Amir al-Mu'minin (Arabic:أَمِيرُ المُؤمنين,romanized: ʾAmīr al-Muʾminīn), orCommander of the Believers (also translated asCommander of the Faithful), is a politico-religious title inIslamic history denoting supreme leadership over the Muslim community (ummah).[1] The term combinesamīr (lit. 'commander, leader') withal-muʾminīn (lit. 'the believers'), thereby signifying authority that is simultaneously military, administrative, judicial, and moral in nature.[2]
Althoughetymologicallyʾamīr (Arabic:أَمِير) is equivalent to English "commander", the wide variety of its historical and modern use allows for a range of translations. The historianH.A.R. Gibb, however, counsels against the translation "Prince of the Believers" as "neither philologically nor historically correct".[3]
The titleʾamīr was used for Muslim military commanders during the lifetime of ProphetMuhammad. It was, for example, borne by the Muslim commander at theBattle of al-Qadisiyya.[3] On his accession in 634, the second caliphUmar (r. 634–644) adopted the title. This was likely not for its military connotation, but rather deriving from aQuranic injunction to "Obey God and obey the Apostle and those invested with command among you" (Sura 4, verses 58–62).[3]
According toFred M. Donner, the title's adoption marked a step in the centralization of the nascent Muslim state, as theʾAmīr al-Muʾminīn was acknowledged as the central authority of theexpanding Muslim empire, responsible for appointing and dismissing generals and governors, taking major political decisions, and keeping thedīwān (Arabic:دیوان), the list of those Muslims entitled to a share of the spoils of conquest.[4] From Umar on, the title became a fixed part of caliphal titulature.[3] Indeed, it appears to have been the chief title of the early caliphs,[5] and the actual title ofcaliph (Arabic:خليفة,romanized: khalifa,lit. 'successor') does not appear to have been adopted until the reign of theUmayyad caliphAbd al-Malik ibn Marwan (r. 685–705), who adopted it as a means to strengthen his position, which had become shaky following theSecond Fitna.[6]
AmongSunnis, the adoption of the title ofʾAmīr al-Muʾminīn became virtually tantamount to claiming the caliphate. As a result, the title was used by the great Islamic dynasties that claimed the universal leadership over theMuslim community: theUmayyads,Abbasids, andFatimids.[3] In later centuries, it was also adopted by regional rulers, especially in the western parts of the Muslim world, who used the caliphal rank to emphasize their independent authority and legitimacy, rather than any ecumenical claim.[3] TheUmayyads of Cordoba adopted it in 928, whence it was also used by several other minor rulers ofal-Andalus. From 1253, theHafsids ofIfriqiya claimed the caliphate, and were followed by theMarinids ofMorocco, following whom all successiveMoroccan dynasties—the last two of them, theSa'di dynasty and the currentAlawi dynasty, also by virtue of their claimeddescent from Muhammad[7]—have also claimed it.[3] TheConstitution of Morocco still uses the termʾAmīr al-Muʾminīn as the principal title of theKing of Morocco, as a means to "[legitimize the monarchy's] hegemonic role and its position outside significant constitutional restraint".[8]
At the same time, the title has retained a connotation of command in thejihād (Arabic:جِهَاد, "holy war") and has been used thus throughout history, without necessarily implying a claim to the caliphate.[3][9] It was used in this sense by the earlyOttoman sultans—who notably rarely used the caliphal title after they took it from the Abbasids in 1517—as well as variousWest African Muslim warlords until the modern period.[3] The title was used byAurangzeb, the sixth emperor of theMughal Empire.[10]Muhammad Umar Khan of theKokand Khanate took on the title.[11]
Abdelkader El Djezairi assumed the title in 1834.[12] The Afghan rulerDost Mohammad Khan likewise used it when he proclaimed ajihād against theSikh Empire in 1836.[13][14] According to historian Richard Pennell, this pattern reflects the use of the termʾAmīr al-Muʾminīn for regional rulers with the connotations of wide-ranging and absolute authority over a region, the power to conduct relations with foreign states, the upkeep of theSharia, and the protection of Muslim territory from non-believers.[15]Timur (Tamerlane) also used the title.[citation needed]
WhenHussein bin Ali was buried in the compound of theAl-Aqsa Mosqueas a caliph in 1931, the following inscription was written on the window above his tomb:Arabic:هَذَا قَبْرُ أَمِيرِ ٱلْمُؤْمِنِينَ ٱلْحُسَيْن بْنُ عَلِي,romanized: Haḏa qabru ʾamīri ʾal-mūˈminīna ʾal-Ḥusayn bnu ʿAlī, which translates to "This is the tomb of the Commander of the Faithful, Hussein bin Ali."[16][17]
In 1996, the title was adopted by theTaliban leaderMuhammad Umar.[13] Mullah Mohammed Omar was conferred the title in April 1996 by a Taliban-convenedshura (Arabic:شُورَىٰ,lit. 'assembly') of approximately 1000-1500 Afghanulama inKandahar, when he displayed theCloak of Muhammad before the crowd. The title granted legitimacy to Omar's leadership of Afghanistan and his declared jihad against the government led byBurhanuddin Rabbani. Omar was still referred to asʾAmīr al-Muʾminīn by his followers and other jihadists, notably al-Qaeda leaderAyman al-Zawahiri.Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansoor, the successor of Mullah Omar, was conferred the title in July 2015 upon his appointment as the new leader of the Taliban.[18]Hibatullah Akhundzada, the thirdSupreme Leader of the Taliban, was also conferred the title upon his election in 2016 and became theLeader ofAfghanistan in 2021.[19]
In 2005, theIslamic State leaderAbu Umar al-Baghdadi adopted the title, nine years before the Islamic State proclaimed its caliphate in 2014.[20]Abu Umar al-Baghdadi was conferred the title after his appointment in October 2006 by the Mujahideen Shura Council as the first Emir of the newly declaredIslamic State of Iraq.[21][22] As Richard Pennell commented, by claiming the title they positioned themselves as potential "caliphs-in-waiting",[15] but for the moment, the title was simply the expression of their claim to an overarching "activist authority" over the areas they controlled.[23]
Twelver Shias apply the title exclusively toAli,[3] the cousin and son-in-law of Muhammad, regarded as the firstImam byShia Muslims and officially designated successor (caliph) to Muhammad.
TheIsma'ili Fatimid caliphs used the title as part of their titulature,[3] and in theNizari branch of Isma'ilism, theʾAmīr al-Muʾminīn is always the currentImam of the Time. InNasir al-Din al-Tusi'sThe Voyage (Sayr wa-Suluk), he explains that the hearts of the believers are attached to the Commander of the Believers, not just theCommand (written word) itself. There is always a present living imam in the world, and following him, a believer could never go astray.[24]
Among theZaydis, the title retained strong connotations with the leadership of thejihād, and was thus the right of any rightful Imam who stepped forth to claim his right by force of arms.[3] The title was thus part of the titulature of the ZaydiImams of Yemen until the end of the Yemeni monarchy.[3]
TheIbadis did not use the term, except for theRustamid dynasty.[3]
TheKitáb-i-Íqán, the primary theological work of theBaháʼí Faith, applies the title Commander of the Faithful toAli, the son-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad.[25]
{{citation}}: CS1 maint: work parameter with ISBN (link)