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Al-Hadi was the eldest son of Al-Mahdi and like his father he was very open to the people of his empire and allowed commoners to visit him in the palace at Baghdad to address him. As such, he was considered an enlightened ruler, and continued the progressive moves of his Abbasid predecessors.
His short rule was wreaked with numerous military conflicts. The revolt of Husayn ibn Ali ibn Hasan broke out when Husayn declared himself caliph in Medina. Al-Hadi crushed the rebellion and killed Husayn and many of his followers, but Idris b. Abdallah b. Hasan b. Hasan b. Ali, a cousin of Husayn, escaped and aided by Wadih, Egyptian postal manager, reached Morocco where he founded the Idrisi state. Al-Hadi also crushed a Kharijite rebellion as well as faced a Byzantine invasion. However, the Byzantines were turned back, and the Abbasid armies actually seized some territory from them.
Al-Hadi died in 786. al-Tabari notes varying accounts of this death, e.g. an abdominal ulcer or assassinated prompted by al-Hadi's own mother. Al-Tabari (v. 30 p. 42f) notes al-Hadi's assertion of independence from his mother, his forbidding her further involvement in public affairs and his threatening Harun's succession. At Tabari says others refer to al-Hadi's overtures to Harun. One account at Tabari cites has al-Hadi attempting to poison his mother:
"Yahya b. al-Hasan related that his father transmitted the information to him, saying: I heard Kalisah telling al-'Abbas b. al-Fadl b. al-Rabi that Musa sent to his mother al-Khayzuran a dish of rice, saying, "I found this tasty and accordingly ate some of it, so you have some too!" Khalisah related: But I said to her, "Don't touch it until you investigate further, for I am afraid that it might contain something to your detriment." So they brought in a dog; it ate some and fell down dead. Musa sent to al-Khayzuran afterwards and said, "How did you like the dish of rice?" She replied, "I enjoyed it very much." He said, "You can't have eaten it, because if you had, I would have been rid of you. When was any Caliph happy who had a mother (still alive)?" (v. 30 pp. 43-44)
The note on p. 42 of volume 30 of the SUNY translation of at Tabari cites pp. 288-289 of the Kitab al-'Uyun for the possibility that al-Khayzuran feared al-Hadi would recover from his illness and thus had slave girls suffocate him. This note continues, "Certainly, his death appears as too opportune for so many people concerned that it should have been a natural one." The famous Muslim historian Ibn Khaldun discredited this claim.
Character
Al-Hadi was succeeded by his younger brother, Harun al-Rashid.