Fatima.Mernessi_The-Forgotten-Queens-of-Islam-EN

24 Queens and Courtesans
Quraysh tribe, but who were each, for a very short period, given
the title of caliph. The first was Ibn al-Muhallab, an opponent of
the ninth Umayyad caliph, Yazid Ibn 'Abd al-Malik (ninth century),
who challenged his power, but in vain. The second was a ruler of
the Moroccan city of Sijilmasa, Muhammad Ibn al-Fath, who was
briefly given the title in the middle of the tenth century. The last
was 'Abd al-Rahman Ibn Abi Amir, an Andalusian ruler who held
the title 'for a single day .... He was so overcome with joy to
hear himself called caliph that he tore off his clothes, but he
recovered and renounced the title . . . and this is the most foolish
story I have ever heard.' Ibn Hazm's scorn expresses the thinking
of the majority of Muslims of his time. It was pure folly for someone
not a member of the Meccan aristocracy to want to claim the title.
He gives another list of three powerful rulers who approached the
religious authorities about how to appropriate this title, but who
renounced the idea when objections were raised. 40
The sole exception was the ninth Ottoman caliph, Salim I, who
managed to kidnap the title by magically transferring its symbols to
Turkey. He arranged for the last Abbasid caliph, then living in
Egypt, who moved there after the sack of Baghdad by Genghis
Khan, to hand over to him the title and symbols of the caliphate,
that is the Prophet's cloak, one of his teeth, and a lock of his hair,
which were brought to the Topkapi Palace. 41 As one might imagine,
this was a sensational moment in the Muslim world, for until the
Ottomans, no one outside the Quraysh, the Prophet's tribe, had
succeeded in claiming the title of caliph, nor tried to take on its
privilege and magic, which transcended earthly power and its hazards.
The hordes of Genghis Khan had managed to destroy Baghdad
in 1258, and Hulagu, charged with subduing the Islamic lands, had
massacred close to 80,000 people, including the last Baghdad caliph,
al-Musta'sim* But what he could never have suspected is that twentyfour
years later, in 1282, his own son and third ruler of the dynasty,
Manku Timur, would succumb to the charm of the religion they
denounced and take the name of Ahmad upon declaring his new
faith. This act threw the Mongol warriors into confusion and brought
about the fall of Ahmad (formerly Manku Rimur) two years later.
But the conqueror did not seem to grasp the fascinating appeal of
the newly conquered religion. Thirteen years later Ghazan, another
grandson of Genghis Khan and seventh ruler of the dynasty, became
a Muslim, and this time Islam became the religion of the court.
However, at the peak of their power, the Mongols, having taken
everything away from the Abbasids, their empire and its riches,