Amir al-Mu'minin: Difference between revisions

'''{{translit|ar|ʾAmīr al-Muʾminīn}}''' ({{lang-ar|أَمِيْر ٱلْمُؤْمِنِيْن}}) or '''Commander of the [[Muslims|Faithful]]''' is a [[Muslims|Muslim]] title designating the supreme leader of an [[ummahUmmah|Islamic community]].

Although [[etymology|etymologically]] {{translit|ar|[[emir|ʾamīr]]}} ({{Lang-ar|أَمِيْر}}) is equivalent to [[English language|English]] "[[commander]]", the wide variety of its historical and modern use allows for a range of translations. The historian [[H. A. R. Gibb|H.A.R. Gibb]], however, counsels against the translation "Prince of the Believers" as "neither philologically nor historically correct".{{sfn|Gibb|1960|p=445}}

The title {{translit|ar|[[emir|ʾamīr]]}} was used for Muslim military commanders during the lifetime of Prophet [[Muhammad]]. It was, for example, borne by the Muslim commander at the [[Battle of al-Qadisiyyah|Battle of al-Qadisiyya]].{{sfn|Gibb|1960|p=445}} On his accession in 634, the second caliph [[Umar]] ({{reign|634|644}}) adopted the title. This was likely not for its military connotation, but rather deriving from a [[Quran]]ic injunction to "Obey God and obey the Apostle and those invested with command among you" ([[An-Nisa|Sura 4]], verses 58–62).{{sfn|Gibb|1960|p=445}} According to [[Fred M. Donner]], the title's adoption marked a step in the centralization of the nascent Muslim state, as the {{translit|ar|ʾAmīr al-Muʾminīn}} was acknowledged as the central authority of the [[early Muslim conquests|expanding Muslim empire]], responsible for appointing and dismissing generals and governors, taking major political decisions, and keeping the {{Transliteration|ar|[[divan|dīwān]]}} ({{Lang-ar|دیوان}}), the list of those Muslims entitled to a share of the spoils of conquest.{{sfn|Donner|2012|pp=135–136}} From Umar on, the title became a fixed part of caliphal titulature.{{sfn|Gibb|1960|p=445}} Indeed, it appears to have been the chief title of the early caliphs,{{sfn|Donner|2012|pp=98–99}} and the actual title of [[caliph]] ({{Lang-ar|خليفة|lit=successor|translit=khalifa}}) does not appear to have been adopted until the reign of the [[Umayyad]] caliph [[Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan]] ({{reign|685|705}}), who adopted it as a means to strengthen his position, which had become shaky following the [[Second Fitna]].{{sfn|Donner|2012|pp=210–211}}

In 1996, the title was adopted by the [[Taliban]] leader [[Mullah Omar|Muhammad Umar]].{{sfn|Pennell|2016|p=2}} Mullah Mohammed Omar was conferred the title in April 1996 by a Taliban-convened [[shura]] ({{Lang-ar|شُورَىٰ|lit=assembly}}) of approximately 1000-1500 Afghan [[ulama]] in [[Kandahar]], when he displayed the [[ShrineKhirqa of the CloakSharif|Cloak of the Prophet]] before the crowd. The title granted legitimacy to Omar's leadership of Afghanistan and his declared jihad against the government led by [[Burhanuddin Rabbani]]. Omar was still referred to as {{translit|ar|ʾAmīr al-Muʾminīn}} by his followers and other jihadists, notably al-Qaeda leader [[Ayman az-Zawahiri|Ayman al-Zawahiri]]. [[Akhtar Mohammad MansoorMansour|Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansoor]], the successor of Mullah Omar, was conferred the title in July 2015 upon his appointment as the new leader of the Taliban.<ref name="Joscelyn2015" /> [[Hibatullah Akhundzada]], the third [[List of Taliban insurgency leaders|Supreme Leader of the Taliban]], was also conferred the title upon his election in 2016 and became the [[Supreme Leader of Afghanistan|Leader]] of [[Afghanistan]] in 2021.<ref name="Voice" />

