Al-Fadl ibn Salih ibn Ali

Salih ibn Ali

Salih ibn Ali ibn Abdallah ibn al-Abbas was a member of the Abbasid dynasty who served as general and governor in Syria and Egypt.- Life :...

 ibn Abdillah ibn Abbas (740–789) was the Abbasid

Abbasid

The Abbasid Caliphate or, more simply, the Abbasids , was the third of the Islamic caliphates. It was ruled by the Abbasid dynasty of caliphs, who built their capital in Baghdad after overthrowing the Umayyad caliphate from all but the al-Andalus region....

 governor of a number of different provinces in what is now modern-day Syria

Syria

Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....

 during the late 8th-century CE. He was also governor of Egypt

Egypt

Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...

 for a brief period of time. He was related to the Abbasid caliph

Caliph

The Caliph is the head of state in a Caliphate, and the title for the ruler of the Islamic Ummah, an Islamic community ruled by the Shari'ah. It is a transcribed version of the Arabic word   which means "successor" or "representative"...

s (rulers of the Caliphate

Caliphate

The term caliphate, "dominion of a caliph " , refers to the first system of government established in Islam and represented the political unity of the Muslim Ummah...

) and was part of the Bani Salih Arab tribe.

Career

In 755, al-Fadl led the pilgrim caravan destined for Mecca

Mecca

Mecca is a city in the Hijaz and the capital of Makkah province in Saudi Arabia. The city is located inland from Jeddah in a narrow valley at a height of above sea level...

 and Medina

Medina

Medina , or ; also transliterated as Madinah, or madinat al-nabi "the city of the prophet") is a city in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia, and serves as the capital of the Al Madinah Province. It is the second holiest city in Islam, and the burial place of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad, and...

 for the annual hajj

Hajj

The Hajj is the pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia. It is one of the largest pilgrimages in the world, and is the fifth pillar of Islam, a religious duty that must be carried out at least once in their lifetime by every able-bodied Muslim who can afford to do so...

. He became governor of Jund Dimashq

Jund Dimashq

Jund Dimashq was the largest of several sub-provinces of the Islamic Caliphate province of Bilad al-Sham under the Umayyad and Abbasid dynasties, organized soon after the Muslim conquest of Syria in the seventh century. Its capital and largest city, Damascus , bore the district's name...

 (whose principal city was Damascus

Damascus

Damascus , commonly known in Syria as Al Sham , and as the City of Jasmine , is the capital and the second largest city of Syria after Aleppo, both are part of the country's 14 governorates. In addition to being one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, Damascus is a major...

) in 766 and three years later he added Jund Qinnasrin

Jund Qinnasrin

Jund Qinnasrin was one of five sub-provinces of Syria under the Umayyad and Abbasid Caliphate, organized soon after the Muslim conquest of Syria in the 7th century CE. Initially, its capital was Qinnasrin, but as the city declined in population and wealth, the capital was moved to Aleppo...

 (whose principal city was Aleppo

Aleppo

Aleppo is the largest city in Syria and the capital of Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Syrian governorate. With an official population of 2,301,570 , expanding to over 2.5 million in the metropolitan area, it is also one of the largest cities in the Levant...

) to his domain during the reign of the caliph al-Mansur

Al-Mansur

Al-Mansur, Almanzor or Abu Ja'far Abdallah ibn Muhammad al-Mansur was the second Abbasid Caliph from 136 AH to 158 AH .-Biography:...

. In 775, he was appointed governor of the region of al-Jazira

Al-Jazira, Mesopotamia

Upper Mesopotamia is the name used for the uplands and great outwash plain of northwestern Iraq and northeastern Syria and southeastern Turkey which is known by the traditional Arabic name of Al-Jazira , variously transliterated into Roman script as Djazirah, Djezirah and Jazirah...

 north of Damascus by the Abbasid caliph al-Mahdi

Al-Mahdi

Muhammad ibn Mansur al-Mahdi , was the third Abbasid Caliph who reigned from 158 AH to 169 AH . He succeeded his father, al-Mansur....

. He moved to al-Jazira the same year. Al-Fadl returned to Damascus following his trip to Jerusalem in 780 where he accompanied al-Mahdi as part of his entourage. It was around this time when he was deposed as governor of al-Jazira and replaced by Abd al-Samad ibn Ali.

Al-Fadl was sent along with a large army to quell a rebellion in Egypt in 785. After defeating the rebels at Buwit, al-Mahdi appointed him governor of al-Fustat in Egypt. He established the soldiers' barracks and the congregational mosque of al-Askar and during his tenure the cities of al-Askar

Al-Askar

al-‘Askar was the capital of Egypt from 750-868 AD, when the Abbasid caliphate was in power in Egypt.-History:After the Muslim conquest of Egypt in 641, Rashidun commander Amr ibn al-As established Fustat just north of Coptic Cairo...

 and al-Fustat merged into one large city. His governance only lasted one year and when al-Hadi

Al-Hadi

Abu Abdullah Musa ibn Mahdi al-Hadi was the fourth Abbasid caliph who succeeded his father Al-Mahdi and ruled from 169 AH until his death in 170 AH ....

 succeeded his father to the Caliphate in 786, he was relieved from his position. Upon his return to Syria in 789, he had the doors of the Umayyad Mosque

Umayyad Mosque

The Umayyad Mosque, also known as the Great Mosque of Damascus or formerly the Basilica of Saint John the Baptist , is located in the old city of Damascus, is one of the largest and oldest mosques in the world...

 replaced and built the famed Bayt al-Mal

Qubbat al-Khazna

Qubbat al-Khazna , meaning the "Dome of the Treasury", is an old structure, located inside the courtyard of the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus, Syria. It is an octagonal structure decorated with mosaics, standing on eight Roman columns...

treasury dome to house the mosque's funds. Al-Fadl was also responsible for the construction of the eastern Dome of the Clock, which was built in 780.