Suchergebnisse

The Fatimid empire in North Africa, Egypt and Syria was at the centre of the political and religious history of the Islamic world in the Middle Ages, from the breakdown of the 'Abbasid empire in the tenth century, to the invasions of the Seljuqs in the eleventh and the Crusaders in the twelfth, leading up to its extinction by Saladin. As Imam and Caliph, the Fatimid sovereign claimed to inherit the religious and political authority of the Prophet, a claim which inspired the conquest of North Africa and Egypt and a following of believers as far away as India. The reaction this provoked was crucial to the political and religious evolution of mediaeval Islam. This book combines the separate histories of Isma'ilism, North Africa and Egypt with that of the dynasty into a coherent account. It then relates this account to the wider history of Islam to provide a narrative that establishes the historical significance of the empire

After the death of Prophet Muhammad, several sects of Islam started rising to power: such as the Ismaili's, a Shia faction that claimed lineage from Fatima bint Muhammad, and later started their own dynasty, the Fatimids. This paper will argue that the Fatimid's rise to power was dependent on their tolerance of other religious groups, such as Sunni Muslims and non-Muslims, including Christians and Jews; and appointing them in high governmental positions despite their not being Ismaili's, instead of focusing on spiritual differences that will not affect administration. This paper's purpose is to explore the role of religious broadmindedness in creating a politically powerful yet non-secular state, this is a relevant study considering how religious bigotry is prevalent nowadays. This paper will be divided into two parts. The first part will discuss Ismailism and how the Fatimid caliphate was first established; the second section will discuss Fatimid administration and military matters in terms of their cross-sectarianism and how that aided their ruling. The paper will then conclude by summarizing the rise of the Fatimid dynasty and their administrative reforms, briefly mention their decay and therefore answering the question of the political impact of religious divisions between 632 and 1171.

Introduction / Farhad Daftary and Shainool Jiwa -- The early Ismaili Imamate : background to the establishment of the Fatimid Caliphate / Farhad Daftary -- The Baghdad manifesto (402/1011) : a re-examination of Fatimid-Abbasid rivalry / Shainool Jiwa -- Was the Fatimid Amīr al-Juyūsh in fact a Wazīr? / Paul E. Walker -- 'Leading from the middle' : Qāḍī al-Nu'mān on female prayer leadership / Simonetta Calderini -- Al-Ṭurṭūshī and the Fatimids / Maribel Fierro -- Transmitting Sunni learning in Fatimid Egypt : the female voices / Delia Cortese -- The Fatimid legacy and the foundation of the modern Nizārī Ismaili Imamate / Daniel Beben