Ibrāhīm ibn Mūsā al-Kāẓim (Arabic:إبراهيم بن موسى الكاظم), known asal-Murtaḍā (Arabic:المرتضی,lit. 'the Attainer of God´s pleasure'), died 825 or after 837, was a ninth centuryAlid leader who led a rebellion against theAbbasid Caliphate in theYemen in the aftermath of theFourth Fitna. He later seized control ofMecca in ca. 817, and was subsequently recognized as legal governor of the city by the caliphal-Ma'mun.

AnAlid by birth, Ibrahim was one of the eighteen or nineteen^[1] sons of the seventh Shi'iteimamMusa al-Kazim (d. 799), and a great-great-great-great-grandson ofAli. He was a brother of the eighth imamAli al-Rida (d. 818), who was briefly the designated heir of the Abbasid caliphal-Ma'mun (r. 813–833).^[2]

Ibrahim became active as a rebel following the damagingcivil war of 811–813 between the rival caliphsal-Amin and al-Ma'mun, which had greatly weakened the ability of the Abbasid government to maintain its authority inBaghdad and the provinces of the empire.^[3] While inMecca in 815, he was appointed byAbu al-Saraya al-Sari ibn Mansur, who had launched a pro-Alid revolt in southernIraq and seized the cities ofal-Kufah,al-Basrah, Mecca, andMedina, to conquer theYemen on his behalf, and he accordingly marched south toward the province with a large force. Upon learning of his advance, the governor of the Yemen,Ishaq ibn Musa ibn Isa al-Hashimi, decided against putting up any resistance and instead withdrew with his troops for theHijaz, in effect surrendering the province to Ibrahim. The latter was consequently able to enter the Yemen without facing any significant resistance, and he proceeded to occupySana'a in September 815 and take control of the country.^[4]

Ibrahim was able to maintain his hold over the Yemen for approximately a year, during which time he minted coins in his own name. His severe administration of the province, which was characterized by frequent killings, acts of enslavement, and confiscations of private property, soon caused him to develop a reputation for brutality, and he became known by the title of al-Jazzar ("the Butcher"). Especially harsh measures were taken on behalf of his tribal allies, who assisted him in his rule of the country, and at their request he arrested several chiefs of their rivals, killing several of them and forcing others into exile.^[5]

After spending several months in the Yemen, Ibrahim attempted to assert his authority over Mecca as well, and dispatched an army to the city to lead thepilgrimage of 816 in the name of the Alids. Upon their arrival at Mecca, however, his forces were unable to enter the city due to the presence of Abbasid reinforcements, and instead took to conducting raiding activities in the neighboring area until they were defeated and dispersed. Soon afterwards, Ibrahim learned that another army under the command ofHamdawayh ibn Ali ibn Isa ibn Mahan was marching toward the Yemen in order to reassert government control over the province, and he set out with his own men to halt Hamdawayh's advance. In the resulting engagement, Ibrahim was defeated and put to flight, and Hamdawayh was able to enter Sana'a and establish himself as governor, putting an end to Alid rule of the province.^[6]

Ibrahim's movements in the aftermath of his defeat against Hamdawayh are reported differently by various sources;al-Yaq'ubi states that he went straight to Mecca, while Yemeni writers claim that he remained in the province until 818, during which period he undertook punitive actions against a number of tribes that opposed him. It may have been around this time that he destroyed al-Khaniq, a sixth-century dam nearSa'dah built by amawla ofSayf ibn Dhi Yazan, and devastated the old town of Sa'dah as well.^[7] At some point, however, he decided to depart from the Yemen and set out with his supporters, traveling north until he reached the outskirts of Mecca. In response to his approach, the officer in command of the city, Yazid ibn Muhammad al-Makhzumi, came out to face him, but the rebels defeated him in battle, killing him and routing his forces. With the defeat of Yazid, Ibrahim was free to enter Mecca and occupy it, and he established himself as master of the city and surrounding territory.^[8]

A change in Ibrahim's relationship with the Abbasid government occurred in 817, when the caliph al-Ma'mun decided to show favoritism to the Alids and designated Ibrahim's brother Ali ibn Musa al-Rida as his heir to the caliphate, while at the same time pardoning several Alids who had rebelled against him. Toward this end, the central government reconciled with Ibrahim, who was still in Mecca, and formally gave him control of the city by recognizing him as its governor. With his rule over Mecca now legitimized, Ibrahim implemented the caliph's pro-Alid policy in the city and rendered theoath of allegiance to Ali. A short time later he headed the pilgrimage of 818 and invoked his brother in the prayers as heir to al-Ma'mun, making him, according toAl-Masudi, the first descendant of Abu Talib to lead the pilgrimage since the coming of Islam.^[9]

