{ "id": "ep3ma7fpkm", "slug": "al-radi", "title": "al-Radi", "updated": "2026-10-25", "topic_path": [ { "id": "society", "label": "Society and history", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/society" }, { "id": "society.history", "label": "History and archaeology", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/society.history" }, { "id": "society.history.other", "label": "Other history", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/society.history.other" }, { "id": "society.history.other.middle-east", "label": "Middle East and North Africa", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/society.history.other.middle-east" }, { "id": "society.history.other.middle-east.abbasid-early", "label": "Early Abbasid period (750 to 945)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/society.history.other.middle-east.abbasid-early" }, { "id": "society.history.other.middle-east.abbasid-early.abbasid-caliphs-and-court-figures", "label": "Abbasid caliphs and court figures", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/society.history.other.middle-east.abbasid-early.abbasid-caliphs-and-court-figures" } ], "geo": [ { "id": "geo.mena.t500.society.history.other.middle-east.abbasid-early.abbasid-caliphs-and-court-figures", "label": "Middle East and North Africa · 500 BC to AD 999: Abbasid caliphs and court figures", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.mena.t500.society.history.other.middle-east.abbasid-early.abbasid-caliphs-and-court-figures", "path": [ { "id": "geo.mena", "label": "Middle East and North Africa", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.mena" }, { "id": "geo.mena.t500", "label": "Middle East and North Africa · 500 BC to AD 999", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.mena.t500" }, { "id": "geo.mena.t500.society", "label": "Society and history", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.mena.t500.society" }, { "id": "geo.mena.t500.society.history", "label": "History and archaeology", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.mena.t500.society.history" }, { "id": "geo.mena.t500.society.history.other", "label": "Other history", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.mena.t500.society.history.other" }, { "id": "geo.mena.t500.society.history.other.middle-east", "label": "Middle East and North Africa", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.mena.t500.society.history.other.middle-east" }, { "id": "geo.mena.t500.society.history.other.middle-east.abbasid-early", "label": "Early Abbasid period (750 to 945)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.mena.t500.society.history.other.middle-east.abbasid-early" }, { "id": "geo.mena.t500.society.history.other.middle-east.abbasid-early.abbasid-caliphs-and-court-figures", "label": "Abbasid caliphs and court figures", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.mena.t500.society.history.other.middle-east.abbasid-early.abbasid-caliphs-and-court-figures" } ] } ], "excerpt": "Al-Radi (الراضي) was the Abbasid caliph in Baghdad from 933 to 940, who created the office of amir al-umara, transferring executive power to a military commander.", "snippet": "Al-Radi (الراضي) was the Abbasid caliph in Baghdad from 933 to 940, who created the office of amir al-umara, transferring executive power to a military commander.", "node": "society.history.other.middle-east.abbasid-early.abbasid-caliphs-and-court-figures", "markdown": "# al-Radi\n\n**Al-Radi** (الراضي), regnal name al-Radi billah ('content with God'), was the Abbasid caliph in [Baghdad](https://www.edgepedia.org/baghdad) from AH 322 (933–934) to AH 329 (940–941), a reign defined by the loss of effective control over most of the caliphate's provinces and by his creation of the office of amir al-umara for [Muhammad ibn Ra'iq](https://www.edgepedia.org/muhammad-ibn-raiq) in AH 324, which transferred executive power from the caliph to a military commander.