Abū ʿAbdallāh Muḥammad ibn Ibrāhīm Ṭabāṭabā ibn Ismāʿīl al-Dībādj ibn Ibrāhīm al-Ghamr ibn al-Ḥasan al-Muthannā (Arabic:أبو عبد الله محمد بن إبراهيم بن إسماعيل الديباج بن إبراهيم الغمر بن الحسن المثنى, died 15 February 815), better known asIbn Ṭabāṭabā, was aHasanid who was the figurehead of an unsuccessfulZaydi uprising against theAbbasid Caliphate in 814–815, during theFourth Fitna. His grandfather Ismāʿīl al-Dībāj is the grandson ofHasan al-Mu'thannā.
The sobriquet ofṬabāṭabā was given either to his father, Ibrahim, or his grandfather, Isma'il, reportedly due to a speech defect or a slip-up. However, it was also a colloquial term for persons ofAlid descent from both paternal and maternal sides.[1] He lived atMedina, until he was sought out by Nasr ibn Shabath, who preferred him as candidate forimam.[2] His ambition awakened, he followed Nasr toIraq, but there he found Nasr's collaborators opposed to his candidacy. They offered him 5,000gold dinars to return to Medina. He refused the money, but began his return to Medina.[3]
On the way, he learned of a pro-Alid rebellion being prepared byAbu'l-Saraya, who was gathering hisZaydi followers around thetomb ofal-Husayn. Immediately he went toKufa, an Alid stronghold, where he only succeeded in rousing a few poorly armed Kufans to his cause.[3] The two groups met at a suburb of Kufa on the appointed day, before entering the city. Abu'l-Saraya proclaimed Ibn Tabataba ascommander of the faithful on 27 December 814 (26 January 815 according toal-Tabari[4]), and declared the principles of the uprising in aFriday sermon.[3]
Ibn Tabataba's role in the revolt was only as a figurehead, while actual power rested with Abu'l-Saraya.[3][5] Indeed, modern scholars suggest that Abu'l-Saraya was not motivated by pro-Alid zeal, but merely saw the Alids as a tool to gain power.[6]
The uprising was initially successful, and on 14 February 815, the rebels defeated the Abbasid troops that Caliphal-Ma'mun's governor of Iraq,al-Hasan ibn Sahl, had sent against them.[3][7] Some accounts have Ibn Tabataba fighting and being wounded outside the walls of Kufa, while al-Tabari claims that Abu'l-Saraya poisoned him.[3][8] On his deathbed, Ibn Tabataba nominated theHusaynid Ali ibn Ubayd Allah as his successor, but the latter refused and nominated Muhammad ibn Zayd instead.[3] Ibn Tabataba died at Kufa on the next day, 15 February 815.[1][8]
His descendants migrated toKirman andEthiopia, where their line disappears from record.[3] His brother,al-Qasim al-Rassi, was the progenitor of theRassid dynasty of Zaydi imams, who ruled large parts ofYemen until the 20th century.[9]
