al-Mutawakkil (822-861) was the Caliph of the Abbasid Caliphate from 847 to 861, succeeding al-Wathiq and preceding al-Muntasir.
Biography[]
al-Mutawakkil was born in 822, the son of al-Mu'tasim. al-Mutawakkil succeeded al-Wathiq as Caliph upon his death in 847, and under his rule the Abbasids reached a golden age. He stopped the Mihna, the inquisition implemented by al-Ma'mun in 833 to kill all scholars that did not agree with Mu'tazili Islam. al-Mutawakkil favored his son al-Muntasir for the succession, but when it appeared that things would change and that he would move against his son, al-Muntasir had his father's Turkish Guard kill him; they were partially motivated by his killing of the Turkish commander-in-chief.