Al-Ta'i'

al-Ṭāʾiʿ liʾllāh الطائع لله
Caliph Commander of the Faithful
Gold dinar of the Buyid ruler Adud al-Dawla, in the name of al-Ta'i' as caliph
24th Caliph of the Abbasid Caliphate
Reign	5 August 974 – 22 November 991
Predecessor	al-Muti'
Successor	al-Qadir
Born	c. 929 Baghdad
Died	3 August 1003 (aged 73–74) Baghdad, Iraq
Burial	Baghdad
Spouse	Shah Zanan bint Izz al-Dawla (m. 977)[1][2] Bint 'Adud al-Dawla[1]
Dynasty	Abbasid
Father	al-Muti'
Mother	Utb
Religion	Sunni Islam

Abu Bakr ʿAbd al-Karīm ibn al-Faḍl (Arabic: أبو بكر عبد الكريم بن الفضل; 932 – 3 August 1003), better known by his regnal name al-Ṭāʾiʿ liʾllāh/biʾllāh (Arabic: الطائع لله\بالله, lit. 'He Who Obeys God's Command'), was the Abbasid caliph of Baghdad from 974 to his deposition in 991. He was in office during the domination of Iraq by the Shi'a Buyid dynasty, and as a result is generally considered a powerless figurehead under the thumb of the Buyid emirs. His tenure was also marked by strife between rival Buyid rulers and the frequent change of hands of Baghdad: al-Ta'i' himself was raised to the throne by a rebel Turkic general, Sabuktakin, who deposed al-Ta'i's father, al-Muti'. During periods of such strife, al-Ta'i' was able to exert some measure of political independence, but under stronger rulers he was sidelined, and was obliged to marry the daughters of the emirs Izz al-Dawla and Adud al-Dawla. Al-Ta'i's status suffered under Adud al-Dawla in particular, who turned to pre-Islamic Persian models for legitimacy, and relegated Iraq to the status of a simple province ruled from Fars. Al-Ta'i' was deposed on 22 November 991 by Baha al-Dawla, and replaced with his cousin, al-Qadir. He spent the rest of his days, until his death in 1003, confined to the caliphal palace.