page_title: History of Islamic Tripolitania and Cyrenaica
section_title: Internal struggles
hierarchical_section_title: History of Islamic Tripolitania and Cyrenaica / Internal struggles
caption_attribution_description: English: Aghlabids Dynasty 800-909 (AD)
context_page_description: Islamic rule in Tripolitania and Cyrenaica began as early as the 7th century. With tenuous Byzantine control over Libya restricted to a few poorly defended coastal strongholds, the Arab invaders who first crossed into Pentapolis, Cyrenaica in September 642 encountered little resistance. Under the command of Amr ibn al-A'as, the armies of Islam conquered Cyrenaica, renaming the Pentapolis, Barqa.
context_section_description: In 750 the Abbasid dynasty overthrew the Ummayad caliph and shifted the capital to Baghdad, with emirs retaining nominal control over the Libyan coast on behalf of the far-distant caliph.  In 800 Caliph Harun ar-Rashid appointed Ibrahim ibn al-Aghlab as his governor.  The Aghlabids dynasty effectively became independent of the Baghdad caliphs, who continued to retain spiritual authority.  The Aghlabid emirs took their custodianship of Libya seriously, repairing Roman irrigation systems, restoring order and bringing a measure of prosperity to the region.
  In the last decade of the 9th century, the Ismailis launched an assault on the Sunni Aghlabids.  The Ismaili spiritual leader or imam, Abdallah al Mahdibillah of Syria, was installed as the imam of much of the Maghreb, including Tripolitania.  The Amazigh of Libya eventually came to accept the imam as the Mahdi (Promised One).
caption: Aghlabids dynasty at the beginning of 9th century.
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