The Fatimids by The Fatimids 1. The Rise of a Muslim Empire (World of Islam) (2018)

Author:The Fatimids 1. The Rise of a Muslim Empire (World of Islam) (2018) [Retail]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Medieval History / Middle Eastern history / Islam / Islamic studies / Social and Cultural History / Empires and Historical States / Fatimids / Religion
ISBN: 9781786721747
Publisher: Bloomsbury UK
Published: 2017-11-21T00:00:00+00:00

After these words, Qadi al-Nu‘man notes: ‘Indeed, divine support is [finally] transferred during the last breath of the previous Imam.’

Chapter 4

The Making of an Empire

While al-Mu‘izz li-Din Allah began his 23-year reign in his father’s city, al-Mansuriyya, he would see out his final days in a newly founded capital far to the east. This would come to be ranked among the greatest cities of Muslim civilisation, and it continues to carry his name even now, al-Qahira al-Mu‘izziya (‘the Victorious City of al-Mu‘izz’) – modern-day Cairo.

Over those 23 years, the Fatimid realms were transformed from a regional North African dynasty to a thriving Mediterranean empire, based on the River Nile. The structure of the Fatimid administration, the legal system and principles that regulated the relationship between government and society, and relations with neighbouring empires, as well as the doctrines of the da‘wa, were all transformed during this age. The policies established by al-Mu‘izz would function as guiding principles for his successors in generations to come.

The Accession of al-Mu‘izz li-Din Allah (953–75)

On the occasion of the Id al-Adha (the ‘Festival of Sacrifice’, commemorating Abraham’s intended sacrifice of his son Ishmael and God’s intervention) in 953, a proclamation was issued to the adherents of the da‘wa across Ifriqiya, causing them to flock to al-Mansuriyya. At the musalla, the open prayer space just outside the city, believers saw the new Imam ascend the pulpit. After praising God and invoking blessings on the Prophet and his family, Abu Tamim Ma‘add announced the demise of his father:

O God, distinguish the eminent imam, the just legatee (al-wasi al-adil), the perfectly righteous, the showering rain. ... Your servant, your wali [friend], your noble one, your sincere friend, Abu Tahir (al-Mansur) … Anxiety and intense longing for you have overcome us. O father! O master! O Isma‘il! O Aba Tahir! O sea of knowledge of the pure rightly-guided imams! O most excellent of the progeny of the Messenger and of the descendants of the wasi [Ali] and the pure and chaste [Fatima]! O Imam of the community (umma) and key to the gate of mercy … Assembly of our awliya’ (friends), professors of obedience to us and adherents to our walaya (devotional obedience)! By God, these are arduous ordeals which ripen the liver.1

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