Al-Adid

Al-'Āḍid (1149–1171), also known as Athid , was the fourteenth and last Caliph of the Fatimid dynasty (1160-1171). He is most famous for a remarkable alliance struck during the Crusades , between his caliphate and that of the Christians in Jerusalem , to support each other against another Muslim invading force, that of Nur ad-Din Zangi . The alliance, brokered by the powerful Egyptian vizier Shawar , was sealed by, at Crusader insistence and to the scandal of the caliph's court, the teenaged caliph Adid actually removing his glove and shaking hands with one of the Christian envoys.

Abū Muḥammad ʿAbd Allāh ibn Yūsuf ibn al-Ḥāfiẓ (1149–1171), better known by his regnal name al-ʿĀḍid li-Dīn Allāh ( , "Support of God's Faith"), also known as al-Azid and al-Athid , was the fourteenth and last Caliph of the Fatimid dynasty, reigning from 1160 to 1171. He became Caliph as a minor following the death of his brother al-Faiz (r. 1154–60). The rule of the Fatimids was so weak and divided by this time that the Crusaders were able to begin invasions of Egypt . Shawar , aid of Nur ad-Din Zangi ruler of the Zengids from Syria, was able to establish himself as vizier in Egypt (1163–1169), and he was the effective ruler of the land. Through careful seesaw diplomacy between Crusaders and Zengids, Shawar maintained a fragile grip on power. First, with the help of Syrian troops under Shirkuh and Saladin , Shawar's forces were able to fight off the Crusader incursions. A remarkable alliance was struck in 1167 between his caliphate and the Christian Kingdom of Jerusalem , against the Zengids. The crusader Arabic-speaking envoys, Hugh Grenier , a Knight Hospitaller , and Geoffrey Fulcher , a Knight Templar , arrived at his palace in Cairo, which was lavishly described by William of Tyre based on their impressions. Eventually, however, Shirkuh killed Shawar and took his place in 1169. After Shirkuh's death two months later, Shirkuh's nephew Saladin became vizier of Egypt. When al-Adid died of natural causes in 1171, the Fatimid dynasty ended to make way for the Ayyubids (1171–1260), a dynasty named for Saladin's father Ayyub ( Job ). Al-Adid was believed by the Hafizi Ismaili Muslims to be an imam .

Last Fatimid caliph (1160–1171) and imam Abū Muḥammad ʿAbd Allāh ibn Yūsuf ibn al-Ḥāfiẓ ( ‎; 1151–1171), better known by his regnal name al-ʿĀḍid li-Dīn Allāh ( ), was the fourteenth and last caliph of the Fatimid dynasty , and the twenty-fourth imam of the Hafizi Isma'ili branch of Shi'a Islam , reigning from 1160 to 1171. Like his two immediate predecessors, al-Adid came to the throne as a child, and spent his reign as a puppet of various strongmen who occupied the vizierate . He was a mostly helpless bystander to the slow collapse of the Fatimid Caliphate . Tala'i ibn Ruzzik , the vizier who had raised al-Adid to the throne, fell victim to a palace plot in 1161, and was replaced by his son, Ruzzik ibn Tala'i . Ruzzik was in turn overthrown by Shawar in 1163, but the latter lasted only a few months in office before being overthrown by Dirgham . The constant power struggles in Cairo enfeebled the Fatimid state, allowing both the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem and the Sunni ruler of Syria , Nur al-Din , to advance their own designs on the country. The Crusaders repeatedly invaded Egypt, extracting tribute and ultimately aiming to conquer it; in turn, Nur al-Din supported Shawar's bid to retake the vizierate from Dirgham, and sent his general Shirkuh to counter the Crusaders. When Shirkuh died shortly after, he was succeeded by his nephew, Saladin . Saladin was initially conciliatory towards al-Adid, but quickly consolidated his hold over Egypt, and proceeded to gradually dismantle the Fatimid regime. Fatimid loyalists in the army were purged and replaced with Syrian troops, culminating in the failed mutiny of the Battle of the Blacks . Members of Saladin's family were installed as governors, the civilian bureaucracy was largely won over to the new regime, and al-Adid was sidelined even from ceremonial roles. Finally, Isma'ilism was progressively abolished as the state religion in favour of Sunni Islam, culminating in the official proclamation of Abbasid suzerainty in September 1171. Al-Adid died a few days later. His family was placed under house arrest, and Isma'ilism persecuted by Saladin's new Ayyubid regime, so that within a century after the fall of the Fatimid regime it had almost disappeared in Egypt.

Last Fatimid caliph (1160–1171) and imam Abū Muḥammad ʿAbd Allāh ibn Yūsuf ibn al-Ḥāfiẓ ( Arabic : أبو محمد عبد الله بن يوسف بن الحافظ ‎; 1151–1171), better known by his regnal name al-ʿĀḍid li-Dīn Allāh (Arabic: العاضد لدين الله , lit. ' Strengthener of God's Faith ' ), was the fourteenth and last caliph of the Fatimid dynasty , and the twenty-fourth imam of the Hafizi Isma'ili branch of Shi'a Islam , reigning from 1160 to 1171. Like his two immediate predecessors, al-Adid came to the throne as a child, and spent his reign as a puppet of various strongmen who occupied the vizierate . He was a mostly helpless bystander to the slow collapse of the Fatimid Caliphate . Tala'i ibn Ruzzik , the vizier who had raised al-Adid to the throne, fell victim to a palace plot in 1161, and was replaced by his son, Ruzzik ibn Tala'i . Ruzzik was in turn overthrown by Shawar in 1163, but the latter lasted only a few months in office before being overthrown by Dirgham . The constant power struggles in Cairo enfeebled the Fatimid state, allowing both the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem and the Sunni ruler of Syria , Nur al-Din , to advance their own designs on the country. The Crusaders repeatedly invaded Egypt, extracting tribute and ultimately aiming to conquer it; in turn, Nur al-Din supported Shawar's bid to retake the vizierate from Dirgham, and sent his general Shirkuh to counter the Crusaders. When Shirkuh died shortly after, he was succeeded by his nephew, Saladin . Saladin was initially conciliatory towards al-Adid, but quickly consolidated his hold over Egypt, and proceeded to gradually dismantle the Fatimid regime. Fatimid loyalists in the army were purged and replaced with Syrian troops, culminating in the failed mutiny of the Battle of the Blacks . Members of Saladin's family were installed as governors, the civilian bureaucracy was largely won over to the new regime, and al-Adid was sidelined even from ceremonial roles. Finally, Isma'ilism was progressively abolished as the state religion in favour of Sunni Islam, culminating in the official proclamation of Abbasid suzerainty in September 1171. Al-Adid died a few days later. His family was placed under house arrest, and Isma'ilism persecuted by Saladin's new Ayyubid regime, so that within a century after the fall of the Fatimid regime it had almost disappeared in Egypt.