Muhammad ibn al-Musayyab

Muhammad and the Uqaylid dynasty belonged to the Banu Uqayl, a northern Arab tribe who were originally clients of the Hamdanid emirs of Mosul.{{sfn|Bosworth|2000|p=786}} The Buyids captured Mosul and much of Upper Mesopotamia from the Hamdanids in the late 970s.{{sfn|Kennedy|2004|p=272}} This development resulted in the strengthening of the position of the Uqayl ruling family, as the Buyid emir Adud al-Dawla gave them his backing and made them responsible for maintaining discipline among the tribe.{{sfn|Kennedy|2004|p=290}}

In the 980s, Buyid rule was challenged by the Kurdish chieftain Badh ibn Dustak.{{sfn|Kennedy|2004|p=272}} Left without support from Baghdad, the local Buyid governor turned to the Uqayl and the Banu Numayr for assistance.{{sfn|Busse|2004|p=72}} This made the Arab tribes even more powerful, and in 989, the Buyid emir Baha al-Dawla sent the Hamdanid brothers Abu Tahir Ibrahim and Abu Abdallah al-Husayn to Mosul, in the hope that their local ties would mobilize opposition against Badh, and keep the Arab tribes reined in.{{sfn|Kennedy|2004|p=272}}{{sfn|Busse|2004|pp=72–73}}

The Hamdanids were indeed received with enthusiasm by the local population, to such a degree that they rose in revolt and expelled the Buyid governor from Mosul.{{sfn|Busse|2004|p=73}} The Uqayl backed the Hamdanids, and received control of the towns of Jazirat ibn Umar, Nisibis, and Balad (north of Mosul), in exchange.{{sfn|Busse|2004|p=73}}{{sfn|Kennedy|2004|p=295}} Exploiting the turmoil, Badh attacked Mosul in the next year, but was defeated and killed by the numerically inferior Uqayl forces in battle near Balad.{{sfn|Busse|2004|p=73}} A Hamdanid counter-offensive followed in the region of Amida, but failed to score any success. Indeed, al-Husayn was taken prisoner, finding refuge with the Fatimids after his release, while Ibrahim fled to Uqaylid-held Nisibis, where Muhammad took him and his son Ali prisoner and killed them.{{sfn|Busse|2004|p=73}}{{sfn|Kennedy|2004|pp=273, 295–296}} At the same time, Muhammad also sidelined his principal Bedouin rival, the leader of the Banu Numayr, and secured control of Mosul and its province.{{sfn|Kennedy|2004|pp=295–296}}

In 991/2, however, the Uqayl were defeated by a Buyid army under Abu Ja'far al-Hajjaj, and in a peace concluded in the next year, they had to again recognize Buyid suzerainty. They kept control of districts around Mosul, but the city itself became the seat of al-Hajjaj as Buyid governor and abandon Mosul.{{sfn|Busse|2004|pp=73, 80}}{{sfn|Kennedy|2004|pp=295–296}}

Muhammad died in 996, and a succession struggle followed between his brothers, Ali and al-Muqallad, resulting in a shared authority and weakening the Uqaylid emirate, although during this time, the Buyids were evicted from Mosul altogether.{{sfn|Busse|2004|pp=74, 80}}{{sfn|Kennedy|2004|p=296}}

{{reflist|30em}}

• {{EI2 | last = Bosworth | first = C. E. | author-link = C. E. Bosworth | title = ʿUḳaylids | volume = 10 | pages = 786–787 | doi =10.1163/1573-3912_islam_COM_1274}}
• {{cite book | last = Busse | first = Heribert | title = Chalif und Grosskönig - Die Buyiden im Irak (945-1055) | trans-title = Caliph and Great King - The Buyids in Iraq (945-1055) | language = German | orig-year = 1969 | year = 2004 | location = Würzburg | publisher = Ergon Verlag | isbn = 3-89913-005-7}}
• {{The Prophet and the Age of the Caliphates|edition=Second}}

{{s-start}}

{{s-bef|before=Abu Tahir Ibrahim and Abu Abdallah al-Husayn}}

{{s-ttl|title=Emir of Mosul|years={{circa|990}}–991/2}}

{{s-aft|after=Abu Ja'far al-Hajjaj}}

{{s-end}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Muqallad ibn Musayyab}}

Category:10th-century births

Category:996 deaths

Category:10th-century Arab people

Category:Uqaylid dynasty

Category:Emirs of Mosul