Editing Almanzor (section)

=== Elimination of pretenders and formation of triumvirate ===
The death of Caliph Al-Hakam II on 1 October 976{{Sfn|Kennedy|1996|p=110}}{{Sfn|Ballestín Navarro|2004|p=113}}{{Sfn|Lévi Provençal|1957|p=402}}{{efn|Bariani places the death of the Caliph on the night of 30 September.{{Sfn|Bariani|2003|p=70}} The difference may be due to the fact that the Muslim day lasts from one evening to the next and thus does not coincide with the solar day.{{Sfn|Ballestín Navarro|2004|p=114}}}} and the proclamation of his son [[Hisham II|Hisham]] as his successor inaugurated a new period in the political career of Ibn Abi ʿĀmir,{{Sfn|Sánchez Candeira|1999|p=23}}{{Sfn|Martínez Díez|2005|p=484}}{{Sfn|Echevarría Arsuaga|2011|p=85}} and also represented a pivotal event in the history of the Caliphate, which thereafter was marked by his tenure{{Sfn|García Sanjuán|2008|p=45}} and by the gradual withdrawal of the third Caliph.{{Sfn|García Sanjuán|2008|p=46}} Al-Andalus went through a serious succession crisis at this time, because the designated successor, Hisham, born in 965, was too young to rule.{{Sfn|García Sanjuán|2008|p=45}}{{Sfn|Ávila|1980|p=91}} He had been only eight or nine years old in 974 when his father first introduced him to the process of government,{{Sfn|Echevarría Arsuaga|2011|p=80}} and was still a minor when his father died.{{Sfn|Echevarría Arsuaga|2011|p=79}}{{efn|There is disagreement over the precise age, with Ávila, Ballestín Navarro and Bariani{{Sfn|Bariani|2003|p=70}}{{Sfn|Ballestín Navarro|2004|p=117}} giving a lower age than Kennedy, eleven years.}} This was an extraordinary situation because neither the [[Emirate of Córdoba|emirate]] nor caliphate had previously been in the hands of a child.{{Sfn|Martínez Díez|2005|p=484}}{{Sfn|García Sanjuán|2008|p=69}} Some schools of Islamic jurisprudence rejected the possibility of a minor becoming Caliph,{{Sfn|García Sanjuán|2008|p=45}} but the Umayyad Al-Andalus tradition had secured the inheritance from parent to child,{{Sfn|García Sanjuán|2008|p=61}} while the case of Abd al-Rahman III set a precedent for primogeniture.{{Sfn|Echevarría Arsuaga|2011|p=77}}  Faced with this situation, and despite the efforts of Al-Hakam during the last years of his reign to ensure the succession of his son by associating him with the tasks of government,{{Sfn|Martínez Díez|2005|p=484}}{{Sfn|Echevarría Arsuaga|2011|p=80}}{{Sfn|Ávila|1980|p=80}}{{Sfn|García Sanjuán|2008|p=47}}{{Sfn|Ballestín Navarro|2004|p=112}} there was division on the succession.{{Sfn|Ávila|1980|p=99}}{{Sfn|García Sanjuán|2008|p=50}} Some favored the appointment of a regent, the chamberlain al-Mushafi, while others preferred to give the caliphal title to one of the brothers of the deceased Caliph, the twenty-seven-year-old al-Mughira,{{Sfn|Martínez Díez|2005|p=485}}{{Sfn|Ávila|1980|p=81}}{{Sfn|García Sanjuán|2008|p=49}} who was the favorite younger son of Abd al-Rahman III.{{Sfn|Bariani|2003|p=68}}

Two prominent Eastern European slaves (''[[saqaliba]]'') occupying important court positions – one, the uncle of the new Caliph{{Sfn|García Sanjuán|2008|p=71}} – who were present at Al-Hakam's death decided to take action before this division was more widely known.{{Sfn|Ballestín Navarro|2004|pp=114–115}}{{Sfn|Lévi Provençal|1957|p=402}} They moved to place al-Mughira on the throne,{{Sfn|Bariani|2003|p=70}}{{Sfn|García Sanjuán|2008|p=72}} with the condition that he name his nephew [[Hisham II|Hisham]] as his heir,{{Sfn|Bariani|2003|p=71}} and to remove the chamberlain, al-Mushafi,{{Sfn|Lévi Provençal|1957|p=402}}{{Sfn|Ballestín Navarro|2004|p=114}}{{Sfn|Echevarría Arsuaga|2011|p=85}}{{Sfn|García Sanjuán|2008|p=73}}{{Sfn|Kennedy|1996|p=112}} thereby giving them ascendance at court over the faction supporting Hisham.{{Sfn|Ballestín Navarro|2004|pp=114–115}}{{Sfn|Lévi Provençal|1957|p=402}}  The two, who would nonetheless occupy prominent places in the ceremony proclaiming Hisham once their plan was thwarted,{{Sfn|García Sanjuán|2008|p=71}}{{Sfn|Lévi Provençal|1957|p=403}} had the support of the thousand ''saqalibas'' of the court and control of the palace guard.{{Sfn|Lévi Provençal|1957|p=402}}{{Sfn|Kennedy|1996|p=112}} The chamberlain, who was the real center of political power after the death of al-Hakam{{Sfn|Ballestín Navarro|2004|p=117}} and even in the last years of his reign,{{Sfn|Martínez Díez|2005|p=483}} had pretended to support the conspirators, only to subvert them thanks to the support of Berber troops.{{Sfn|Lévi Provençal|1957|p=402}}{{Sfn|Bariani|2003|p=71}}{{Sfn|Kennedy|1996|p=112}}{{Sfn|Ballestín Navarro|2004|p=115}}  He quickly broke up the plot with the help of Subh, and instructed Ibn Abi ʿĀmir,{{Sfn|Lévi Provençal|1957|p=402}}{{Sfn|Martínez Díez|2005|p=485}}{{Sfn|Ávila|1980|p=81}}{{Sfn|Ballestín Navarro|2004|p=116}} then a senior official and member of the court with privileged access to the young Caliph and his mother, to murder the pretender.{{Sfn|Echevarría Arsuaga|2011|p=85}}{{Sfn|García Sanjuán|2008|p=72}} The support of Ibn Abi ʿĀmir, the right hand of Subh,{{Sfn|Bariani|2003|p=83}} for the young caliph was crucial to his rise to power.{{Sfn|Valdés Fernández|1999|p=14}}

