Abū-Tāhir Al-Jannābī
ruler of the Qarmatian state
906 CE to 944 CE
Abū-Tāhir Sulaymān Al-Jannābī (906–944) is the ruler of the Qarmatian state in Bahrain (historical region) and Eastern Arabia, who in 930 leads the sacking of Mecca.
The brother of ‘Abu Sa’id al-Jannabi, the founder of the Qarmatian state, Abu Tahir becomes leader of the state in 923 He immediately begins an expansionist phase raiding Basra that year, followed by Kufa in 927, defeating an Abbasid army in the process, and then threatening Baghdad in 928 before pillaging much of Iraq when he cannot gain entry to the city.
In 930, he leads the Qarmatians’ most notorious attack when he pillages Mecca and desecrates Islam’s most sacred sites.
Unable to gain entry to the city initially, Abu Tahir calls upon the right of all Muslims to enter the city and gives his oath that he comes in peace.
Once inside the city walls, the Qarmatian army sets about massacring the pilgrims, taunting them with verses of the Koran as they do so.
The bodies of the pilgrims are left to rot in the streets or thrown down the Well of Zamzam.
The Kaaba is looted, with Abu Tahir taking personal possession of the Black Stone and bringing it back to Al-Hasa.
World
The Great Crossroads
View →Related Events
Showing 3 events out of 3 total
Abbasid caliph Muqtadir feels confident enough in 928 to once again confront Abū-Tāhir Al-Jannābī, son of the late Qarmatian rebel leader Abu Said al-Djannabi, and now ruler of the Qarmatian state in Bahrain, calling in his generals Yusaf bin Abi As'saj from Azerbaijan, Munis Khadim, Muzaffar and Harun.
After a heavy fight, all are beaten and driven back to Baghdad.
Abu Tahir destroys Jazirah Province as a final warning to the Abbasids and returned to Al-Hasa.
Abu Tahir thinks that he has identified the Mahdi as a young Persian prisoner by the name of Abu'l-Fadl al-Isfahani, from Isfahan who claims to be the descendant of the Persian kings, brought back to Bahrain from the Qarmatians' raid into Iraq.
Abū-Tāhir Al-Jannābī leads the Qarmatians’ most notorious attack when he pillages Mecca in 930 and desecrates Islam’s most sacred sites.
Unable to gain entry to the city initially, Abu Tahir calls upon the right of all Muslims to enter the city and gives his oath that he comes in peace.
Once inside the city walls, the Qarmatian army sets about massacring the pilgrims, taunting them with verses of the Koran as they do so.
The bodies of the pilgrims are left to rot in the streets or thrown down the Well of Zamzam.
The Kaaba is looted, with Abu Tahir taking personal possession of the Black Stone and bringing it back to Al-Hasa.
The attack on Mecca symbolizes the Qarmatians’ break with the Islamic world—it is believed to have been aimed to prompt the appearance of the Mahdi, who will bring about the final cycle of the world and end the era of Islam.
Abu Tahir, in 931, turns over the Qarmatian state to the Mahdi-Caliph, who institutes the worship of fire and the burning of religious books during an eighty-day rule, which culminates in the Mahdi ordering the execution of members of Bahrain’s notable families, including those of Abu Tahir’s family.
Fearing for his own life, Abu Tahir announces that he had been wrong and denounces the Madhi as ‘false’.
Begging forgiveness from the other notables, Abu Tahir has the Mahdi executed.