<\/p>\n
\nIn the previous article, we resumed our talk of Pope Jacob\u2019s tenure. He was the fiftieth patriarch (819-830 A.D.) We tackled his life which was full of fast, prayer, and charity. So much so that God worked several miracles through him. In effect, his reputation reached other countries. Dionysius, the patriarch of Antioch, came over twice, only to testify to Pope Jacob\u2019s holiness and purity. Pope Jacob departed in 830 A.D. to be succeeded by Pope Simon, the fifty-first patriarch, whose papacy lasted for almost five and a half months after which he departed. St. Mark\u2019s See remained vacant for two years due to conflicts which we shall tackle in due course after which Pope Youssab was ordained.<\/strong><\/span> General Bishop<\/strong><\/span> <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In the previous article, we resumed our talk of Pope Jacob\u2019s tenure. He was the fiftieth patriarch (819-830 A.D.) We tackled his life which was full of fast, prayer, and charity. So much so that God worked several miracles through him. In effect, his reputation reached other countries. Dionysius, the patriarch of Antioch, came over […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":58,"featured_media":19638,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,51],"tags":[8343,14114,682],"class_list":["post-46207","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-4","category-articles","tag-8343","tag-14114","tag-682"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/copticocc.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46207"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/copticocc.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/copticocc.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/copticocc.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/58"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/copticocc.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46207"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/copticocc.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46207\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":46402,"href":"https:\/\/copticocc.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46207\/revisions\/46402"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/copticocc.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19638"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/copticocc.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46207"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/copticocc.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46207"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/copticocc.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46207"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nEgypt\u2019s Proconsuls<\/strong><\/span>
\nAt that time, Egypt was ruled by Abdaweih bin Jablah who took over after Eissa bin Yazid al-Juludi\u2019s second term and deposition (214-215 Hijri) (829-830 A.D.).<\/strong><\/span>
\nAbdaweih Bin Jablah (215-216 Hijri) (830-831 A.D.)<\/strong><\/span>
\nHe is an Abbasid commander who was delegated Egypt\u2019s affairs by al-Mu\u2019tasim before his heading toward the Levant. Having become proconsul, he embarked on reformation and settling whatever al-Mu\u2019tasim had decreed.<\/strong><\/span>
\nThen, it came to pass that some of al-Houf population, from the Quaisis and Yemenis, rebelled against the caliph. So, Abdaweih mobilized an army to overcome them, sending them Eissa bin Mansur, the proconsul of al-Houf. He emerged victorious. After this had taken place, the Pisin Af\u0161in \u1e34ay\u1e0far bin K\u0101vus, senior general of Iranian descent at the court of the Abbasid caliphs and a vassal prince of Oshrusana came over accompanied by Ali bin Abdul Aziz al-Jarawi to claim money. Yet, they conflicted.<\/strong><\/span>
\nThe Pisin deposed Abdaweih, appointing Eissa bin Mansur bin Mussa in his stead. Thus, Abdaweih ruled Egypt for one year only. Historians differed regarding the said claim of money. Some of them asserted that it is tax imposed on the country to be paid by the proconsul, while others maintained that it was Abdaweih\u2019s money. A third category pointed out that the Pisin came over to claim Ali bin Abdul Aziz al-Jarawi\u2019s money which he had refrained from paying. So, the Pisin killed him, deposed Abdaweih, and went to Barqa. Yet, he returned to Egypt and lived therein. We shall talk about him in due course.<\/strong><\/span>
\nDuring that year, al-Ma\u2019mun left Mosul to fight Dabiq, a village near Aleppo and Antioch, after which he headed to the Levant and stayed there.<\/strong><\/span>
\nEissa bin Mansur (216-217 Hijri) (831-832 A.D.)<\/strong><\/span>
\nHe is also known as Eissa bin Mansur bin Mussa bin Eissa al-Rafqi (or al-Rafe\u2019i). He took over Egypt\u2019s affairs as al-Mu\u2019tasim\u2019s deputy after the deposition of Abdaweih. He was so ill-reputed that by the end of his tenure, Arabs and Copts rebelled in Lower Egypt and attempted to fight him and his army. Eissa was not up to the battle and retreated to al-Fustat. Taghribirdi writes, \u201cEissa got ready. He mobilized an army to fight them. Yet, he retreated. So, Copts and al-Gharbiya inhabitants ousted Eissa due to his bad reputation. Likewise, the tax-collector was ousted. Both disowned allegiance.\u201d<\/strong><\/span>
