Muhammad ibn Ra'iq

Muhammad ibn Ra'iq
amir al-umara of the Abbasid Caliphate
In office 21 September 941 – 13 February 942
Monarch	al-Muttaqi
Preceded by	Kurankij
Succeeded by	Abu Abdallah al-Baridi (as vizier)
amir al-umara of the Abbasid Caliphate
In office 10 November 936 – 9 September 938
Monarch	al-Radi
Preceded by	none
Succeeded by	Bajkam
Personal details
Died	13 February 942

Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Ra'iq (Arabic: محمد بن رائق‎‎) (died 13 February 942), usually simply Ibn Ra'iq, was a senior official of the Abbasid Caliphate, who exploited the caliphal government's weakness to become the first amir al-umara ("commander of commanders", de facto regent) of the Caliphate in 936. Deposed by Turkish military leaders in 938, he regained the post in 941 and kept it until his assassination in February 942.

Ibn Ra'iq's father was of Khazar origin and served as a military officer under Caliph al-Mu'tadid (reigned 892–902). Under Caliph al-Muqtadir (r. 908–932), he served as chief of the police (sahib al-shurta) and chamberlain (hadjib). After the deposition and murder of al-Muqtadir and the accession of al-Qahir (r. 932–934), Ibn Ra'iq fell into disgrace and abandoned Baghdad. He nevertheless managed to be named governor of Basra, and returned to favour and obtained the governorship of Wasit on the accession of al-Radi (r. 934–940). The frequent coups and violent struggle for control of the Caliphate had by this time greatly enfeebled the central government. Effective control over the Maghreb and Khurasan had long been lost, but now autonomous local dynasties emerged in the provinces closer to Iraq: Egypt and Syria were ruled by the Ikhshidids, the Hamdanids had secured control over the Jazira—the "island" plain between the Tigris and Euphrates in upper Mesopotamia—while most of Iran was ruled by Daylamite warlords, among whom the Buyids became prominent. Even in Iraq itself, the authority of the caliphal government was challenged. Thus in the south, around Basra, the Baridi family under Abu Abdallah al-Baridi established its own domain, often refusing to send tax revenues to Baghdad and establishing contacts with the Buyids of Fars.

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