Abd-ar-Rahman III

Abd-ar-Rahman III (′Abd ar-Rahmān ibn Muhammad ibn ′Abd Allāh ibn Muhammad ibn ′abd ar-Rahman ibn al-Hakam ar-Rabdi ibn Hisham ibn ′abd ar-Rahman ad-Dakhil;Arabic: عبد الرحمن الثالث‎; 11 January 889/91 – 15 October 961) was the Emir and Caliph of Córdoba (912–961) of the Umayyad dynasty in al-Andalus. Called al-Nasir li-Din Allah ("the Defender of God's Faith"), he ascended the throne in his early 20s, and reigned for half a century as the most powerful prince of Iberia. Although people of all creeds enjoyed tolerance and freedom of religion under his rule, he repelled the Fatimids, partly by supporting their Maghrawa enemies in North Africa, and partly by claiming the title Caliph (ruler of the Islamic world) for himself.

Life

Early years

Abd ar-Rahman was born in Córdoba, the grandson of Abdullah, seventh independent Umayyad emir of Al-Andalus. His parents were Abdullah's son Muhammad and Muzna (or Muzayna), a Christian concubine. His paternal grandmother was also a Christian, the royal infanta Onneca Fortúnez, daughter of the captive king Fortún Garcés of Pamplona. Abd ar-Rahman was thus nephew in the half-blood of queen Toda of Navarre. He is described as having:

Abd al-Rahman

Abd al-Rahman or Abd ar-Rahman (Arabic: عبد الرحمن‎ or occasionally عبد الرحمان; DMG ʿAbd ar-Raḥman) is a male Muslim given name, and in modern usage, surname. It is built from the Arabic words Abd, al- and Rahman. The name means "servant of the most merciful", ar-Rahman being one of the names of God in the Qur'an, which give rise to the Muslim theophoric names.

The letter A of the al- is unstressed, and can be transliterated by almost any vowel, often by u. Because the letter R is a sun letter, the letter l of the al- is assimilated to it. Thus although the name is written in Arabic with letters corresponding to Abd al-Rahman, the usual pronunciation corresponds to Abd ar-Rahman. Alternative transliterations include ‘Abd ar-Rahman, Abdul Rahman, Abdur Rahman, Abdur Rehman, Abdul Rehman, Abidur Rahman, and others, all subject to variant spacing and hyphenation. Certain transliterations tend to be associated with certain areas, for example, Abdirahman in Somalia, and Abderrahmane in French-speaking North Africa.