A reluctant but obedient{{Sfn|Ballestín Navarro|2004|p=117}} Ibn Abi ʿĀmir surrounded al-Mughira's residence with a detachment of one hundred soldiers,{{Sfn|Kennedy|1996|p=113}} broke in and notified al-Mughira of the death of al-Hakam and the enthronement of [[Hisham II]].{{Sfn|Lévi Provençal|1957|p=402}}{{Sfn|García Sanjuán|2008|p=73}}{{Sfn|Bariani|2003|p=74}} The young uncle of Hisham expressed his loyalty, and in the face of Almanzor's doubts, demanded compliance with the order for his own assassination.{{Sfn|Lévi Provençal|1957|p=402}}{{Sfn|Ballestín Navarro|2004|p=116}}{{Sfn|Kennedy|1996|p=113}}{{Sfn|Bariani|2003|p=74}}{{Sfn|García Sanjuán|2008|p=74}} Al-Mughira was then strangled in front of his family{{Sfn|Lévi Provençal|1957|p=403}}{{Sfn|Kennedy|1996|p=113}} in the living room of his house, and hung on a beam of the roof of an adjacent structure as if he had committed suicide.{{Sfn|Bariani|2003|p=74}}{{Sfn|García Sanjuán|2008|p=74}} Al-Mushafi and Ibn Abi ʿĀmir thus fulfilled the wishes of their late master to ensure the accession of Hisham.{{Sfn|Ballestín Navarro|2004|p=116}} The young Caliph's supporters relied on the Berber guard, created by al-Hakam for his son,{{Sfn|Ballestín Navarro|2004|p=92}} to face the ''saqalibas'', more than eight hundred of which were expelled from the palace as a result of the crisis.{{Sfn|Bariani|2003|p=83}}

[[Hisham II]] was invested as caliph on or about Monday, 1 October 976,{{Sfn|Ávila|1980|p=81}}{{efn|Various authors give one of three consecutive days (October 1, 2 or 3) as the correct date for the proclamation ceremony of the new caliph.{{Sfn|Ávila|1980|p=81}}}} with the title of ''al-Mu'ayyad bi-llah'',{{Sfn|García Sanjuán|2008|p=45}} ("one who receives the assistance of God").{{Sfn|Bariani|2003|p=80}} Ibn Abi ʿĀmir participated in the ceremony, recording in the minutes the oaths of fidelity the attendees made before the cadí.{{Sfn|García Sanjuán|2008|p=73}}{{Sfn|Lévi Provençal|1957|p=403}}{{Sfn|Bariani|2003|p=80}}{{Sfn|Ávila|1980|p=82}} A week later, 8 October 976, Hisham named al-Mushafi ''[[hajib]]''{{Sfn|Ballestín Navarro|2004|p=113}} – chamberlain or prime minister – and made the 36-year-old Ibn Abi ʿĀmir the vizier{{Sfn|Ballestín Navarro|2004|p=112}}{{Sfn|García Sanjuán|2008|p=73}}{{Sfn|Gálvez Vázquez|1996–1997|p=76}} and delegate of the ''hajib''.{{Sfn|Echevarría Arsuaga|2011|p=85}}{{Sfn|Martínez Díez|2005|p=485}}{{Sfn|Lévi Provençal|1957|p=403}}{{Sfn|Bariani|2003|p=82}} The latter thus maintained a position of singular importance as the link between the new Caliph's mother, in practice representing the government during the minority of Hisham, and the administration headed by al-Mushafi.{{Sfn|Bariani|2003|p=82}} The power was effectively in the hands of a triumvirate formed by chamberlain al-Mushafi, the vizier Ibn Abi ʿĀmir and General Ghalib. Subh, who had been associated with them in the past and now ruled in a way on their behalf; this triumvirate reported all important matters to her and consulted her and acted with her permission. They knew very well that without her support they could not win and stay in power in the uncertain and dangerous political spiral of the court, so they tried very hard to please her.{{Sfn|Fletcher|2000|p=91}} To boost the popularity of the new Caliph among the population, and strengthen their own positions, they abolished the unpopular oil tax.{{Sfn|Lévi Provençal|1957|p=403}}