As-Saffah

Abu al-‘Abbās ‘Abdu'llāh as-Saffāḥ أبو العباس عبد الله السفّاح‎
As-Saffah is proclaimed the caliph, from Balami's Tarikhnama
1st Caliph of the Abbasid Caliphate
Reign	25 January 750 – 10 June 754
Predecessor	Dynasty established Marwan II as Umayyad Caliph
Successor	al-Mansur
Born	721
Died	10 June 754 (aged 33)
Spouse	Umm Salamah bint al-Makhzum
Issue	Raitah bint As-Saffah
Full name Kunya: Abul-Abbas Given name: Abdullah Laqab: as-Saffah Nasab: Abdullah Muhammad ibn Ali ibn Abdullah ibn Abbas ibn Abdul Muttalib ibn Hashim
Father	Muhammad
Mother	Raita Al-Harsia
Religion	Islam

Abu al-‘Abbās ‘Abdu'llāh ibn Muhammad al-Saffāḥ, or Abul `Abbas as-Saffaḥ (Arabic: أبو العباس عبد الله بن محمد السفّاح‎‎) (b. 721/722 AD – d. 10 June 754) was the first caliph of the Abbasid caliphate, one of the longest and most important caliphates (Islamic dynasties) in Islamic history. (Due to different traditions of transcribing Arabic names, the spellings As-Saffah and Al-Saffah may both be found.)

As-Saffāḥ (السفّاح) ' which in Arabic means 'The Slaughterer' he gained this title as he ascended on the rostrum of the kufa mosque and he said 'i'm the slaughterer of the sons of Umayyad ' who were the former rulers before his era) and he executed the most of the umayyad in his perioud. The new caliph appropriated this messianic title in his first sermon in Kufa in 749 AD. A weaker alternative explanation of the title is slaughterer or shedder of blood for his ruthless efforts to eliminate the rival Umayyad family - unlikely, however, since no caliph would have appropriated the title for himself if that were the original meaning.

As-Saffāḥ was head of one branch of the Banu Hāshim from Arabia, a subclan of the Quraysh tribe who traced their lineage to Hāshim, a great-grandfather of Muhammad via 'Abbās, an uncle of Muhammad, hence the title "Abbasid" for his descendants' caliphate. This indirect link to Muhammad's larger clan formed sufficient basis for As-Saffah's claim to the title caliph. However, the tradition that 'Abbās himself never converted to Islam, or only did so halfheartedly, weakened that legitimacy.

As narrated in many hadith, many believed that in the end times a great leader or mahdi would appear from the family of Muhammad, to which Ali belonged, who would deliver Islam from corrupt leadership. The half-hearted policies of the late Umayyads to tolerate non-Arab Muslims and Shi'as had failed to quell unrest among these minorities.