—namely, in the house of al-Walid ibn Saʿd, the client of Banū Hāshim—and he kept their presence hidden from the generals and commanders for about forty nights. He then moved them to another place, and went on transferring them from one location to another until the provinces were conquered and allegiance was finally sworn to al-Saffāḥ.

As for Ibrāhīm ibn Muḥammad, the Imām, he was taken to the Commander of the Believers of that time, Marwān ibn Muḥammad, who was then in Ḥarrān. Marwān, as we have already mentioned (1), imprisoned him, and he remained in confinement until this year, dying there in Ṣafar at the age of forty-eight.

One report says that a cushion (2) was pressed over his face until he died at fifty-one, and that a man called Buhlūl ibn Ṣafwān led the funeral prayer for him. Another version states that the roof of his chamber was demolished upon him until he died; another, that he was given poisoned milk and so perished.

It is also related that Ibrāhīm the Imām attended the pilgrimage in 131 AH, where his affair became notorious because he appeared in great pomp with many noble camels and much honor. News of this reached Marwān, and it was said to him, “Abū Muslim is summoning the people to this man and they call him the caliph.” Marwān therefore sent for him in Muḥarram of 132 AH and killed him in Ṣafar of that same year. This account is sounder than the preceding ones. Some say that he was taken in Kūfah, not in Ḥumaymah of the Balqāʾ; Allah knows best.

Ibrāhīm was generous, noble-minded, and possessed of many virtues. He transmitted hadith from his father, from his grandfather, and from Abū Hāshim ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥanafiyyah. Transmitting from him were his two brothers—ʿAbd Allāh al-Saffāḥ and Abū Jaʿfar ʿAbd Allāh al-Manṣūr—together with Abū Salamah ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Muslim al-Khurasānī and Mālik ibn Hāshim.

Among his fine sayings is: “Complete manliness belongs to the one who safeguards his religion, maintains the bonds of kinship, and avoids whatever incurs blame.”

The Caliphate of Abū al-ʿAbbās al-Saffāḥ

When the people of Kūfah learned of the slaying of Ibrāhīm ibn Muḥammad, Abū Salamah al-Khallāl wanted to transfer the caliphate to the family of ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib. The remaining nuqabāʾ and commanders, however, over-powered him, brought Abū al-ʿAbbās al-Saffāḥ forward, and greeted him as caliph. This took place in Kūfah, and he was then twenty-six years old. The first to salute him as caliph was Abū Salamah al-Khallāl himself, on the night of Friday, the thirteenth of Rabīʿ al-Ākhir of this year.

When the time for the Friday prayer arrived, al-Saffāḥ emerged riding a piebald baradhawn, the troops escorting him in full armor, until he entered the Governor’s Palace. He then came out to the congregational mosque, led the people in prayer, mounted the pulpit, and the people pledged allegiance to him while he stood at its summit, his uncle Dāwūd ibn ʿAlī standing three steps below.

Al-Saffāḥ addressed the assembly, and the first words he uttered were:

“Praise be to Allah, who chose for Himself a religion that He has ennobled, honored, and exalted; who selected it for us, strengthened it through us, made us its people and its refuge, those who uphold it and defend it,”