[1](https://lib.eshia.ir/40175/6/71) • [2](https://aklaam.net/newaqlam/index.php/altarykh-alaslamy/3272-old-article-549)\n\n| Fact | Detail |\n|---|---|\n| Dates | Born AH 297 (909–910); died mid-Rabi' I AH 329 (8 December 940)[1](https://lib.eshia.ir/40175/6/71) • [2](https://aklaam.net/newaqlam/index.php/altarykh-alaslamy/3272-old-article-549) |\n| Reign | 6 Jumada I AH 322 to 329, six years, ten months, and ten days[3](https://shamela.ws/book/30097/5581) • [2](https://aklaam.net/newaqlam/index.php/altarykh-alaslamy/3272-old-article-549) |\n| Predecessor | His uncle al-Qahir, deposed and blinded[3](https://shamela.ws/book/30097/5581) |\n| Key act | Created the title amir al-umara for Ibn Ra'iq in AH 324[1](https://lib.eshia.ir/40175/6/71) • [6](https://jtuh.org/index.php/jtuh/article/view/1125) |\n| Distinction | Counted as the last caliph with recorded poetry and the last to exercise independent rule[1](https://lib.eshia.ir/40175/6/71) • [2](https://aklaam.net/newaqlam/index.php/altarykh-alaslamy/3272-old-article-549) |\n\n## Accession and family\n\nAl-Radi was the son of Caliph al-Muqtadir billah Ja'far ibn al-Mu'tadid, of the Abbasid dynasty.[4](https://shamela.ws/book/10906/9374) • [1](https://lib.eshia.ir/40175/6/71) Most sources give his given name as Muhammad; al-Dhahabi's biographical entry writes Muhammad and adds \"and it is said: Ahmad,\" while one account names him Ahmad outright.[4](https://shamela.ws/book/10906/9374) • [2](https://aklaam.net/newaqlam/index.php/altarykh-alaslamy/3272-old-article-549)\n\nHe reached the throne through a military coup against his own uncle. When the troops deposed al-Qahir and blinded him, they brought Abu al-Abbas ibn al-Muqtadir, who had been imprisoned with his mother, released him, and swore allegiance to him as caliph on Wednesday 6 Jumada I AH 322, giving him the title al-Radi billah.[3](https://shamela.ws/book/30097/5581) • [2](https://aklaam.net/newaqlam/index.php/altarykh-alaslamy/3272-old-article-549) The secretary [Abu Bakr](https://www.edgepedia.org/abu-bakr) al-Suli had suggested the title al-Murtada billah, but al-Radi chose al-Radi instead.[3](https://shamela.ws/book/30097/5581) He came to the throne after the weak reigns of al-Muqtadir and al-Qahir, without a power base of his own.[1](https://lib.eshia.ir/40175/6/71)\n\n## Reign: policies, administration, and wars\n\n**Early administration.** Al-Radi tried to reform the affairs of state but failed.[1](https://lib.eshia.ir/40175/6/71)\n\nThe amir al-umara. In AH 324 al-Radi wrote to Muhammad ibn Ra'iq, his governor over Wasit, Basra, and Ahwaz, summoning him to Baghdad, and invested him with command of the army, the title amir al-umara ('commander of the commanders'), and charge of the land tax (kharaj) and the diwans.[1](https://lib.eshia.ir/40175/6/71) A scholarly study of the office dates its creation to AH 324, when al-Radi handed Ibn Ra'iq the reins of affairs and all the powers of the state, hoping he would restore the prestige of the caliphate and the vizierate at a time when provinces were seeking to separate from the center.[6](https://jtuh.org/index.php/jtuh/article/view/1125) \n\n**Loss of the provinces.** Under al-Radi the caliphate's territory broke apart: Fars fell to the Buyids, Mosul, Diyar Bakr, Mudar, and Rabi'a to the Hamdanids, Egypt and Syria to Muhammad ibn Tughj, the Maghrib and Ifriqiya to the Fatimid al-Qa'im, al-Andalus to the Umayyad al-Nasir, Khurasan and [Transoxiana](https://www.edgepedia.org/transoxiana) to the Samanid Nasr, and Tabaristan and Jurjan to the [Daylamites](https://www.edgepedia.org/daylamites).[1](https://lib.eshia.ir/40175/6/71) Muhammad al-Ikhshid ibn Tughj took Egypt in AH 323, founding the [Ikhshidid dynasty](https://www.edgepedia.org/ikhshidid-dynasty) there.[2](https://aklaam.net/newaqlam/index.php/altarykh-alaslamy/3272-old-article-549) \n\n**Mardavij and the Qarmatis.** In AH 322 the power of [Mardavij ibn Ziyar](https://www.edgepedia.org/mardavij-ibn-ziyar) grew in Isfahan, and people said he intended Baghdad and was in contact with the Qarmati ruler of Bahrain; his own Turkish mamluks, led by Bajkam, conspired against and killed him in AH 323 (935).[10](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Mardaviz-ebn-Zeyar) • [3](https://shamela.ws/book/30097/5581) After Mardavij's death the standing of Ali ibn Buya rose among the people and the kings; he made a pact with al-Radi to pay an annual sum of dirhams from his territory, a commitment that was not fully carried out.