Al-Ta'i'

Abu Bakr ʿAbd al-Karīm ibn al-Faḍl (Arabic: أبو بكر عبد الكريم بن الفضل; 932 – 3 August 1003), better known by his regnal name al-Ṭāʾiʿ liʾllāh/biʾllāh (Arabic: الطائع لله\بالله, lit. 'He Who Obeys God's Command'), was the Abbasid caliph of Baghdad from 974 to his deposition in 991. He was in office during the domination of Iraq by the Shi'a Buyid dynasty, and as a result is generally considered a powerless figurehead under the thumb of the Buyid emirs. His tenure was also marked by strife between rival Buyid rulers and the frequent change of hands of Baghdad: al-Ta'i' himself was raised to the throne by a rebel Turkic general, Sabuktakin, who deposed al-Ta'i's father, al-Muti'. During periods of such strife, al-Ta'i' was able to exert some measure of political independence, but under stronger rulers he was sidelined, and was obliged to marry the daughters of the emirs Izz al-Dawla and Adud al-Dawla. Al-Ta'i's status suffered under Adud al-Dawla in particular, who turned to pre-Islamic Persian models for legitimacy, and relegated Iraq to the status of a simple province ruled from Fars. Al-Ta'i' was deposed on 22 November 991 by Baha al-Dawla, and replaced with his cousin, al-Qadir. He spent the rest of his days, until his death in 1003, confined to the caliphal palace.

Abd al-Karim, the future al-Ta'i', was born in Baghdad in 929 as the son of the Abbasid prince al-Fadl, son of Caliph al-Muqtadir, and a concubine of Greek origin, called Utb. As an adult, al-Ta'i's face was marked by smallpox, and he had a prominent nose, which became the object of satire by contemporaries.

His father came to the throne as caliph al-Muti' in 946, following the capture of Baghdad by the Buyid dynasty. While themselves espousing Shi'a beliefs, the Buyids nevertheless decided to retain the Abbasid caliphs out of expediency, and to provide them legitimacy in the eyes of the other Muslim rulers. In practice, however, al-Muti' was a puppet of the ruling Buyid emir of Iraq. A positive corollary of this subservience was that it brought stability to the caliphal throne: al-Muti' reigned as caliph for 29 Hijri years and four months, in stark contrast to his short-lived predecessors, and unlike them had to contend with remarkably few rival pretenders to the caliphate.

On 1 August 974, the Turkic general Sabuktakin seized control of Baghdad from the Buyid ruler Izz al-Dawla. When the coup happened, al-Muti' left Baghdad along with the expelled members of the Buyid clan, but Sabuktakin forced him back and confined him to his palace. Al-Muti' was induced to abdicate with his health as a pretext, and was replaced by his oldest son, Abu Bakr Abd al-Karim, as Caliph al-Ta'i' li'llah on 5 August 974 (13 Dhu'l-Qa'dah 363 AH). This was the first father-to-son succession of the caliphate since al-Muktafi in 902.

Like his father, al-Ta'i' is considered by medieval and modern historians alike to have been a powerless figurehead, limited to appending his name to certificates of appointment and official correspondence, with others holding the real power. He played no role even in the numerous religious controversies of his day, and little is known about his activities other than his often conducting the Friday prayer at the Kadhimayn mosque, and his rebuilding the Bab al-hassa, one of the principal gates to the caliphal palace complex. The historian Heribert Busse however points out that al-Ta'i' managed to maintain his office for sixteen years in a very turbulent time, involving no fewer than six regime changes in Baghdad, and credits him with political acumen and flexibility.

The new caliph promptly named Sabuktakin as the chief emir (amir al-umara), with the honorific title Nasir al-Dawla. Before long, Sabuktakin, accompanied by al-Ta'i' and al-Muti', marched on Wasit, where the Buyid forces under Izz al-Dawla and his cousin, Adud al-Dawla, the ruler of Fars, gathered. Sabuktakin died on the way, and was succeeded by another Turkic ghulam, Alptakin. The Turks were defeated in January 975 near the Diyala River, and withdrew north to Tikrit, before they fled to Syria, while the Buyids entered Baghdad. Al-Ta'i's position under the Turks is unclear. He sent letters to Izz al-Dawla berating him of his errors and omissions as governor, but in later public letters he cursed them and claimed that he had been using dissimulation (taqiyya) in apparently siding with them. Thus, historian John Donohue writes of the "brief six months of independence that the caliphate enjoyed under the Turk rebels", while Heribert Busse writes of the caliph as being virtually the prisoner of the Turks.

At any rate, al-Ta'i' was soon able to recover his position at least somewhat, making use of the Buyids' quarrels and their need for legitimacy: in Baghdad, Adud al-Dawla deposed his cousin and assumed rule of the city. Leaving Tikrit, al-Ta'i' returned to Baghdad, where Adud al-Dawla received him with respect and restored to him his domains, that had apparently been confiscated (it is unclear by whom, likely by Izz al-Dawla). There are indications that he consulted with al-Ta'i' for a formal investment as emir, and his name was included in the Friday prayer before that of Izz al-Dawla. In the event, Adud al-Dawla bowed to pressure by his father, the senior Buyid emir Rukn al-Dawla, to withdraw and allow Iraq to remain a separate emirate under Izz al-Dawla.

Following Adud al-Dawla's departure, Izz al-Dawla tried to consolidate his regime and gather allies against his cousin's hegemonic ambitions. This effort was also in al-Ta'i's interests, and included the awarding by the caliph of several honorific titles with the suffix al-Dawla to regional potentates, as well as Izz al-Dawla's vizier, Ibn Baqiyya.