Harun recognizes the existence of the two…

Harun recognizes the existence of the two different politico-religious trends by assigning Iraq and the western provinces to his son Muhammad al-Amin, the heir apparent, and the eastern provinces to the second in succession, his son al-Ma'mun.

The former is the son of the Arab princess Zubaydah, a niece of al-Mansur, the second 'Abbasid caliph, and after 803 has al-Fadl ibn ar-Rabi' as tutor.

His half brother Al-Ma'mun, the elder by six months, is the son of an Iranian concubine and after 803 has as tutor a Barmakid protégé, al-Fadl ibn Sahl.

One of the founding fathers of the Hanafi school of law, Muḥammad ash-Shaibānī, chief qadi (judge) in Ar-Raqqah and a leader of the movement towards systemetizing the Sharia, dies in 804.