Ibn Tabataba
Hasanid figurehead of a Zaydi revolt against the Abbasids.
Abū ʿAbdallāh Muḥammad ibn Ibrāhīm Ṭabāṭabā, better known as Ibn Ṭabāṭabā, was a Hasanid who served as the figurehead of an unsuccessful Zaydi uprising against the Abbasid Caliphate in 814–815, during the Fourth Fitna. His grandfather Ismāʿīl al-Dībāj is the grandson of Hasan al-Mu'thannā. The revolt was led in practice by Abu'l-Saraya, who proclaimed Ibn Ṭabāṭabā as commander of the faithful on 27 December 814 (26 January 815 according to al-Tabari). Ibn Ṭabāṭabā died at Kufa on 15 February 815.
Quick Facts
- Full name
- Abū ʿAbdallāh Muḥammad ibn Ibrāhīm Ṭabāṭabā ibn Ismāʿīl al-Dībādj ibn Ibrāhīm al
- Died
- 15 February 815
- Place of death
- Kufa
- Role in revolt
- Figurehead
- Uprising period
- 814–815
Facts from the source article.
Did You Know?
- The sobriquet Ṭabāṭabā was given either to his father Ibrahim or his grandfather Isma'il, reportedly due to a speech defect or a slip-up.
- Nasr ibn Shabath's collaborators offered Ibn Ṭabāṭabā 5,000 gold dinars to return to Medina, but he refused the money.
- His brother, al-Qasim al-Rassi, was the progenitor of the Rassid dynasty of Zaydi imams, who ruled large parts of Yemen until the 20th century.
Life
The name Tabataba, a nickname for either his father Ibrahim or his grandfather Ismail, supposedly came from a speech impediment or a verbal mistake, though it also served as a common term for someone of Alid lineage on both sides. Ibn Tabataba originally resided in Medina. There, Nasr ibn Shabath sought him out and put him forward as a candidate for imam. Stirred by ambition, Ibn Tabataba accompanied Nasr to Iraq.
Once there, however, he discovered that Nasr’s allies opposed his candidacy. They tried to buy him off with five thousand gold dinars to go back to Medina. He turned down the money but still started the journey home. En route, he heard about a pro-Alid revolt being organized by Abu’l-Saraya, who was rallying his Zaydi supporters near the tomb of al-Husayn.
Ibn Tabataba promptly headed to Kufa, a stronghold for Alids. There, he managed to gather only a small, poorly armed group of Kufans. On the agreed day, the two forces met in a Kufa suburb before entering the city. Abu’l-Saraya declared Ibn Tabataba the commander of the faithful on December 27, 814 (or January 26, 815, per al-Tabari) and laid out the uprising’s principles in a Friday sermon.
Ibn Tabataba served merely as a figurehead; real control lay with Abu’l-Saraya. Modern historians think Abu’l-Saraya lacked genuine pro-Alid motives and simply used the Alids as a means to seize power. The rebellion saw early success. On February 14, 815, the rebels beat the Abbasid forces sent by al-Hasan ibn Sahl, Caliph al-Ma’mun’s governor of Iraq.
Some reports say Ibn Tabataba fought and was wounded outside Kufa’s walls, while al-Tabari states Abu’l-Saraya poisoned him. On his deathbed, Ibn Tabataba chose the Husaynid Ali ibn Ubayd Allah as his successor, but Ali declined and put forward Muhammad ibn Zayd instead. Ibn Tabataba died in Kufa the following day, February 15, 815.
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