Maridah bint Shabib ماردة بنت شبيب | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Umm walad of the Abbasid caliph | |||||
Period | 796 – 809 | ||||
Born | Kufa, Abbasid Caliphate | ||||
Died | 820s Baghdad, Abbasid Caliphate | ||||
Burial | Baghdad | ||||
Spouse | Harun al-Rashid | ||||
Children |
| ||||
| |||||
Religion | Islam |
Maridah bint Shabib ( Arabic: ماردة بنت شبيب, d. 820s) was the favourite Umm walad of Abbasid caliph Harun al-Rashid and mother of eighth Abbasid caliph al-Mu'tasim. [2]
Maridah entered the Harem probably in 793/795. She was raised in the Abbasid household before kept her as concubine. Maridah was a slave and she belonged to a Muslim family, other members of her family were also slaves.[ citation needed]
Marida was born in Kufah, but her family hailed from Soghdia, and she is usually considered to have been of Turkic origin. [3]
Maridah's father was Shabib. [4] She was a Sogdian, and was born in Kufah. She was one of the ten maids presented to Harun by Zubaidah. She had five children. These were Abu Ishaq (future Caliph Al-Mu'tasim), Abu Isma'il, Umm Habib, and two others whose names are unknown. She was Harun's favourite concubine. [5]
Her son, Muhammad, the future al-Mu'tasim, was born in the Khuld ("Eternity") Palace in Baghdad, but the exact date is unclear: according to the historian al-Tabari (839–923), his birth was placed either in Sha'ban AH 180 (October 796 CE), or in AH 179 (Spring 796 CE or earlier). [6] [7]
Maridah was the only Umm walad of Harun al-Rashid, who gave birth to his five children no other Umm walad had this prestige.[ citation needed]
Maridah lived most of her life in the Caliph's Harem. Her sons were not in the line of succession as Harun al-Rashid kept his eldest sons as heirs. However, Maridah's elder son Abu Ishaq became caliph after his half-brother al-Mamun's death. Al-Mamun nominated Abu Ishaq as his successor on his death bed.[ citation needed]