Ibrahim II of Ifriqiya

Ibrahim II of Ifriqiya
Emir of Ifriqiya (875–902)
Gold Dinar of Ibrahim II minted 286 AH (899 AD)
Predecessor	Muhammad II ibn Ahmad
Successor	Abu 'l-Abbas Abdallah
Born	27 June 850
Died	23 October 902 (aged 52)
Spouse	unknown
Names Abu Ishaq Ibrahim ibn Ahmad ibn Muhammad
House	Aghlabid
Father	Abu Ibrahim Ahmad
Military career
Years of service	c. 875–902
Battles/wars	Arab Conquest of Sicily, Siege of Taormina

Abu Ishaq Ibrahim II ibn Ahmad (Arabic: أبو اسحاق ابراهيم الثاني) (27 June 850 – 23 October 902) was the Emir of Ifriqiya. He ruled from 875 until his abdication in 902. After the demise of his brother, Ibrahim was endorsed as emir where he took steps to improve safety in his domain and secured the development of commercial activities. He improved public works, such as building a vast reservoir, erecting walls as well as the development of mosques and his Raqqada palace.

A centralizing ruler, Ibrahim mistrusted the old Arab high aristocracy of Ifriqiya. He was involved in conflicts with the ambitious Tulunids, who after seizing Egypt (868), Syria and the Hejaz (878), decided to attack him. When Egypt fell into chaos in 896, Ibrahim led a campaign to recover his eastern borders against the Tulunids in 896–897.

Despite having a fierce reputation as an oppressor, he was an efficient and fair ruler, treating reports of mistreatment of a commoner by a noble as lèse-majesté. However, it was also reported that he took great pleasure in cruelty and killing. Ibn al-Athir and Ibn Khaldun summarized Ibrahim's emirate as seven good years, before he became unhinged by "melancholia" (malihulia). Citing mistreatment of his subjects, Abbasid Caliph al-Mu'tadid dispatched a messenger to Tunis in 901/902 where he demanded Ibrahim to Baghdad and deprived him of the governorship of Ifriqiya. Later, he began his advertised march to Baghdad by way of Europe and his plans to conquer Constantinople for Islam. He advanced through Sicily, and after laying siege to Taormina, he marched to Messina in 902 and ferried his army across the straits to Calabria. Ibrahim, however, got bogged down laying siege to Cosenza, and took ill with dysentery and died.