Al-Mustanjid was of a dusky complexion and wore a long beard. He was the thirty-second (1) Abbasid caliph, a number that in the abjad jummal system corresponds to the letters Lām and Bāʾ (2).
For this reason one of the literati composed the following line:
—from the basīṭ metre—
“You have become the very core of all the sons of al-ʿAbbās; …
if the caliphs be counted by the jummal reckoning, you are the L-B.” (3)
He consistently enjoined what is right and forbade what is wrong—may Allah have mercy on him (4). He saw the Messenger of Allah ﷺ in his sleep more than once; the last vision came four days before he assumed office (5), and in it the Prophet said to him, “Say: ‘O Allah, guide me among those You have guided, and grant me well-being among those You have granted well-being,’” the complete qunūt supplication (6).
The funeral prayer for him was performed on Sunday before noon. He was first buried in the caliphal residence, then moved to the cemeteries of al-Ruṣāfa. May Allah Most High have mercy on him (7).
The Caliphate of al-Mustadīʾ (8)
He is Abū Muḥammad al-Ḥasan ibn Yūsuf ibn al-Mustanjid ibn al-Muqtafi. His mother, an Armenian woman, was named Ghaḍḍa (9). He was born in Shaʿbān 536 AH. The pledge of allegiance was given to him on the day his father died; he sat to receive it on the morning of Sunday, the 9th of Rabīʿ al-Ākhir, and the people offered him their bayʿa. No one bearing the name al-Ḥasan had assumed the caliphate after al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī except this al-Ḥasan, and he was in agreement with him in
(1) In all primary manuscripts the text reads “and the thirty,” which is erroneous.
(2) The letter lam = 30 and the letter ba = 2, for a total of 32.
(3) The verse is recorded in al-Rawdatayn (vol. 1, p. 190) and al-Kawakib (p. 193).
(4) It is attested only in manuscript A.
(5) In manuscript B: “wa-kānat.”
(6) The supplication for the Qunūt al-Witr is transmitted by Aḥmad in al-Musnad (vol. 1, p. 199); al-Dārimī (p. 373); Abū Dāwūd, no. 1425; al-Tirmidhī, no. 464; al-Nasā’ī (vol. 3, p. 248); Ibn Mājah, no. 1178; al-Ḥākim in al-Mustadrak (vol. 3, p. 172); and al-Bayhaqī in his Sunan (vol. 2, p. 209), all on the authority of al-Ḥasan ibn ‘Alī (may Allah be pleased with him). He reported that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) taught him to say in the Qunūt al-Witr:
“O Allah, guide me among those You have guided; grant me well-being among those You have granted well-being; take me into Your protection among those You have protected; bless me in what You have given; and save me from the evil of what You have decreed, for You decree and none can decree over You; and he whom You befriend is not humiliated, and he whom You take as an enemy is not honored. Blessed are You, our Lord, and Exalted.”
Al-Tirmidhī declared it authentic, remarking, “We do not know of any better supplication for the Witr Qunūt from the Prophet.” The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) occasionally recited it without making it a regular practice, indicating that it is recommended (mustahabb) rather than obligatory. (ʿA)
(7) The phrase does not appear in manuscript A, nor does “ta‘ālā” appear in manuscript B.
(8) See his biography in al-Muntaẓam (vol. 10, pp. 232–233); Ibn al-Athīr (vol. 9, p. 109); Murʾat al-Zamān (vol. 8, p. 256); al-‘Ibar (vol. 4, p. 223); al-Fakhrī (p. 257); Fawāt al-Wafāyāt (vol. 1, p. 370); and Murʾat al-Jinān (vol. 3, p. 401).
(9) In editions B and Ṭ the words “ʿiṣmah” and “wa-mā athbata” appear; they also occur in manuscript A, in Ummat al-Khulafā’ (p. 26), al-Muntaẓam, Fawāt al-Wafāyāt, and Ibn al-Athīr.