\nWhen the Pisin got to know, he came over to Egypt that he might fight the rebels. He was joined by Eissa bin Mansur and others. Lots of battles broke out, ending in the Pisin\u2019s victory. He killed and imprisoned many people. Then, he headed to al-Houf and fought its people due to the information he had about them. He also imprisoned many of them. Battles lasted in many Egyptian cities, including Alexandria, Damira (a village near Damietta), Mahalat al-Khulafa\u2019, Quratsah (Beheira), and others, until the arrival of al-Ma\u2019mun in early 217 Hijri (832 A.D.)<\/strong><\/span>
\nAt that time, al-Ma\u2019mun had returned to Iraq because of his war with the Greek king. Then, he headed to Damascus, and Egypt afterwards: for he was upset with Eissa bin Mansur, her proconsul and accused him of being the cause of the war. So, he deposed him. Al-Kindy writes that al-Ma\u2019mun told bin Mansur, \u201cThis horrible incident is but the result of your deeds. You overloaded the people. The news was hidden from me until issues got grievous and the country tumultuous.\u201d<\/strong><\/span>
\nYet, al-Ma\u2019mun marched with his army toward al-Gharbiya and al-Houf. He fought them, killed and imprisoned Copts. Taghribirdi writes, \u201cThen, his army marched to Lower Egypt, al-Gharbiya and al-Houf, defeated the population, imprisoned Copts and exterminated their warriors\u2026\u201d Al-Kindy writes that al-Ma\u2019mun ordered killing Copt men and selling women and children. So, a lot were sold, and most of them were taken in captivity. Al-Ma\u2019mun spent forty-nine days in Egypt, then left after he had appointed Kaydar proconsul.<\/strong><\/span>
\nKaydar (217-219 Hijri) (832-834 A.D.)<\/strong><\/span>
\nHis name is Nasr bin Abdullah. He was nicknamed Kaydar. Al-Ma\u2019mun appointed him proconsul of Egypt after he had deposed Eissa bin Mansur and sent him Bin Batam to handle police affairs. Yet, Kaydar deposed the latter quickly due to his bad reputation: for he used to take bribes and treat people harshly. During Kaydar\u2019s tenure, al-Ma\u2019mun died and was succeeded by his brother al-Mu\u2019tasim who decreed that no more funding should go to the Arabs.<\/strong><\/span>
\nNo sooner had Kaydar carried out al-Mu\u2019tasim\u2019s decree than a group led by Yahya bin al-Wazir al-Jarawi rebelled against the caliph. Kaydar died while getting ready to fight the rebels, leaving Egypt\u2019s affairs to his son, al-Mudhaffar who was accredited by al-Mu\u2019tasim. Thus, Kaydar ruled Egypt for two years and almost two months. During his tenure, a fierce war broke out between al-Ma\u2019mun and the Greek king and a great fire broke out in Basra, destroying most of it, and eventually, al-Ma\u2019mun died.<\/strong><\/span>
\nAl-Ma\u2019mun\u2019s Death (218 Hijri) (833 A.D.)<\/strong><\/span>
\nAl-Ma\u2019mun died while camping in the Greeks\u2019 land at Bedendon, a city near Tarsus. Historians maintain that while al-Ma\u2019mun and his brother al-Mu\u2019tasim were sitting at the shore on a hot day, they got feverish. But, al-Ma;mun died and was carried to Tarsus where he was buried. Scottish historian Sir William Muir writes, \u201cThat al-Ma\u2019mun was fair and humble is an indisputable matter. Yet, he is to blame for his capricious views and feelings, be it in political or religious affairs. Though we acknowledge his justice, we cannot free him from extremism in injustice and cruelty without justification: as in what was undergone by Hartama and Tahir despite their faithfulness in supporting him and his reign as well as his persecuting renowned thinkers and those who differed with him in opinion, especially in religious affairs. However, should we take into account the length of his tenure and his kindness in pardoning the rebels of Baghdad, we will find that his justice outweighs his cruelty.\u201d<\/strong><\/span>
\nHowever, several historians testify that al-Ma\u2019mun\u2019s tenure was one of science and philosophy\u2019s most renowned eras. He had given special attention to mathematics, astronomy, medicine, philosophy and so on. Al-Ma\u2019mun was aware that his people would not thrive except through refinement, education, spreading knowledge and caring for its patrons.<\/strong><\/span>
\nThus, he cared for scientists, encouraged scientific and literary research, established schools and universities throughout the state. The Abbasid State cared for knowledge to such an extent that historians asserted, \u201cThe first one to care about sciences was Abu Ja\u2019far al-Mansur. Apart from his adeptness at \u201cfiqh\u201d, he was quite fond of philosophy and astronomy. Then, when the caliphate was passed on to Abdullah bin al-Ma\u2019mun bin Harun al-Rashid, the seventh Caliph, he accomplished what his ancestor al-Mansur had started, thus, he became keen on obtaining knowledge from its sources\u2026\u201d<\/strong><\/span>
\nTranslation flourished. So, works of Plato, Aristotle, Hippocrates, Euclid wee translated. Likewise, books were translated from Persian, Indian, Hebrew, Latin, Copt and so on into Arabic. What an interesting story! Stories never end in Beautiful Egypt.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n
\nHead of the Coptic Orthodox Cultural Center<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n