Abu Ahmad ibn al-Mutawakkil (842 – June 2, 891), better known as al-Muwaffaq (Arabic: الموفق طلحة), was the brother and regent of the Abbasid Caliph Al-Mu'tamid.
Abu Ahmad was closely connected to the Turkish military in Samarra, especially Musa ibn Bugha, and he may have been involved in the murder of his father, Caliph al-Mutawakkil (r. 847–861). He sided with al-Mu'tazz against al-Musta'in, and led the caliphal army against Bahgdad where the latter had found refuge. Initially honoured and then imprisoned by al-Mu'tazz, his life was spared due to his close links with the Turkish military chiefs.[1]
Upon the election of his brother al-Mu'tamid in 870, Abu Ahmad came from Mekka to Samarra, and was conferred an extensive governorate covering most of the lands still under caliphal authority: western Arabia, southern Iraq with Baghdad, and Fars. To denote his authority, he assumed the "quasi-caliphal" title of al-Muwaffaq.[1]
He assumed the leadership of the imperial administration in Baghdad in 875. Soon, he replaced the weak Al-Mu'tamid largely by ousting the government. Under Al-Muwaffaq, the Abbasid Caliphate again stabilized. He put down the uprising in southern Iraq known as the Zanj Rebellion in 883. He increased control over the provinces and also fought the Tulunids of Syria vigorously.
Suffering increasingly from elephantiasis, his son Abu al-Ahmad Abbas Al-Mu'tadid took charge of government business from 889. After the death of Al-Muwaffaq on June 5, 891 CE, his offices were officially transferred to his son Al-Mu'tadid who would later succeed his uncle as Caliph Al-Mu'tadid (892-902).