Al-Mu'tamid ibn Abbad

Muhammad Ibn Abbad Al Mutamid (1040–1095) was the third and last ruler (reigned 1069–1091) of the taifa of Seville in Al-Andalus. He was a member of the Abbadid dynasty.

After the death of his father Abbad II al-Mu'tadid in 1069, he inherited Seville. In 1071, he attempted to seize neighboring Córdoba. He lost Córdoba in 1075 but regained it in 1078.

Al-Mu'tamid supported the Almoravid ruler Yusuf ibn Tashfin against king Alfonso VI of Castile in the Battle of Sagrajas in 1086. In 1091, however, his kingdom was overthrown by the Almoravids and he was deposed.

He is also considered, in his own right, one of the greatest of the Andalusi poets. Also the Sicilian Arabic poet Ibn Hamdis was guest and friend of his.

When he was 13 years old Al-Mu'tamid's father made his son Emir of Seville and appointed the Andalusi Arabic poet Ibn Ammar as his vizier. The young Al-Mu'tamid fell in love with Ibn Ammar. One night after enjoying poetry and wine he declared “Tonight you sleep with me on ths same pillow!" Al-Mu'tamid's father disapproved of the relationship (particularly as Ibn Ammar was a commoner) and sent him into exile in order to separate the two. When Al-Mu'tamid succeeded his father he recalled Ibn Ammar and bestowed high political and military favours on him. One night when sleeping together Ibn Ammar dreamt Al-Mu'tamid was going to kill him and fled. The caliph tried to reassure him that he would never do such a thing. However, they later got into a furious quarrel, and the caliph “fell into a rage and hacked him to death with his own hands”. After Ibn Ammar's death, the caliph grieved bitterly and gave his lover a sumptuous funeral.[1][2][3][4][5]

In 1091 Al-Mutamid was taken into captivity by the Almoravids and exiled to Aghmat, Morocco where he died in 1095. His grave is located in the outskirts of Aghmat.[6]

Al-Mu'tamid was the father-in-law, through his son, Fath al-Mamun (d. 1091), of Zaida, mistress, and possibly wife, of Alfonso VI of Castile.

See also

References

  1. ^ Levi Provencal, L'Espagne musulmane au Xe siècle. Institutions et vie sociale, Paris, 1932
  2. ^ Crompton, Louis (2006), Homosexuality and civilization, Harvard University Press, p. 167, ISBN 978-0-674-02233-1 
  3. ^ Stephen Murray and Will Roscoe, Islamic homosexualities: culture, history, and literature, 1997
  4. ^ James Neill, The origins and role of same-sex relations in human societies, New York, 2009
  5. ^ Heather Ecker, Caliphs and kings: the art and influence of Islamic Spain, Lonon, 2008
  6. ^ Lisan Al Din Ibn Al Khatib (14th-century). Nafadhat al-jirab (the Ashtray of the Socks). pp. 9. 

Sources

External links

Preceded by
Abbad II al-Mu'tadid		 Abbadid dynasty
1069–1091		 Succeeded by
Deposed by Yusuf ibn Tashfin (Almoravid dynasty)