In 2005, the [[Islamic State]] leader [[Abu Omar al-Baghdadi|Abu Umar al-Baghdadi]] adopted the title, nine years before the Islamic State proclaimed its caliphate in 2014.{{sfn|Pennell|2016|pp=2–3}} [[Abu Omar al-Baghdadi|Abu Umar al-Baghdadi]] was conferred the title after his appointment in October 2006 by the Mujahideen Shura Council as the first Emir of the newly declared [[Islamic State of Iraq]].<ref name="Kohlmann2006" /><ref name="Bunzel2015" /> As Richard Pennell commented, by claiming the title they positioned themselves as potential "caliphs-in-waiting",{{sfn|Pennell|2016|p=16}} but for the moment, the title was simply the expression of their claim to an overarching "activist authority" over the areas they controlled.{{sfn|Pennell|2016|pp=17–18}}

The [[Isma'ilism|Isma'ili]] Fatimid caliphs used the title as part of their titulature,{{sfn|Gibb|1960|p=445}} and in the [[Nizari Isma'ilism|Nizari]] branch of Isma'ilism, the {{translit|ar|ʾAmīr al-Muʾminīn}} is always the current [[Imamate in Nizari doctrine|Imam of the Time]]. In [[Nasir al-Din al-Tusi]]'s ''The Voyage'' (''Sayr wa-Suluk''), he explains that the hearts of the believers are attached to the Commander of the Believers, not just the [[Quran|Command]] (written word) itself. There is always a present living imam in the world, and following him, a believer could never go astray.<ref>{{Citation|last=Virani|first=Shafique N.|title=Salvation and Imamate|date=2007-04-01|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195311730.003.0009|work=The Ismailis in the Middle Ages|pages=165–182|publisher=Oxford University Press|doi=10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195311730.003.0009|isbn=978-0-19-531173-0|access-date=2020-11-17|archive-date=2024-01-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240102085648/https://academic.oup.com/book/1488/chapter-abstract/140901675?redirectedFrom=fulltext|url-status=live}}</ref>

Among the [[Zaydism|Zaydis]], the title retained strong connotations with the leadership of the {{transl|ar|jihād}}, and was thus the right of any rightful Imam who stepped forth to claim his right by force of arms.{{sfn|Gibb|1960|p=445}} The title was thus part of the titulature of the Zaydi [[Imams of Yemen]] until the end of the Yemeni monarchy.{{sfn|Gibb|1960|p=445}}

The [[Kharijites]] did not use the term, except for the [[Rustamid dynasty]].{{sfn|Gibb|1960|p=445}}

A similar (but not the same) title{{clarify|date=FebruaryAugust 20202024}} was afforded to the [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]]'s monarch as the Grand Duke of Lithuania by the [[Lipka Tatars]], who used to speak a [[Turkic languages|Turkic]] language. The title of sire was used "Vatad", as in "homeland" ("Vatan"), which meant "defender of the rights of Muslims in non-Islamic countries." The Grand Duchy was viewed as a new [[homeland]]. Vatad was viewed as a variation on the name [[Vytautas]] in Lithuanian or Władysław in Polish, which was known in the diplomatic notes between the [[Golden Horde]] and the countries of Poland (Lechistan) and Lithuania (Lipka) as "Dawood". One can claim that, since [[Casimir III the Great|Casimir the Great]], the Polish-Lithuanian monarch as the King of Poland was tasked with the protection of the rights of the Jews and other non-Christians.

In [[James Joyce]]'s 1939 novel ''[[Finnegans Wake]]'' (page 34.6), an informer who is spreading nasty rumoursrumors about the main character is described as "Ibid, commender of the frightful".

In [[Margaret Atwood]]'s 1985 dystopian novel ''[[The Handmaid's Tale]]'' leaders of the fictional [[The Handmaid's Tale|Republic of Gilead]], a militaristic [[theonomy]], are referred to as "Commanders of the Faithful."