group of Kurds. As soon as al-Baridi, the governor of Ahwaz, was informed of the killing of Bajkam, he hastened to seize Baghdad, but ruled it only for a few days as the people rebelled against him and expelled him. And then the post of amir al-umara was occupied by one of the Dailem leaders called Cortakin.
The situation was not stable in Baghdad because the Dailem soldiers attacked its people severely, and Cortakin was unable to take control of it, which led Caliph al-Muttaqi to summon ibn-Ra’iq to go back to Baghdad. Ibn-Ra’iq accepted his request and fought Cortakin, defeated him and put him to prison. The caliph then assigned ibn Ra’iq as amir al-umara. After a while, al-Baridi raided Baghdad and managed to re-enter it. When al-Muttaqi learned about it, he fled together with his son and ibn-Ra’iq to Mosul to seek help from Nasir al-Dawla, the prince of Hamdan, who later killed ibn-Ra’iq in anticipation of his position and he already became amir al-umara.
Nasir al-Dawla headed his troops toward Baghdad in order to recover it from al-Baridi, but al-Baridi fled to Wasit in order not to face the huge troops coming against him, yet the armies fought in fierce battles that ended by his defeat. Nasir al-Dawla left Baghdad returning back to Mosul, and Tuzun, the chief leader of Dailem, replaced him as amir al-umara, and took over the affairs of the state which led to the escape of Caliph al-Muttaqi from Baghdad and his resort to the princes of Hamdan to help him. Though, Tuzun defeated them in Mosul and they headed to al-Raqqa where al-Ikhshid met the caliph and offered him some gifts, asking him to go with him to Egypt, but he did not accept.
Caliph al-Muttaqi offered to have peace with Tuzun, he accepted at first then he broke his promises, arrested the caliph and had his sight destroyed! Then he deposed him and assigned his brother al-Mustakfi, as his successor. This was the end of the caliphate of al-Muttaqi in 333 AH (944 AD), as well as the end of the era of the Turks. Thus, a new era, known as the era of the power of the Buwayhid Dynasty, began. And … Indeed, talking about “Beautiful Egypt” has no end!
General Bishop Head of the Coptic Orthodox Cultural Center