In addition to receiving legal control over Mecca, Ibrahim was granted the governorship of the Yemen, which was still in the hands of Hamdawayh ibn Ali. When Hamdawayh refused to yield the province, however, Ibrahim decided to dislodge him by force and organized an expedition against him. He soon reached the Yemen in mid-818 and made his way toward Sana'a, but he was met by Hamdawayh and his forces as he approached the town. The battle that followed went badly for Ibrahim, whose army was routed by Hamdawayh's, and he was forced to retreat back to the Hijaz, abandoning his hopes to recover the province.^[10]

Following his defeat in the Yemen, Ibrahim returned to Mecca, where he remained until 820. In that year he was dispatched toBaghdad by the military commanderIsa ibn Yazid al-Juludi, and Ubaydallah ibn al-Hasan al-Talibi was appointed as governor of the city in his place.^[11]

Ibrahim died inBaghdad, reportedly from poisoning, and was buried next to his father in the graveyard of Quraysh inal-Kazimiyyah. Various dates are given for his death, including in 825 and after 837.^[12]

• Bikhazi, Ramzi J. (1970)."Coins of al-Yaman 132-569 A.H."Al-Abhath.23:3–127. RetrievedJune 4, 2016.
• Buyukkara, M. Ali (2002). "Al-Ma'mun's Choice of 'Ali al-Rida as His Heir".Islamic Studies.41 (3):445–466.JSTOR 20837211.
• Geddes, C. L. (1963–64). "Al-Ma'mun's Si'ite Policy in Yemen".Wiener Zeitschrift für die Kunde des Morgenlandes. 59/60:445–466.JSTOR 23888344.
• Heiss, Johann (1987). "Historical and Social Aspects of Sa'dah, a Yemeni Town".Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies.17:63–80.JSTOR 41223043.
• Ja'far al-Khalili (1987).Mawsu'at al-'Atabat al-Muqaddasah, Vol. 10: Qism al-Kazimayn (in Arabic). Beirut: Mu'assasat al-A'lami Matbu'at.OCLC 4770260659.
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• Kohlberg, E. (1993)."Mūsā al-Kāẓim". InBosworth, C. E.;van Donzel, E.;Heinrichs, W. P. &Pellat, Ch. (eds.).The Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition.Volume VII: Mif–Naz. Leiden: E. J. Brill. pp. 645–648.ISBN 978-90-04-09419-2.
• Al-Mad'aj, Abd al-Muhsin Mad'aj M. (1988).The Yemen in Early Islam (9-233/630-847): A Political History. London: Ithaca Press.ISBN 0863721028.
• Al-Mas'udi, Ali ibn al-Husain (1861–1877).Les Prairies D'Or. Vol. 9 vols. Ed. and Trans. Charles Barbier de Meynard andAbel Pavet de Courteille. Paris: Imprimerie Nationale.
• Muhsin al-Amin (1983).A'yan al-Shi'ah, Vol. 2 (in Arabic). Beirut: Dar al-Ta'aruf li al-Matbu'at.OCLC 4769945206.
• Rekaya, M. (1991)."al-Maʾmūn". InBosworth, C. E.;van Donzel, E. &Pellat, Ch. (eds.).The Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition.Volume VI: Mahk–Mid. Leiden: E. J. Brill. pp. 331–339.ISBN 978-90-04-08112-3.
• Bosworth, C. E., ed. (1987).The History of al-Ṭabarī, Volume XXXII: The Reunification of the ʿAbbāsid Caliphate: The Caliphate of al-Maʾmūn, A.D. 813–33/A.H. 198–213. SUNY Series in Near Eastern Studies. Albany, New York: State University of New York Press.ISBN 978-0-88706-058-8.
• Al-Ya'qubi, Ahmad ibn Abu Ya'qub (1883). Houtsma, M. Th. (ed.).Historiae, Vol. 2 (in Arabic). Leiden: E. J. Brill.

• Husaynids
• 9th-century Arab people
• Rebels from the Abbasid Caliphate
• Yemen under the Abbasid Caliphate
• Abbasid governors of Mecca
• People of the Fourth Fitna
• 763 births
• 9th-century deaths
• 9th century in Yemen
• 9th-century Shia Muslims

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