Al-Muntasir ( d. 862) was the Abbasid caliph in Baghdad from 861 to 862. His pious title means He that triumpheth in the Lord. He succeeded smoothly to the throne of the Caliphate in the year 861, due to support from the Turkish faction, after the murder of his father by a Turkish soldier. Al-Muntasir was implicated in the crime. The Turkish party then prevailed on al-Muntasir to remove his brothers from the succession, fearing revenge for the murder of their father. In their place, he was to appoint his son as heir-apparent.

He was lauded because, unlike his father, he loved the house of 'Ali (Shi'a), and removed the ban on pilgrimage to the tombs of Hasan and Husayn.

Al-Muntasir's reign lasted less than half a year, ended by his death of unknown causes in 862. He is first of the Abbasids whose tomb is known; it was made by his mother, a Greek slave-girl. The earlier Caliphs desired their tombs to be kept secret, for fear of desecration.

References

• This text is adapted from William Muir's public domain, The Caliphate: Its Rise, Decline, and Fall.

Preceded by: al-Mutawakkil	Abbasid Leader	Succeeded by: al-Musta'in
	Caliph