How One Man Toppled the Greatest Caliphate in History?

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The Minister Ibn Al-Alqami Committed the Most Vile Betrayal Known to the Nation

He convinced the Caliph to discharge some soldiers, causing the army to disband.

He wrote to Hulagu: “The gates of Baghdad are open to you.”

Seven hundred scholars and dignitaries were slaughtered under the hooves of the Mongols.

The Tigris River turned black with ink, then red with the blood of its people.

The traitor gained nothing from the Mongols except humiliation and disgrace.

The Indian did not back down and returned the slap until he knocked the officer to the ground.

The commander stated firmly: “This is a military order executed without discussion.”

The man fell to the ground, and the surprise was that he did not return the slap.

The man said: “In my dream, I was a sultan who owned palaces.”

The Sultan replied: “Does a man own what he sees in a dream? It is a dream that vanishes.”

Betrayal has no religion and no nationality; it only has the traitor’s loyalty to his own interests. He does not realize that when he betrays, he descends to the lowest depths of humiliation, because his end is always an unknown grave or oblivion from those he betrayed for the sake of his country.

On this day, when we see someone betraying his land, his people, and his country, abandoning all values, history provides many examples. He kills us at all times, even after his death.

The following lines discuss a traitor who held the highest ranks but chose the humiliation of betrayal. Thus, when a woman saw him some time later, she asked him: “Is this how the Abbasids treated you?”

What is the story of this traitor?

In the year 656 AH, the army of Baghdad comprised one hundred thousand cavalrymen. However, the minister Muayyad al-Din Ibn al-Alqami al-Asadi secretly orchestrated the most vile betrayal known to the nation.

He convinced Caliph Al-Musta’sim billah to discharge some soldiers to save money, thereby cutting salaries until the army disbanded. Only ten thousand soldiers remained to protect the capital.

Then, he secretly wrote to Hulagu, telling him that the gates of Baghdad were open to him. When the Mongol forces arrived, the traitor deceived the Caliph and convinced him to go out to negotiate a peace treaty and a marital alliance. The Caliph went out with seven hundred prominent scholars and dignitaries, who were all slaughtered under the hooves of the Mongols.

Baghdad fell, and the House of Wisdom’s library was burned until the Tigris River turned black with ink. Then it turned red with the blood of its people. As for the traitor Ibn al-Alqami, he gained nothing from the Mongols except humiliation and disgrace. A woman saw him riding a beast in disgrace in the alleys of Baghdad and shouted at him, saying: “Is this how the Abbasids treated you?”

The traitor died of grief and regret a few months later, leaving behind an eternal lesson: the door of betrayal opens only to the owner’s grave.

The Sultan and the Madman

It is narrated that a sultan once passed by a cemetery and saw an ordinary man whom he thought was mad. The man was sleeping there, so the sultan woke him up. The man rose up, agitated, and said in an angry voice: “You have ruined everything for me.”

The sultan was surprised and asked him: “What have you ruined?”

The man replied: “In my dream, I was a sultan who owned palaces and treasuries, and I did whatever I wished. Then you came and woke me up, so all that I owned vanished, and nothing remained in my hands.”

The sultan smiled and said to the man: “Does a man own what he sees in a dream? It is a dream that vanishes; does not the wise man not grieve over its disappearance?”

That man, whom people considered mad, smiled and spoke his wise words: “What is the difference between us? My dream ended when I opened my eyes, whereas your dream will end when you close your eyes.”

Thus, life is like a short dream; its form differs from person to person, but its end is the same. After waking up, only what the souls carried in terms of deeds and truth remains.

The British Officer’s Slap

During the time of British colonial rule in India, a dispute occurred between a poor Indian citizen and a British officer. The officer raised his hand and slapped him in front of people. The Indian did not back down and returned the slap with force, knocking the officer to the ground. The British officer stood stunned, wondering how a poor man could dare to strike an officer from the British Empire’s army.

The officer rushed back to his commander and reported what had happened, demanding that the man be punished. However, the commander did not get angry, as expected; instead, he smiled calmly, opened a safe full of money, took out a sum, and said to him, “Take 50,000 rupees, go to the man, apologize to him, and give him the money.”

The officer was outraged and exclaimed, “I apologize to him? He insulted me and insulted the British Army!”

The commander replied firmly, “This is a military order. Carry it out without discussion.”

The officer went to the man, apologized, and handed him the money. At that time, 50,000 rupees represented a vast fortune.

The man’s life changed completely afterward, unaware that he had slapped the dust off his homeland and surrendered his dignity. He bought a house, invested part of the money in trade, and his business expanded. He became wealthy, surrounded by servants and guards.

Years passed until one day the commander summoned the same officer and said to him, “Do you remember the Indian man who slapped you?”

The officer replied, “Of course, how could I forget!”

The commander said, “Go to him now and slap him in front of people.”

The officer hesitated and said, “Sir, last time he was poor and alone, yet he returned the slap and knocked me to the ground. Today, he is a rich man, surrounded by his men and guards. If I try to strike him, he might kill me.”

The commander replied, “Go and carry out the order without discussion.”

The officer complied, went to the man, and found him surrounded by his men and guards, in the midst of a large crowd. He approached him, raised his hand, and slapped him hard on the face. The man fell to the ground, but the surprise was that he did not return the slap, did not shout, and did not raise his hand. Instead, he remained silent and did not even dare to look the officer in the face.

The officer returned to his commander, utterly bewildered, and said, “Last time, he returned the slap with an even stronger one, despite being poor and alone. Today, despite having power that others do not possess, he did not dare to utter a word. How is this possible?!”

The commander looked at him and said, “Last time, he had nothing but his dignity, which he considered his most precious possession, so he defended it. But in the second instance, after selling his dignity for 50,000 rupees, he will not defend it anymore, because he has something he considers more important than it.”