Al-Ḥusayn ibn Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn Zakariyyā (1), better known as Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-Shiʿī, was the man who launched the daʿwah on behalf of al-Mahdī ʿUbayd Allāh ibn Maymūn, who claimed to be a descendant of the Fāṭimids. More than one historian, however, maintains that he was actually a Jewish dyer from Salamiyya.

The point presently at hand is this: Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-Shiʿī entered the lands of Ifrīqiyah alone, with neither wealth nor men. By sheer stratagem he wrested the throne from Abū Naṣr Ziyādat Allāh, the last Aghlabid ruler of Ifrīqiyah. He then summoned his patron, al-Mahdī, from the eastern regions. Al-Mahdī set out, but did not reach him until after long hardships and a spell of imprisonment en route; al-Shiʿī rescued him and handed the kingdom over to him. Al-Shiʿī’s brother Aḥmad rebuked him, saying, “What have you done—and (2) why did you not seize authority for yourself instead of giving it to this man?” He regretted his action and began plotting against al-Mahdī. When al-Mahdī sensed this, he sent someone to kill the two brothers in the same year. Their execution took place in the city of Raqqādah near al-Qayrawān, in the region of Ifrīqiyah. This is a summary of Ibn Khallikān’s account (3).

Then came the year 299 AH.

Ibn al-Jawzī (4) states: In that year three comets appeared—one in Ramaḍān and two (5) in Dhū al-Qaʿdah. They remained visible for a few days and then faded away.

A plague broke out in the province of Fārs, claiming seven thousand lives.

The caliph grew angry with the vizier ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad ibn al-Furāt, dismissed him from office, and ordered that his houses (6) be plundered; they were sacked in the worst possible manner. In his place Abū ʿAlī Muḥammad ibn ʿUbayd Allāh (7) ibn Yaḥyā ibn Khāqān was appointed vizier. He had pledged one hundred thousand dinars to the mother of al-Muqtadir (8), and it was through her intercession that he obtained the post.