Fatimid

Fatimid

The Fatimid  (Arabic:  الفاطميون al-Fātimiyyūn) Arab  dynasty ruled over varying areas of North Africa, Egypt, the Levant, and even Sicily and Yemen from 909 to 1171. It is considered by some to be  the fourth and "final"  "pure" Arab caliphate, but at least formally the Abbasid caliphate, outlasted it, as the last Abbasid Caliph was deposed in 1258. The Fatimid Caliphate was an exception in that the ruling elite belonged to the Ismaili branch of Shia Islam. The rulers were also Shia Ismaili Imams, hence, they had a religious significance to Ismaili Muslims. They are also part of the chain of holders of the office of Caliph, as recognized by most Muslims, the only period in which the Shia Imamate and the Caliphate were united to any degree after the death of Ali.

The Fatimids claimed to be descendants of Fatima, the daughter of Muhammad , and wife of Ali, the fourth caliph, regarded as the first Shi'i imam.

In line with Ismaili belief, the Fatimid leader declared himself not only caliph, but also  Mahdi, the promised savior of the Muslim world.

The Fatimids set themselves up as rivals to the Sunni Abbasid caliphate of Baghdad hoping to displace it with descendants of Ali, who are the true caliphs according to Shi'a belief.

The Fatimids spread their religion by training missionaries, Dai, who made converts throughout North Africa Egypt, Yemen and eventually founded branches in Persia and India as well. Originating in "Ifriqiyyah" or modern Tunisia, the empire spread across North Africa, Sardinia Sicily and Egypt. In 969, the Fatimids conquered northern Egypt from the Ikhshidid dynasty and built a new capital, al-Qāhira, Cairo, named after the planet Mars.  which they made their center. Cairo was not intended to be a city, but rather a compound for the Caliph and his army. Fustat and Alexandria remained the main administrative centers. 

In Cairo, the Fatimids founded the Al Azhar mosque and university as an Ismaili missionary training center. They later controlled the Arabian peninsula including  Mecca and Medina. Missionaries were also sent to India and Central Asia.

The Fatimids established a new route for trade with East Asia over the Red Sea, instead of the Persian Gulf,  which had been dominant until then to rival the Abbasids. This resulted in an increase in the importance of Hejaz in the Arabian peninsula. Egyptian trade with China was to define its role throughout the high Middle Ages.

Successive Fatimid caliphs allowed power to fall to the army and the vizier. in the familiar pattern of such empires. 

The Fatimid Caliphs

Timeline of the Fatimid Caliphate

Synonyms and alternate spellings:

Further Information:  See  History of Islam and the Arabs

Encyclopedia of the Middle East

Note - This encyclopedia is a work in progress. It is far from complete and is being constructed and improved all the time. If you would like to contribute articles or expansions of existing articles, please contact news (at) mideastweb.org.  Suggestions and corrections are welcome. The concise version of this dictionary is at our Middle East Glossary.

Spelling - Spelling of words in Middle-Eastern languages is often arbitrary. There may be many variants of the same name or word such as Hezbollah, Hizbolla, Hisbolla or Husayn and Hussein. There are some conventions for converting words from Semitic languages such as Arabic and Hebrew.  There are numerous variant renderings of the same Arabic or Hebrew words, such as "Hizbollah," "Hisbulla" etc. It is not possible to find exact equivalents for several letters. 

Pronunciation - Arabic and Hebrew vowels are pronounced differently than in English. "o" is very short. The "a" is usually pronounced like the "a" in market, sometimes as the "a" in "Arafat."  The " 'A " is guttural.  " 'H "- the 'het ('Hirbeh, 'Hebron, 'Hisbollah') designates a sound somewhat similar to the ch in "loch" in Scots pronunciation, but made by touching the back of your tongue to the roof of your mouth. The CH should be pronounced like Loch, a more assertive consonant than 'het.

The "Gh" combination, and sometimes the "G," designate a deep guttural sound that Westerners may hear approximately as "r." The "r" sound is always formed with the back of the tongue, and is not like the English "r."

More information: Hebrew, Arabic