Ishaq ibn al-Abbas ibn Muhammad al-Hashimi

Ishaq ibn al-Abbas ibn Muhammad al-Hashimi (Arabic: إسحاق بن العباس بن محمد الهاشمي‎) was a ninth century Abbasid personage, provincial governor and military commander. He was twice appointed as governor of the Yemen, in 824 and 830.

Ishaq ibn al-Abbas ibn Muhammad al-Hashimi إسحاق بن العباس بن محمد الهاشمي
Abbasid Governor of Yemen
In office 824 – 827 (first term)
Monarch	al-Ma'mun
Preceded by	Muhammad ibn Abdallah ibn Muhriz
Succeeded by	Muhammad ibn Nafi
Abbasid Governor of Yemen
In office 830 – c. 832 (second term)
Monarch	Al-Ma'mun
Preceded by	Abu al-Razi Muhammad ibn Abd al-Hamid
Succeeded by	Abdallah ibn Ubaydallah ibn al-Abbas
Personal details
Relations	Abbasid dynasty
Parents	Al-Abbas ibn Muhammad al-Hashimi

Career

Ishaq was a minor member of the Abbasid dynasty, being a nephew of the caliphs al-Saffah (r. 750–754) and al-Mansur (r. 754–775). He is mentioned as being in Iraq in 817, when he played a small role in supporting the anti-caliph Ibrahim ibn al-Mahdi.[1]

In 824 Ishaq was appointed governor of the Yemen for the caliph al-Ma'mun (r. 813–833), and he arrived in Sana'a at the end of that year. His governorship of the province proved to be extremely tumultuous, and he was soon accused of treating the Yemenis in a harsh manner. Affairs in the province eventually became so disorderly that al-Ma'mun decided to dismiss Ishaq, and Muhammad ibn Nafi' was appointed as governor in his place.[2]

In 830, Ishaq was selected to lead the pilgrimage,[3] and around the same time, he was re-invested with the governorship of the Yemen in order to fill the political vacuum that had prevailed in the region following the killing of Abu al-Razi Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Hamid. Ishaq accordingly made his way to the province and established himself in Sana'a, but took no action against Abu al-Razi's killer, the rebel Ibrahim ibn Abi Ja'far al-Manakhi, who was allowed to maintain his position in the southern highlands. Ishaq's second governorship continued until he either died or was dismissed, and he was succeeded by Abdallah ibn Ubaydallah ibn al-Abbas.[4]

Notes

1. Al-Tabari 1987, p. 53.
2. Al-Mad'aj 1988, pp. 212–13; Van Arendonk 1919, pp. 100–01; Bikhazi 1970, p. 29.
3. Al-Tabari 1987, p. 183; Khalifah ibn Khayyat 1985, p. 474.
4. Khalifah ibn Khayyat 1985, p. 475, who remarks that Ishaq died in the Yemen in 215 A.H.; Van Arendonk 1919, p. 101, who states that Ishaq died in 216 A.H. and was succeeded by his son Ya'qub; Al-Mad'aj 1988, pp. 214–15, who claims that Ishaq arrived in the Yemen in 215 A.H. and was "replaced" by Abdallah two years later.

References

• Bikhazi, Ramzi J. (1970). "Coins of al-Yaman 132-569 A.H." Al-Abhath. 23: 3–127. Retrieved June 4, 2016.
• Khalifah ibn Khayyat (1985). al-'Umari, Akram Diya' (ed.). Tarikh Khalifah ibn Khayyat, 3rd ed (in Arabic). Al-Riyadh: Dar Taybah.
• Al-Mad'aj, Abd al-Muhsin Mad'aj M. (1988). The Yemen in Early Islam (9-233/630-847): A Political History. London: Ithaca Press. ISBN 0863721028.
• Al-Tabari, Abu Ja'far Muhammad ibn Jarir (1987). Yar-Shater, Ehsan (ed.). The History of al-Ṭabarī, Volume XXXII: The Reunification of the 'Abbasid Caliphate. Trans. Clifford Edmund Bosworth. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press. ISBN 0-88706-058-7.
• Van Arendonk, Cornelius (1919). De Opkomst Van Het Zaidietische Imamaat in Yemen. Leiden: E.J. Brill. ISBN 0863721028.