Abu Bakr ʿAbd al-Karīm ibn al-Faḍl (; 932 – 3 August 1003), better known by his regnal name al-Ṭāʾiʿ liʾllāh/biʾllāh (), was the Abbasid caliph of Baghdad from 974 to his deposition in 991. He was in office during the domination of Iraq by the Shi'a Buyid dynasty, and as a result is generally considered a powerless figurehead under the thumb of the Buyid emirs. His tenure was also marked by strife between rival Buyid rulers and the frequent change of hands of Baghdad: al-Ta'i' himself was raised to the throne by a rebel Turkic general, Sabuktakin, who deposed al-Ta'i's father, al-Muti'. During periods of such strife, al-Ta'i' was able to exert some measure of political independence, but under stronger rulers he was sidelined, and was obliged to marry the daughters of the emirs Izz al-Dawla and Adud al-Dawla. Al-Ta'i's status suffered under Adud al-Dawla in particular, who turned to pre-Islamic Persian models for legitimacy, and relegated Iraq to the status of a simple province ruled from Fars. Al-Ta'i' was deposed on 22 November 991 by Baha al-Dawla, and replaced with his cousin, al-Qadir. He spent the rest of his days, until his death in 1003, confined to the caliphal palace. Origin and early life Abd al-Karim, the future al-Ta'i', was born in Baghdad in 929 as the son of the Abbasid prince al-Fadl, son of Caliph al-Muqtadir, and a concubine of Greek origin, called Utb. As an adult, al-Ta'i's face was marked by smallpox, and he had a prominent nose, which became the object of satire by contemporaries. His father came to the throne as caliph al-Muti' in 946, following the capture of Baghdad by the Buyid dynasty. While themselves espousing Shi'a beliefs, the Buyids nevertheless decided to retain the Abbasid caliphs out of expediency, and to provide them legitimacy in the eyes of the other Muslim rulers. In practice, however, al-Muti' was a puppet of the ruling Buyid emir of Iraq. A positive corollary of this subservience was that it brought stability to the caliphal throne: al-Muti' reigned as caliph for 29 Hijri years and four months, in stark contrast to his short-lived predecessors, and unlike them had to contend with remarkably few rival pretenders to the caliphate. Caliphate Rise to the throne On 1 August 974, the Turkic general Sabuktakin seized control of Baghdad from the Buyid ruler Izz al-Dawla. When the coup happened, al-Muti' left Baghdad