Abbasid Caliph. Caliph al-Mutawakkil succeeded al-Wasiq as Caliph in 847. He was an orthodox Muslim who reinstated the old laws prescribing special dresses for Christians and Jews. In his time, the shrine of Hazrat Hussain in Karbala was razed and pilgrimages to the town were forbidden. Caliph al-Mutawakkil used to depend upon his Turkish soldiers for crushing the opposition, but eventually he was himself murdered by them at the instigation of his eldest son Al-Muntasir - the cut-throat competition for diminishing resources led to this conflict.