minister of the UAE, 1971-79, 1990 Born in Dubai al Maktum was educated there and in Britain. After the death of Shaikh Rashid in October 1990, al Maktum took over his father’s positions; vice president and premier of the UAE, and the ruler of the Dubai emirate. Under his leadership, Dubai has been developed successfully as a tourist resort for Europeans. ruler of the Dubai emirate in the United Arab Emirates, 1958-90, vice president of the UAE 1971-90, prime minister of the UAE 1979-90 Born in Dubai al Maktum belonged to the Aal bu Falasa section of the Bani Yas tribe. Following the founding of the United Arab Emirates in July 1971, a Supreme Council of seven rulers was established, with Shaikh Zaid al Nahyan of Abu Dhabi as its president and al Maktum its vice president. At the behest of Shaikh Zaid the Supreme Council called on al Maktum to become the UAE’s prime minister in July 1979.
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Al-Mansur (914-1002): (Muhammad ibn Abi-Amir al-Mansur Billah), Moorish regent of Cordoba, known in Spanish as Almanzor. He became steward to Princess Subh, wife of the caliph Hakim II, and under her patronage and by clever manipulation he rose to become (978) royal chamberlain for Hakim’s successor, the young Hisham II. Al-Mansur kept Hisham in seclusion at his court and assumed complete control over the caliphate. A great warrior, he reorganized the army and undertook many campaigns against the Christian states of N Spain; he sacked Barcelona (985), razed the city of Leon (988), and destroyed the church and shrine of St. James at Santiago de Compostela (998). Before he died he appointed one of his sons as his successor.
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Al-Mansur (754-775):[Arab., the victorious], 2nd Abbasid caliph and founder of the city of Baghdad. His name was in full Abu Ja’far Abd-Allah al-Mansur. He was brother and successor of consolidated his empire even though it was threatened by internal strife and foreign wars. He could not prevent the secession of Muslim Spain, however, under the Umayyad prince Abd ar-Rahman I. Mansur lived at first, as his brother had, near Kufa, but in 762 he began to build a new city, Baghdad. Abbasid caliph (754-75). Strongly suppressed Shii dissidents and moved the capital of the empire to the new city of Baghdad.
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Al-Mansur, Abu Ja’far Abdallah Ibn Muhammad (714-775): Al-Mansur or Abu Ja’far Abdallah ibn Muhammad al-Mansur (95 AH – 158 AH (714 AD – 775 AD);[1] was the second Abbasid Caliph from 136 AH to 158 AH (754 AD – 775 AD).
Biography:
Al-Mansur was born at the home of the ‘Abbasid family after their emigration from the Hejaz in 95 AH (714 AD). “His father, Muhammad, was reputedly a great-grandson of Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib, the youngest uncle of Mohammad; his mother, as described by 14th century Moorish historian Ali Ibn-Abd Allah’s Roudh el Kartas was a “Berber woman given to his father.” He reigned from Dhu al-Hijjah 136 AH until Dhu al-Hijjah 158 AH (754 AD – 775 AD). In 762 he founded as new imperial residence and palace city Madinat as-Salam (the city of peace), which became the core of the Imperial capital Baghdad.
Al-Mansur was concerned with the solidity of his regime after the death of his brother, Abu’l `Abbas, who later become known as-Saffah (the blood spreader = bloody). In 755 he arranged the assassination of Abu Muslim. Abu Muslim was a loyal freed man from the eastern Iranian province of Khorasan who had led the Abbasid forces to victory over the Umayyads during the Third Islamic Civil War in 749-750. At the time of al-Mansur he was the subordinate, but undisputed ruler of Iran and Transoxiana. The assassination seems to have been made to preclude a power struggle in the empire.
During his reign, literature and scholarly work in the Islamic world began to emerge in full force, supported by new Abbasid tolerances for Persians and other groups suppressed by the Umayyads. Although the Umayyad caliph Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik had adopted Persian court practices, it was not until al-Mansur’s reign that Persian literature and scholarship were truly appreciated in the Islamic world. Shu’ubiya was a literary movement among Persians expressing their belief that Persian art and culture was superior to that of the Arabs; the movement served to catalyze the emergence of Arab-Persian dialogues in the eighth century.
Perhaps more importantly than the emergence of Persian scholarship was the conversion of many non-Arabs to Islam. The Umayyads actively tried to discourage conversion in order to continue the collection of the jizya, or the tax on non-Muslims. The inclusiveness of the Abbasid regime, and that of al-Mansur, saw the expansion of Islam among its territory; in 750, roughly 8% of residents in the Caliphate were Muslims. This would double to 15% by the end of al-Mansur’s reign.
In 756, Al-Mansur sent over 4,000 Arab mercenaries to assist the Chinese in the An Shi Rebellion against An Lushan. After the war, they remained in China. Al-Mansur was referred to as “A-p’u-ch’a-fo” in the Chinese T’ang Annals.
Al-Mansur died in 775 on his way to Mecca to make hajj. He was buried somewhere along the way in one of the hundreds of graves that had been dug in order to hide his body from the Umayyads. He was succeeded by his son, al-Mahdi.
According to a number of sources, the Imam Abu Hanifah an-Nu’man was imprisoned by al-Mansur. Imam Malik ibn Anas, the founder of another school of law, was also flogged during his rule, but al-Mansur himself did not condone this – in fact, it was his cousin, who was the governor of Madinah at the time, who did so. Al-Mansur, in turn, punished his cousin, and reattributed Imam Malik.
Character:
Al-Masudi in Meadows of Gold recounts a number of anecdotes that present aspects of this caliph’s character.
A very impressive aspect of this caliph’s character is that when he died he left in the treasury six hundred thousand Dirhams and fourteen million dinars.
Al-Mansur : Abbasid
Sunni Islam titles
Preceded by Caliph of Islam Succeeded by As-Saffah754 – 775 Al-Mahdi
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Al-Ma’mun (786-833): (Abu al-Abbas Abd Allah al- Ma’mun), Abbasid caliph (813-33); son of Harun al-Rashid. He succeeded he brother al-Amin after a bitter civil war, but was unable to enter Baghdad until 819. He was himself one of the Mu’tazilites, holding that the Qur’an was created in time, i.e., that it was not an uncreated eternal existent. He persecuted the orthodox bitterly, Al-Ma’mun’s reign was one of great cultural achievement, and he was especially interested in the work of scientists, particularly of those who knew Greek. He established (830) in Baghdad the House of Wisdom, an institution that translated Greek works into Arabic.
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Al-Mutanabbi (915-968): Like Aramaic and Hebrew, Arabic is a Semitic language. However, unlike the other Semitic languages, Arabic is today a global language. As the lingua franca of the Arab world, Arabic is the official language of almost all the Middle Eastern and North African countries. Although the Abbasid era is generally considered to be the Golden Ago of Islamic science, philosophy and literature, it was during the reign of Harun al-Rashi and his son, al-Ma’mun, that Baghdad became the world’s foremost center of philosophical, scientific and literary activities. The Arabs soon became the messengers of knowledge, wisdom and literature. Widely considered to be the greatest of all Arabic poets, al-Mutanabbi lived and thrived during this Golden Age of Arabic literature and poetry.
Abul Tayyib Ahmad ibn Hussain al-Jufi, better known as al-Mutanabbi (the ‘would-be prophet’), was born in the southern Iraqi city of Kufah. He experienced considerable social and economic hardship as a child. His family was forced to leave their home and stay away for about two years on the outskirts of Samawa due to the Qarmatian insurrection.
