Ali ibn Sulayman ibn Ali al-Hashimi

Ali ibn Sulayman al-Hashimi (Arabic: علي بن سليمان الهاشمي‎) was an eighth-century Abbasid prince. He served as a governor of several provinces, including the Yemen, the Jazirah, and Egypt.

Ali ibn Sulayman ibn Ali ibn Abdallah ibn Abbas علي بن سليمان الهاشمي
Governor of Yemen
In office 777–778
Monarch	al-Mahdi
Governor of Jazirah and Jund Qinnasrin
In office c. 782 – c. 785
Monarch	al-Mahdi
Governor of Egypt
In office 786–787
Monarch	al-Hadi, Harun al-Rashid
Preceded by	Al-Fadl ibn Salih
Succeeded by	Musa ibn Isa
Personal details
Died	788 or 794 Abbasid Caliphate
Father	Sulayman ibn Ali al-Hashimi
Relatives	Muhammad (brother) Ja'far (brother) Ishaq (brother) Zaynab (sister)

Career

Ali was a son of Sulayman ibn Ali, an early Abbasid personage who had held the governorship of Basra for several years in the aftermath of the Abbasid Revolution. He himself was an extended relative of the ruling dynasty, being a first cousin of the first two Abbasid caliphs al-Saffah (r. 750–754) and al-Mansur (r. 754–775).[1]

During the caliphate of al-Mahdi (r. 775–785) Ali served as governor of the Yemen (777–778)[2] and once or twice as governor of the Jazirah and Qinnasrin (c. 782 – c. 785).[3] While in the latter position, he reportedly relocated the markets of Raqqa to a more central location between that city and al-Rafiqah,[4] and was instructed by al-Mahdi to rebuild the frontier town of Hadath after its sacking at the hands of the Byzantines.[5] Following the collapse of a truce with the Byzantines in 785, he dispatched a cavalry force under Yazid ibn Badr ibn al-Battal on a raid which resulted in the acquisition of some spoils.[6]

In 786 Ali was appointed as governor of Egypt by al-Hadi, and was re-confirmed in that office after the accession of Harun al-Rashid later that year. During his tenure in Fustat he embarked on a campaign of enjoining good and forbidding wrong, enacting measures such as prohibitions on musical instruments and wine. He also took action against recently built Christian churches, including the Church of Mary near Anba Shendua and those in the Citadel of Constantine, which he demolished despite an offer by the local Copts of fifty thousand dinars in exchange for sparing them. He remained in office until 787, when he was dismissed in favor of Musa ibn Isa ibn Musa al-Hashimi.[7]

Various dates are given for his death, including 788 and 794.[8]

Notes

1. Kennedy 1990, p. 207 n.668; Bosworth 1997, p. 381; Ibn Qutaybah n.d., p. 376.
2. Gordon et al. 2018, p. 1141; Kennedy 1990, p. 207; Ibn Abd al-Majid 1985, p. 25; Khalifah ibn Khayyat 1985, p. 440; Ibn 'Asakir 1996, p. 517.
3. Khalifah ibn Khayyat 1985, p. 441; Al-Azdi 2006, p. 469 (for his appointment); Al-Baladhuri 1916, p. 297 (on his dismissal); Kennedy 1990, p. 240; Ibn 'Asakir 1996, p. 517.
4. Al-Baladhuri 1916, p. 280.
5. Khalifah ibn Khayyat 1985, p. 439; Al-Baladhuri 1916, pp. 296-97; Ibn 'Asakir 1996, p. 517. See also Ory 1971, p. 20.
6. Kennedy 1990, p. 240.
7. Al-Kindi 1912, pp. 131-32; Ibn Taghribirdi 1930, p. 61 ff.; Evetts 1895, p. 327. Al-Kindi and Ibn Taghribirdi state that Ali's popularity in Egypt made him develop ambitions for the caliphate, resulting in his dismissal. Al-Kindi also claims that Ali supported the cause of Idris ibn Abdallah, although al-Tabari ascribes this role to a barid official named Wadih instead; Bosworth 1997, pp. 28-29.
8. Ibn Taghribirdi 1930, p. 63; Ibn 'Asakir 1996, p. 518.

