A Short History of the Fatimid Khalifate

by De Lacy O'Leary

At the beginning of his reign Hakim had forbidden the use of the honorific titles customarily applied to the Fatimid Khalifs. He now forbade the custom of kissing the ground before him, and of kissing his hand or stirrup. These customs, he stated, were imitated from the Byzantine court and so not seemly for Muslims. In salutation he desired the use of the simple formula: “Hail to the Commander of the faithful; may the mercy and blessing of God be on him.” Never in speech or in writing might the formula be used, “God be propitious to him,” as this was applied to the patriarchs and saints. In writing petitions, etc., the formula should be, “May the peace of God, his abundant favour and blessing, rest upon the Commander of the faithful.” Similar forms, and no others, were to be used in praying for the Khalif: in the khutba the form approved was, “O God, be propitious to Muhammad thy chosen; grant peace to ʿAli the first of believers, whom thou hast honoured with thy bounty: O God, grant peace to the princes of the believers, the fathers of the Commander of the faithful: O God, may thy most excellent peace rest on thy servant and vicar” (Maq. ii. 288, Ibn Khall. iii. 451).

At the palace the use of cymbals and trumpets when the guard made the rounds was forbidden, all was to be done without music. A new seal was engraved for the use of the Khalif bearing the inscription, “By the help of God most high and beneficent, the Imam ʿAli will be victorious” (Maq. id.).

Various events of passing interest are associated with the month of Jumada II. of this year, the month, it will be remembered, in which the Emir of Mecca abandoned his claim to the Khalifate and was reconciled to Hakim. On the very day on which the Emir’s envoy was received Hakim commenced building an observatory at Karafa. This observatory was never finished. It should be noted in passing that various occasional references in the historians justify us in regarding Hakim as greatly interested in astrology as well as in other branches of natural science, and in this he was true to the Fatimid tradition. After receiving the submission of the Emir of Mecca Hakim wrote a letter to the Sultan, Mahmud of Ghazna, the great champion of orthodoxy, asking for his allegiance. It could hardly be expected that Mahmud would tolerate or recognise any Shiʿite, least of all the head of the Fatimid dynasty. On receiving the letter the Sultan tore it in pieces and spat on the fragments, afterwards sending them to the ʿAbbasid Khalif al-Qadir.

It was perhaps in this year, as De Sacy thinks, although Abu l-Mahsin refers to 400, the Tarikh Jafari to 404, that a crowd of men, presumably Shiʿites, came to the palace demanding justice against the Egyptians. It seems that, as Hakim was now passing through an orthodox phase and, as we have seen, had abandoned some of his pro-Shiʿite legislation, the orthodox Egyptians had been teasing the Shiʿites and paying them back for the insults they had ventured upon in the time of their ascendancy. They were not able to obtain an interview with the Khalif, but were told to come again next day. Some go away, but many pass the whole night before the palace. Next day the clamours recommenced, until at length the Kaʾid appeared and ordered them to withdraw. They then went to the Qadi who assured them that he had no power of dealing with their complaints, and they left his court cursing the “Companions,” that is to say, the early Khalifs who, though regarded by the Shiʿites as usurpers and enemies of ʿAli, were admittedly companions of the Prophet (Maq. ii. 288).

This was followed by an order strictly forbidding any persons to curse the “Companions,” and before long several persons were punished for this offence. One day Hakim saw such curses written up on a public inn, no doubt so written at the time when he had commanded the putting up of inscriptions of this sort. These he ordered to be effaced and sent officials through the streets reading out an order that all such inscriptions on inns, shops, streets, etc. must be removed, and great care was taken to see that the order was carried out. All this was a bid for popularity with the orthodox, and this year he made a further bid by assigning property for the support of the indigent, and for the doctors in the various mosques and the muezzins.

