Al-Hadi

Abū Muḥammad Mūsā ibn al-Mahdī al-Hādī (; 26 April 764 CE 14 September 786 CE) better known by his laqab al-Hādī () was the fourth Abbasid caliph who succeeded his father al-Mahdi and ruled from 169 AH (785 CE) until his death in 170 AH (786 CE). His short reign ended with internal chaos and power struggles with his mother.

==Early life== Al-Hadi was born in 764. His father was al-Mahdi and al-Khayzuran bint Atta was the mother of both caliphs Musa al-Hadi and Harun al-Rashid. She had another son named Isa ibn al-Mahdi, and a daughter named Banuqah or Banujah. His mother, al-Khayzuran was born in Mecca and brought up in Jurash. She had two sisters, Salsal bint Atta and Asma bint Atta, and a brother Ghitrif ibn Atta. She was al-Mahdi's favourite wife. Al-Mahdi consulted her on important matters of defense and administration, and officers and clerics went to her door day and night to get what they wanted from the caliph through her, and the petitioners lined up outside her door and it was crowded like a market. Khayzuran's influence in public and political life increased gradually from interferer and decisive incursions during the reign of her husband to more powerful and wider ones during the reigns of her two sons. Al-Hadi also had several half-brothers; Ubaydallah, Ibrahim, Mansur, Ali, Abdallah. He also had half-sisters; Abbasa was his elder half-sister, others were Ulayya and Aliyah.