References

• Al-Azdi, Abu Zakariyya Yazid ibn Muhammad ibn Ilyas (2006). Mahmud, Ahmad 'Abdallah (ed.). Tarikh al-Mawsil (in Arabic). 1. Lebanon: Dar al-Kutub al-'Ilmiyyah.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Al-Baladhuri, Ahmad ibn Jabir (1916). The Origins of the Islamic State, Part I. Trans. Philip Khuri Hitti. New York: Columbia University.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Bosworth, C.E., ed. (1989). The History of al-Ṭabarī, Volume XXX: The ʿAbbāsid Caliphate in Equilibrium: The Caliphates of Mūsā al-Hādī and Hārūn al-Rashīd, A.D. 785–809/A.H. 169–192. SUNY Series in Near Eastern Studies. Albany, New York: State University of New York Press. ISBN 978-0-88706-564-4.
• Bosworth, C.E. (1997). "Sulayman ibn 'Ali ibn 'Abd Allah". In Bosworth, C. E.; van Donzel, E.; Heinrichs, W. P. & Lecomte, G. (eds.). The Encyclopaedia of Islam, New Edition, Volume IX: San–Sze. Leiden: E. J. Brill. p. 381. ISBN 978-90-04-10422-8.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Evetts, B.T.A. (1895). The Churches and Monasteries of Egypt and Some Neighboring Countries, Attributed to Abu Salih, the Armenian. Oxford: Clarendon Press.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Gordon, Matthew S.; Robinson, Chase F.; Rowson, Everett K.; et al., eds. (2018). The Works of Ibn Wadih al-Ya'qubi: An English Translation. 3. Leiden and Boston: Brill. ISBN 978-90-04-35621-4.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Ibn Abd al-Majid, Taj al-Din 'Abd al-Baqi al-Yamani (1985). Ta'rikh al-Yaman al-Musamma Bahjat al-Zaman fi Ta'rikh al-Yaman (in Arabic). Sana'a: Dar Kalimah.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Ibn 'Asakir, Abu al-Qasim 'Ali ibn al-Hasan ibn Hibat Allah (1996). al-'Amrawi, 'Umar ibn Gharama (ed.). Tarikh Madinat Dimashq (in Arabic). 41. Beirut: Dar al-Fikr.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Ibn Qutaybah, Abu Muhammad Abdallah ibn Muslim (n.d.). Ukashah, Tharwat (ed.). Al-Ma'arif (in Arabic) (4th ed.). Cairo: al-Dar Ma'arif.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Ibn Taghribirdi, Jamal al-Din Abu al-Mahasin Yusuf (1930). Nujum al-zahira fi muluk Misr wa'l-Qahira, Volume II (in Arabic). Cairo: Dar al-Kutub al-Misriyya.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Kennedy, Hugh, ed. (1990). The History of al-Ṭabarī, Volume XXIX: Al-Mansūr and al-Mahdī, A.D. 763–786/A.H. 146–169. SUNY Series in Near Eastern Studies. Albany, New York: State University of New York Press. ISBN 978-0-7914-0142-2.
• Khalifah ibn Khayyat (1985). al-Umari, Akram Diya' (ed.). Tarikh Khalifah ibn Khayyat, 3rd ed (in Arabic). Al-Riyadh: Dar Taybah.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Al-Kindi, Muhammad ibn Yusuf (1912). Guest, Rhuvon (ed.). The Governors and Judges of Egypt (in Arabic). Leyden and London: E. J. Brill.
• Ory, S. (1971). "Al-Hadath". In Lewis, B.; Ménage, V. L.; Pellat, Ch. & Schacht, J. (eds.). The Encyclopaedia of Islam, New Edition, Volume III: H–Iram. Leiden: E. J. Brill. pp. 19–20. OCLC 495469525.