Abbasa bint al-Mahdi (Arabic:العباسة بنت المهدي,romanized: al-ʿAbbāsa;c. 765 – after 804) was a famousAbbasid princess. She was the daughter of Abbasid caliphal-Mahdi, sister of caliphMusa al-Hadi andHarun al-Rashid.

Abbasa was the daughter of the thirdAbbasid caliph,al-Mahdi,^[1] and aconcubine of theAbbasid harem by the name of Rahim, thus she was the mother of his oldest surviving girl child, Abbasa.^[1] She was thehalf-sister of al-Hadi, Harun al-Rashid,Ulayya, andIbrahim ibn al-Mahdi.

She was born during her grandfather reign, her father became caliph in 775. When Abbasa was a young her father arranged her marriage to a cadet member ofAbbasid House.

Her husband wasMuhammad ibn Sulayman,^[2] a prominent member of a cadet branch of the Abbasid dynasty, who was a long-time governor ofKufa andBasra.^[3] however her husband died in mid-November 789^[4][5] and Abbasa became a widow.

She married again another Abbasid member during the reign of her brotherHarun al-Rashid. Her second marriage was withIbrahim ibn Salih, a member of another cadet branch of the Abbasid dynasty: he was a first cousin to the first two Abbasid caliphsal-Saffah (r. 750–754) andal-Mansur (r. 754–775).[6] He also became a son-in-law to the third Abbasid caliphal-Mahdi (r. 775–785) by virtue of his marriage to the latter's daughter Abbasa.[7] Ibrahim died in 792, shortly after having been appointed governor of Egypt a second time.^[8]

After her second husband's death, Abbasa spend rest of her life as a widow in his brother's caliphal palace. She died around800s.

Abbasa was related toAbbasid house both by birth and through marriage like all other Abbasid princess. She was contemporary and related to several Abbasid caliphs, princes and princesses.

There are several myths and legends around Harun and his family. One notorious myth was that Harun al-Rashid was known for being unhappy with the fact that he was a relative of Abassa's, as he was attracted to her. To keep Abassa in his life, he had her marryJa'far ibn Yahya. The marriage was supposed to be one of convenience, but Abassa fell in love with her arranged husband. At night, aslave woman would be sent to Ja'far's bedroom, and Abassa took the slave woman's place one evening. Her husband was surprised. Abassa would get pregnant and give birth totwin boys in secret. The twins would be raised inMecca. Harun eventually found out about the relationship, and had Ja'far killed. Abassa was either killed, or, sent intoexile.^[10][11][12]

• 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.
• Henry Gardiner Adams, ed. (1857). "Abbassah".A Cyclopaedia of Female Biography: 1.Wikidata Q115277361.
• Gil, Moshe (1997) [1983].A History of Palestine, 634–1099. Translated by Ethel Broido. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.ISBN 0-521-59984-9.
• Abbott, Nabia (1946).Two Queens of Baghdad: Mother and Wife of Hārūn Al Rashīd. University of Chicago Press.ISBN 978-0-86356-031-6.{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
• Ibn Qutaybah, Abu Muhammad Abdallah ibn Muslim (n.d.). Ukashah, Tharwat (ed.).Al-Ma'arif (in Arabic) (4th ed.). Cairo: al-Dar Ma'arif.
• Kennedy, Hugh (2006).When Baghdad Ruled the Muslim World: The Rise and Fall of Islam's Greatest Dynasty. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Da Capo Press.ISBN 978-0-306814808.
• 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.
• Al-Kindi, Muhammad ibn Yusuf (1912). Guest, Rhuvon (ed.).The Governors and Judges of Egypt (in Arabic). Leyden and London: E. J. Brill.
• Kennedy, Hugh (2016) [1981].The Early Abbasid Caliphate: A Political History. Oxon and New York: Routledge.ISBN 978-1-315-66742-3.
• Ibn 'Asakir, Abu al-Qasim 'Ali ibn al-Hasan ibn Hibat Allah (1995). al-'Amrawi, 'Umar ibn Gharama (ed.).Tarikh Madinat Dimashq (in Arabic). Vol. 6. Beirut: Dar al-Fikr.
• McAuliffe, Jane Dammen, ed. (1995).The History of al-Ṭabarī, Volume XXVIII: The ʿAbbāsid Authority Affirmed: The Early Years of al-Mansūr, A.D. 753–763/A.H. 136–145. SUNY Series in Near Eastern Studies. Albany, New York: State University of New York Press.ISBN 978-0-7914-1895-6.
• 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.

• 760s births
• 8th-century women from the Abbasid Caliphate
• 8th-century people from the Abbasid Caliphate
• 9th-century women from the Abbasid Caliphate
• 9th-century people from the Abbasid Caliphate
• Daughters of Abbasid caliphs
• 9th-century deaths
• 8th-century Arab people

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