Encyclopedia of Islam

Further reading: Leila Ahmed, Women and Gender in 

Islam (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1992), 

17–19, 79–84; 116–123; Sarah Graham Brown, Images 

of Women: The Portrayal of Women in Photography of the 

Middle East 1860–1950 (New York: Columbia University 

Press, 1988), 70–85; Ruby Lal, Domesticity and Power 

in the Early Mughal World (Cambridge: Cambridge 

University Press, 2005); Fatima Mernissi, Dreams of 

Trespass: Tales of a Harem Girlhood (New York: Perseus 

Books, 1994); Leslie P. Peirce, The Imperial Harem: 

Women and Sovereignty in the Ottoman Empire (Oxford: 

Oxford University Press, 1993).

Harun al-Rashid

 

(766–809)  Abbasid caliph of 

Baghdad who achieved legendary status in the stories 

of the 

Arabian Nights

Harun al-Rashid was the fifth ruler of the a

bbasid

c

aliphate

 and ruled its vast empire from 786 to 

809. A son of the third Abbasid 

caliph

, al-Mahdi 

(r. 775–85), he was born in the city of Rayy, 

located near the modern Iranian capital of Teh-

ran. His mother, al-Khayzuran, was a former slave 

girl from y

emen

. She was known as a woman of 

strong personality who greatly influenced affairs 

of state in the reigns of her husband and sons 

until her death in 789. While still a teenager, 

Harun was appointed to lead attacks on Byzantine 

armies in the West, which allowed the Abbasid 

forces to reach the Bosporus Strait, near the city 

of Constantinople, the Byzantine capital. Later, 

his father appointed him to be the governor of 

some of the wealthiest provinces of the empire, 

including  e

gypt

 and s

yria

. He became caliph in 

his early 20s, inaugurating a great medieval Isl-

amicate golden age. b

aghdad

, the Abbasid capital, 

began its rise to preeminence during Harun’s 

reign. The empire’s economic prosperity and its 

openness to learning from all parts of the known 

world contributed significantly to the flourishing 

of the arts and literature, Islamic learning, and the 

development of medicine and the sciences. Harun 

corresponded with rulers in c

hina

 and Europe. 

He was also a learned man who patronized artists 

and scholars. A man of great personal piety, he put 

the weight of his authority behind proponents of 

the emerging Sunni tradition and maintained the 

anti-Shii policy of his predecessors. Harun is also 

remembered for having performed the 

haJJ

 nine or 

10 times. He appointed followers of Abu Hanifa 

(d. 767), founder of the h

anaFi

 l

egal

 s

chool

, to 

serve as legal advisers and judges. Abu Nuwas, the 

foremost Arabic poet of the Abbasid era, lived in 

Baghdad during much of Harun’s life. The caliph’s 

wife, Queen Zubayda (d. 831), sponsored many 

charitable works, most memorably a water system 

for pilgrims going to m

ecca

 on the annual hajj.

Harun’s portrayal in the a

rabian

  n

ights

 is 

largely fictional, but it serves as a tribute to him 

and the splendor of his court. He conducted 

campaigns against the Byzantine Empire, but his 

rule was marred by political unrest in s

yria

 and 

i

ran

. Also, a

ndalUsia

 fell under Umayyad rule 

during his reign. In his last years, Harun ordered 

that the Abbasid Empire be divided between his 

two sons, al-Amin (r. 809–813) and al-Mamun 

(r. 813–833), which led to a devastating civil war. 

Harun died during a campaign to quell a rebellion 

and was allegedly buried in the city of Tus. His 

son al-Mamun reunited the empire after defeating 

his brother in battle. The height of the Abbasid 

golden age was reached during al-Mamun’s reign.

See also 

adab

;  a

rabic

 

langUage

 

and

 

litera

-

tUre

; s

Unnism

; U

mayyad

 

caliphate

.

A. Nazir Atassi