Dawud ibn Isa ibn Musa al-Hashimi

Dawud ibn Isa ibn Musa al-Hashimi (Arabic: داود بن عيسى بن موسى الهاشمي) was the ninth century member of the cadet branch Abbasid house. He served as the governor of Medina and Mecca from 811 to 815 for the Abbasid Caliphate.

Dawud was the son of Isa ibn Musa. His father was an important and powerful Abbasid official. His brothers were also influential in the Abbasid government.

His distant cousin, caliph al-Amin appointed him in 811. He remained as governor throughout the reign of al-Amin however due to the Fourth Fitna, Later switched his allegiance to the rival al-Ma'mun^[1] probably in 812.

In Mecca, Dawud ibn Isa reminded worshippers that al-Amin had destroyed Harun ar Rashid's succession pledges and led them in swearing allegiance to al-Mamun. Dawud then went to Marv City and presented himself to al-Ma'mun. Al-Ma'mun confirmed Dawud in his governorship of Mecca and Medina.

During the Siege of Baghdad in the Fourth Fitna, things were getting worse and Tahir ibn Husayn (al-Ma'mun's general) pushed into the city, al-Amin sought to negotiate safe passage out. Tahir ibn Husayn reluctantly agreed on the condition that al-Amin turn over his scepter, seal and other insignia of the caliphal office. Al-Amin, reluctant to do so, tried to leave on a boat. Tahir ibn Husayn noticed the boat and sent his men after the Caliph, who was captured and brought to a room where he was executed. His head was placed on the al-Anbar Gate. Al-Tabari quotes Tahir's letter to the new Caliph al-Ma'mun informing him of al-Amin's capture and execution and the state of peace resulting in Baghdad.^[2] Al-Ma'mun then became the Caliph.

In 815, Medina was occupied on behalf of the pro-Alid rebel Abu al-Saraya al-Sari ibn Mansur^[3] The Abbasid government appointed as governor Harun ibn al-Musayyab, who was dispatched by the general Ali ibn Abi Sa'id.^[4] The rebels succeed in taking the city because Dawud, was reluctant to confront the rebels and shed blood in the sacred city, even while the local garrison commander, Masrur al-Kabir, favoured confronting them. In the end, Dawud ibn Isa abandoned the city with part of the Abbasids' followers, and Masrur al-Kabir, his forces depleted and fearful of the pilgrims joining the rebels, followed within days.

• Bosworth, C. E., ed. (1987). The History of al-Ṭabarī, Volume XXXII: The Reunification of the ʿAbbāsid Caliphate: The Caliphate of al-Maʾmūn, A.D. 813–33/A.H. 198–213. SUNY Series in Near Eastern Studies. Albany, New York: State University of New York Press. ISBN 978-0-88706-058-8.
• Fishbein, Michael, ed. (1992). The History of al-Ṭabarī, Volume XXXI: The War Between Brothers: The Caliphate of Muḥammad al-Amīn, A.D. 809–813/A.H. 193–198. SUNY Series in Near Eastern Studies. Albany, New York: State University of New York Press. ISBN 978-0-7914-1085-1.