[3](https://shamela.ws/book/30097/5581) • [7](https://www.islamical.org/fa/%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%B6%DB%8C_%D8%B9%D8%A8%D8%A7%D8%B3%DB%8C) According to the article \"الراضي — ترجمته وكيف انتخب والحال في عهده وأمر القرامطة والدولة الأخشيدية,\" toward the Qarmatis, al-Radi's government sent a messenger to [Abu Tahir al-Qarmati](https://www.edgepedia.org/abu-tahir-al-qarmati) confirming his lands and asking him to stop attacking pilgrims and return the [Black Stone](https://www.edgepedia.org/black-stone) to its place in Mecca; Abu Tahir agreed not to obstruct the pilgrims. \n\n## Political influence\n\nAl-Radi's lasting institutional legacy is the office of amir al-umara. By handing Ibn Ra'iq the army, the kharaj, and the diwans in AH 324, he created a military supreme command above the vizierate; in his own day, the sources state, the word was with the amir al-umara, and the caliph merely followed his orders, holding nothing of the power of the caliphate.[1](https://lib.eshia.ir/40175/6/71) • [2](https://aklaam.net/newaqlam/index.php/altarykh-alaslamy/3272-old-article-549) The change came as provinces were already separating from the caliphal center, and in AH 325 the political structure tended toward fragmentation and Abbasid influence declined further.[6](https://jtuh.org/index.php/jtuh/article/view/1125) • [7](https://www.islamical.org/fa/%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%B6%DB%8C_%D8%B9%D8%A8%D8%A7%D8%B3%DB%8C) He is also counted as the last caliph to preach the Friday sermon on the minbar himself, the last with recorded poetry, and the last to govern independently.[2](https://aklaam.net/newaqlam/index.php/altarykh-alaslamy/3272-old-article-549) • [1](https://lib.eshia.ir/40175/6/71)\n\n## Military style\n\nHis military policy consisted of delegating force to strongmen: he summoned Ibn Ra'iq from Wasit and gave him command of the army, and the decisive soldiery of the period was the Turkish mamluks, the slave troops whose conspiracy removed [Mardavij](https://www.edgepedia.org/mardavij) and who were led by Bajkam.[1](https://lib.eshia.ir/40175/6/71) • [3](https://shamela.ws/book/30097/5581)\n\n## End of the reign and succession\n\nAl-Radi died of illness in AH 329 (8 December 940), in mid-Rabi' I, after a reign of six years, ten months, and ten days.[2](https://aklaam.net/newaqlam/index.php/altarykh-alaslamy/3272-old-article-549) • [8](https://www.vetogate.com/4761225) He had sent to Bajkam at Wasit asking him to designate al-Radi's youngest son Abu al-Fadl as successor, but this did not come about; when he died, the judges and notables gathered at Bajkam's residence, agreed on al-Radi's brother al-Muttaqi, Ibrahim ibn al-Muqtadir, and swore him in on Wednesday the 10th remaining of Rabi' I of AH 329.[5](https://ar.wikisource.org/wiki/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A8%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%8A%D8%A9_%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%86%D9%87%D8%A7%D9%8A%D8%A9/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AC%D8%B2%D8%A1_%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AD%D8%A7%D8%AF%D9%8A_%D8%B9%D8%B4%D8%B1/%D8%AB%D9%85_%D8%AF%D8%AE%D9%84%D8%AA_%D8%B3%D9%86%D8%A9_%D8%AA%D8%B3%D8%B9_%D9%88%D8%B9%D8%B4%D8%B1%D9%8A%D9%86_%D9%88%D8%AB%D9%84%D8%A7%D8%AB%D9%85%D8%A7%D8%A6%D8%A9) The choice of successor was thus made at the commander's residence, a measure of where authority had moved.\n\n## Historians' assessment\n\nAl-Zirikli's biographical dictionary records that al-Radi tried to reform affairs but was unable to, and that under him the provinces fell away to regional dynasties.[1](https://lib.eshia.ir/40175/6/71) Arabic accounts describe him as generous, kind, a man of letters, and a poet, fond of scholars, who heard hadith from al-Baghawi and others.[8](https://www.vetogate.com/4761225) Bajkam, the commander who dominated his final years, was remembered as a man of learning, wealth, and charity who began building a hospital (maristan) in Baghdad, later renewed by Adud al-Dawla ibn Buya, and who used to say \"justice is the sultan's profit.