It was in Ramadan of 403 that Hakim showed the zenith of his passing orthodoxy. Each Friday during this month he attended the Mosque of Rashida clad simply, with a turban without jewel and having a sword adorned only with bands of silver, and himself led the public prayers. During his progress to and from the mosque any person who desired to do so was free to approach him, and he took the memoranda and petitions which they presented him, conversing with the petitioners. On Friday the 10th he did thus, clothed plainly in a garment of white wool and riding to the mosque on an ass. On the 27th of Ramadan he went to the Old Mosque and made there the khutba and led the Friday prayer, a thing which no Fatimid had done before. This visit was made without any display; there was no cortège or led horses, save only ten horses whose saddles and bridles were plainly adorned with silver; over his head was borne a plain white parasol without the usual gold fringe; there was no jewel in his turban, and the pulpit in the mosque was without hangings. The same simplicity was observed at the Feast of Sacrifice, at which the victims were slain by the heir, ʿAbdu r-Rahim (Maq. ii. 288). The ceremonial thus observed at the close of Ramadan was to a large extent of Shiʿite origin, but it was a concession to the feelings of the people that the Old Mosque was used. It will be remembered that it was during this month that Hakim presented the great tannur to the same mosque.

The persecution of Christians and Jews continued, and even became more severe, during this year (404). The order that Christians should wear black robes and turbans was renewed; they had to bear crosses of wood a yard long and a yard wide, and to carry them so that they could be seen. This was done to many Christians wearing small crosses as ornaments, and often carrying them beneath the outer garment. Jews received similar orders as to the billets of wood which served as their distinctive badge. According to Severus both cross and billet had to be marked with a lead seal bearing the Khalif’s name: this no doubt means that those of the proper size and material received this seal as a mark that they were approved. Both Christians and Jews were forbidden to ride horses; the mules and asses which they used must have plain saddles of wood and stirrups of sycamore wood without any ornament. Neither were allowed to have Muslim servants or to buy a slave of either sex. Muslim owners of riding animals were forbidden to let on hire to Christians or Jews, and Muslim sailors similarly were forbidden to take them in their boats. Both Christians and Jews were forbidden to wear rings on their right hand. All these orders were proclaimed in the streets of Fustat and Kahira, and great pains were taken to see that they were rigorously enforced. Many Christians turned Muslim in order to avoid these vexations (Maq. loc. cit.).

It is not easy to date precisely all the anti-Christian and anti-Jewish legislation. It is certain that it commenced in 393 and came to an end in 405, that for the most part it increased in severity up to 403, and then slightly relaxed, but there are various divergences of detail in the accounts as to the actual orders enforced in each of the intervening years.

De Sacy thinks that it was about this time (404) that the conference of the Christians and Jews with Hakim to which reference is made in the books of the Druses, took place. One day as the Khalif was walking at Karafa, in the cemetery Kibab attair, a band of representatives of the two persecuted religions waited upon him. He permitted them to speak with him and assured them that they might talk freely without fear. They pointed out to him that his conduct towards them was very different from that of the Prophet and of his early successors; they asked how he could justify his policy which was so opposed to the compacts which had been made with them. Hakim asked them to retire and meet him again in the same place the following night, to bring their learned men with them, and assured them again of his protection under which they might speak freely. Next night Hakim relates to them the conferences which the Prophet had with Christians and Jews in his day, conferences which were designed to bring about their conversion but which failed in this result; for four hundred years Islam has been available, and the reasons brought forward by the Prophet had been under consideration: now you are offered the choice of Islam again after all this delay, if you do not now accept the punishment can be no longer postponed. The representatives admit the truth of this and retire from Hakim’s presence. It is very doubtful, however, whether we can regard this description as given in the sacred books of the Druses as in any way belonging to serious history.

The Khalif this year gave permission to the Christians who wished to do so to emigrate to the land of the Greeks, or to Nubia, or Abyssinia, permission which had previously not been conceded, and many did thus emigrate. De Sacy connects the incident which we have related above with this permission to emigrate.