Religious policy and Accomplishments of 10th caliph of Abbasid caliphate.

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Religious policy and Accomplishments of 10th caliph of Abbasid caliphate.

Al-Mutawakkil decided to diverge away from the religious policies of the previous caliphs, opting instead to put a stop to the controversy over whether the Qur'an was created or uncreated, ultimately bringing an end to the doctrinal regime that had been in place since 833. Al-Mutawakkil spent the next several years taking hostile steps against the Mu'tazilites, dismissing a number of Ibn Abi Du'ad's qadis from office and ordering an end to debate over the nature of the Qur'an.[17]

The caliph also attempted to reconcile with Ahmad ibn Hanbal (died 855) and removed Ahmad ibn Nasr's body from public display, and finally, in March 852, he ordered that all prisoners held on account of the Inquisition be released, thereby largely bringing a close to the mihna period.[18]

Al-Mutawakkil appointed the famous Arab Islamic scholar Yahya ibn Aktham as Chief judge (Qadi al-qudat) in 851, and he remained in office until al-Mutawakkil deposed him in 854. Ja'far ibn Abd al-Wahid al-Hashimi was appointed as chief judge (qadi al-qudat) by al-Mutawakkil in July 854 as a replacement for Yahya ibn Aktham.[19]

In 850 al-Mutawakkil made a decree ordering Dhimmi (Christians and Jews) to wear garments to distinguish them from Muslims, that their places of worship be destroyed and demonic effigies nailed to the doors, and that they are allowed little involvement in government or official matters.[16][20][better source needed]

Mutawakkil ordered the ancient sacred Cypress of the Zoroastrians, the Cypress of Kashmar, to be cut down in order to use it in constructing his new palace despite the enormous protests from the Zoroastrian community.[21] The cypress, more than 1400 years old at the time, was of legendary value to the Zoroastrians, believed to have been brought from Paradise to the earth by Zoroaster. Al-Mutawakkil was killed before the cypress wood arrived for his new palace.[22]

Al-Mutawakkil was unlike his brother and father in that he was not known for having a thirst for knowledge, but he had an eye for magnificence and a hunger to build. The Great Mosque of Samarra was, at its time, the largest mosque in the world; its minaret is a vast spiraling cone 55 m high with a spiral ramp. The mosque had 17 aisles and its walls were panelled with mosaics of dark blue glass.
Built by al-Mutawakkil, the spiral minaret of the Great Mosque of Samarra (Iraq) was the largest mosque in the world during the 9th and 10th centuries.

The Great Mosque was just part of an extension of Samarra eastwards that was built upon part of the walled royal hunting park. Al-Mutawakkil built as many as 20 palaces (the numbers vary in documents). Samarra became one of the largest cities of the ancient world; even the archaeological site of its ruins is one of the world's most extensive. The Caliph's building schemes extended in A.H. 245 (859–860) to a new city, al-Ja?fariyya, which al-Mutawakkil built on the Tigris some eighteen kilometers from Samarra. Al-Mutawakkil ordered a canal to be built to divert water from the Tigris, entrusting the project to two courtiers, who ignored the talents of a local engineer of repute and entrusted the work to al-Farghan?, the great astronomer and writer. Al-Farghan?, who was not a specialist in public works, made a miscalculation and it appeared that the opening of the canal was too deep so that water from the river would only flow at near full flood.

News leaked to the infuriated caliph might have meant the heads of all concerned save for the gracious actions of the engineer, Sind ibn ?Al?, who vouched for the eventual success of the project, thus risking his own life. Al-Mutawakkil was assassinated shortly before the error became public.
Abu Dulaf Mosque is a famous mosque commissioned by al-Mutawakkil in 859. The mosque is rectangular in shape, and consists of an open-air courtyard surrounded by corridors, with the qibla corridor being the largest. The mosque is among the largest mosques in the world measured by area, reaching 46,800 square metres (504,000 sq ft).

Al-Mutawakkil was keen to involve himself in many religious debates, something that would show in his actions against different minorities. His father had tolerated the Sh??a Im?m who taught and preached at Medina, and for the first years of his reign, al-Mutawakkil continued the policy. Im?m ?Al? al-Had?'s growing reputation inspired a letter from the Governor of Medina, ?Abdu l-L?h ibn Mu?ammad, suggesting that a coup was being plotted, and al-Mutawakkil extended an invitation to Samarra to the Im?m, an offer he could not refuse. In Samarra, the Im?m was kept under virtual house arrest and spied upon. However, no excuse to take action against him ever appeared. After al-Mutawakkil's death, his successor had the Im?m poisoned: al-Had? is buried at Samarra. The general Sh??a population faced repression. and this was embodied in the destruction of the shrine of Hussayn ibn ?Al?, an action that was carried out ostensibly in order to stop pilgrimages to that site,[23] and the flogging and incarceration of the Alid Yahya ibn Umar.

The caliph al-Mutawakkil had created a plan of succession that would allow his sons to inherit the caliphate after his death; he would be succeeded first by his eldest son, al-Muntasir, then by al-Mu'tazz and third by al-Mu'ayyad.[24]

Also during his reign, al-Mutawakkil met the famous Byzantine theologian Cyril the Philosopher, who was sent to tighten the diplomatic relations between the Empire and the Caliphate in a state mission by the Emperor Michael III. Of his sons, al-Muntasir succeeded him and ruled until his death in 862, al-Mu'tazz reigned as Caliph from 866 to his overthrow in 869, and al-Mu'tamid reigned as Caliph in 870–892 with his brother al-Muwaffaq serving as an effective regent of the realm until his death in 891.