\"[5](https://ar.wikisource.org/wiki/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A8%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%8A%D8%A9_%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%86%D9%87%D8%A7%D9%8A%D8%A9/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AC%D8%B2%D8%A1_%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AD%D8%A7%D8%AF%D9%8A_%D8%B9%D8%B4%D8%B1/%D8%AB%D9%85_%D8%AF%D8%AE%D9%84%D8%AA_%D8%B3%D9%86%D8%A9_%D8%AA%D8%B3%D8%B9_%D9%88%D8%B9%D8%B4%D8%B1%D9%8A%D9%86_%D9%88%D8%AB%D9%84%D8%A7%D8%AB%D9%85%D8%A7%D8%A6%D8%A9)\n\n## References\n\n1. Al-A'lam (al-Zirikli), vol. 6, entry \"al-Radi billah\", https://lib.eshia.ir/40175/6/71\n2. \"Al-Radi: his biography, how he was elected, and the condition of his era\", https://aklaam.net/newaqlam/index.php/altarykh-alaslamy/3272-old-article-549\n3. Al-Bidaya wa'l-Nihaya, vol. 12 (Ibn Kathir), caliphate of al-Radi billah, https://shamela.ws/book/30097/5581\n4. Siyar A'lam al-Nubala', vol. 15 (al-Dhahabi), entry \"al-Radi billah\", https://shamela.ws/book/10906/9374\n5. Al-Bidaya wa'l-Nihaya, part 11, year 329 AH (Wikisource), https://ar.wikisource.org/wiki/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A8%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%8A%D8%A9_%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%86%D9%87%D8%A7%D9%8A%D8%A9/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AC%D8%B2%D8%A1_%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AD%D8%A7%D8%AF%D9%8A_%D8%B9%D8%B4%D8%B1/%D8%AB%D9%85_%D8%AF%D8%AE%D9%84%D8%AA_%D8%B3%D9%86%D8%A9_%D8%AA%D8%B3%D8%B9_%D9%88%D8%B9%D8%B4%D8%B1%D9%8A%D9%86_%D9%88%D8%AB%D9%84%D8%A7%D8%AB%D9%85%D8%A7%D8%A6%D8%A9\n6. \"The Emergence of the position of Prince of Princes and Its Impact on the Authority of the Caliphate and the Ministry,\" Journal of Tikrit University for Humanities, https://jtuh.org/index.php/jtuh/article/view/1125\n7. \"Radi Abbasi,\" Islamical, https://www.islamical.org/fa/%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%B6%DB%8C_%D8%B9%D8%A8%D8%A7%D8%B3%DB%8C\n8. \"Abu al-Abbas al-Radi, the last caliph to ascend the minbar,\" Veto Gate, https://www.vetogate.com/4761225\n9. \"940 CE: The seven years' reign of ar-Radi, son of al-Muqtadir,\" HistoryAtlas, https://www.historyatlas.com/events/the-seven-years-reign-of-ar-radi-son-of-al/\n10. Mardaviz ebn Zeyar (britannica.com). https://www.britannica.com/biography/Mardaviz-ebn-Zeyar\n\n---\n*Topic: Encyclopedia › Society and history › History and archaeology › Other history › Middle East and North Africa › Early Abbasid period (750 to 945) › Abbasid caliphs and court figures*\n\n*Initially written Sep 23, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 30, 2026 · Edited: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Sep 30, 2026*\n\n*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*\n\nLicense: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license\n", "same_as": [], "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/al-radi", "markdown_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/al-radi.md", "license": { "name": "Edgepedia Community License 1.0", "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license", "summary": "Free with credit, commercial use included. AI training is open to everyone. For other uses, organizations over USD 100M in revenue or 100M monthly users license separately.", "spdx": "LicenseRef-Edgepedia-Community-1.0" }, "credit": "\"al-Radi\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/al-radi. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "credit_md": "\"[al-Radi](https://www.edgepedia.org/al-radi)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), [https://www.edgepedia.org/al-radi](https://www.edgepedia.org/al-radi). [Edgepedia Community License 1.0](https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license).", "credit_html": "\"al-Radi\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/al-radi. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "speakable": "Al-Radi was the Abbasid caliph in Baghdad from 933 to 940, who created the office of amir al-umara, transferring executive power to a military commander." }