Abbasid caliph (born 929)

At-Ta'i

Abu Bakr ʿAbd al-Karīm ibn al-Faḍl, better known by his regnal name al-Ṭāʾiʿ liʾllāh/biʾllāh, 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.