Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah was the sixth Fatimid caliph and 16th Ismaili Imam, a ruler whose legacy is disputed among historians. Through 2005 the opening said Ismaili communities in North Africa were massacred by Sunni mobs led by their influential Maliki jurists. Today the word is nowhere in the article, count zero. A reader arriving now learns nothing of this sectarian massacre of Ismailis during his era.
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Hakim bi-Amr Allah (literally: "Ruler by God's Command") was the sixth Fatimid Caliph in Egypt , ruling from 996 to 1021 . He was born in Egypt in 985 and successfully succeeded his father Abu Mansur Nizar al-Aziz in 996 at the age of eleven in an initial demonstration of the Fatimid dynasty's stability. Nevertheless, in his long reign as caliph he struggled with the Qarmatiyya rulers of Bahrain and extended Fatimid rule to the emirate of Aleppo . His diplomatic and missionary vehicle was the Ismaili da'wa with its organizational power center in Cairo. His most rigorous and consistent opponent was the Abbasid caliphate in Baghdad , who were concerned to halt the influence of Ismailism , culminating in the Baghdad Manifesto of 1011 , which claimed that the line Hakim represented did not legitimately descend from Ali . Intrigues and tensions within the army, centered around opposing factions of Turks and Berbers, the tension between the caliph and his viziers (called wasitas ), and towards the end of his reign the first stirrings of the Druze movement all characterize the unrest of Hakim's reign. Ismaili communities in North Africa were massacred by Sunni mobs led by their influential Maliki jurists. In 1005 he founded the Dar al-‘ilm ("House of Knowledge"), with its great public library; there philosophy and astronomy were taught in addition to purely Islamic studies of the Qur'an and Hadith . In 1013 he completed the mosque in Cairo begun by his father, the Masjid al-Hakim or " Al-Hakim' s Mosque - The Ruler's Mosque". In 1009 , Hakim destroyed the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem , then under Fatimid control, and persecuted the Christians and other dhimmis in Palestine . Although the church was rebuilt by Byzantine emperor Constantine IX in 1048 , its destruction was remembered by Christians in Western Europe for the rest of the century. Despite the relatively good conditions in the Holy Land under Hakim's successors in the 11th century , the destruction of the church was used to support the First Crusade ; in 1096 , after the Council of Clermont , there was even a forged letter published, supposedly written by Pope Sergius IV , calling for a Crusade in 1009 . Towards the end of his reign he became increasingly erratic and feared by those around him - high ranking officials were executed frequently (including the Vizir Barjuwan ), and a series of idiosyncratic laws were enacted, including the prohibition of Molokheya , a national dish in Egypt. Hakim disappeared in 1021 ; he never returned from a trip to the Muqattam Hills. Although he presumably died, a sect of Ismailis , the Druzes , believed he had been hidden away by God and began to worship him in the mountains of Lebanon . Later mainstream Islamic doctrine alleges he encouraged his own deification.1
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Abu ‘Ali Mansur Tāriqu l-Ḥākim , called Al-Hakim bi Amr al-Lāh ( ; literally "Ruler by Allah's Command"), was the sixth Fatimid caliph and 16th Ismaili imam (996–1021).Born in 985, Abu ‘Ali “Mansur” succeeded his father Abū Mansūr Nizār al-Azīz (975–996) at the age of eleven on 14 October, 996 with the caliphal title of al-Hakim Bi-Amr Allah .He was the first Fatimid ruler to be born in Egypt .Arguably the most controversial member of the Fatimid dynasty, Hakim confronted numerous difficulties and uprisings during his relatively long reign.While he did not lose any important territories in North Africa , the Ismaili communities there were attacked by Sunni fighters led by their influential Maliki jurists.Relations between the Fatimids and the Qarmatians of Bahrain also remained hostile.On the other hand, Hakim’s Syrian policy was successful as he managed to extend Fatimid hegemony to the emirate of Aleppo .Above all, the persistent rivalries between the various factions of the Fatimid armies, especially the Berbers and the Turks , overshadowed the other problems of Hakim’s caliphate.However, after the latter’s removal in 1000, Hakim held the reins of power in his own hands limiting the authority and terms of office of his wasitas and viziers, of whom there were more than 15 during the remaining 20 years of his caliphate.Also Al-Hakim is a central figure in the history of the Druze religious sect.During his reign, Al-Hakim seemed at times hostile to other religious sects, most notably demonstrated by his destruction of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem .
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Abu ‘Ali Mansur al-Ḥākim-bi-Amr-Allah (985 – 13 February 1021), also known as Al-Hakim bi Amr Allāh ( ; literally "Ruler by God's Command"), was the sixth Fatimid caliph and 16th Ismaili imam (996–1021).Al-Hakim is an important figure in a number of Shia Ismaili religions, such as the world's 15 million Nizaris and in particular the 2 million Druze of the Levant whose eponymous founder Ad-Darazi proclaimed him as the incarnation of God in 1018.In Western literature he has been referred to as the "Mad Caliph", primarily as a result of the Fatimid desecration of Jerusalem in 1009, though this title is disputed as stemming from partisan writings by some historians (such as Willi Frischauer and Heinz Halm ).Histories of al-Hakim can prove controversial, as diverse views of his life and legacy exist.Historian Paul Walker writes: “Ultimately, both views of him, the mad and despotic tyrant irrationally given to killing those around him on a whim, and the ideal supreme ruler, divinely ordained and chosen, whose every action was just and righteous, were to persist, the one among his enemies and those who rebelled against him, and the other in the hearts of true believers, who, while perhaps perplexed by events, nonetheless remained avidly loyal to him to the end." Al-Hakim was the last arabic ruler who had an absolute power over a great empire.The Rise of the Fatimids: The World of the Mediterranean and the Middle East in the Tenth Century CE .( Which page? ) Ismail K.Caliph of Cairo: Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah, 996-??? .Africa from the Seventh to the Eleventh Century - Ivan Hrbek , p97
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Al-Hakim is an important figure in a number of Shia Ismaili religions, such as the world's 15 million Nizaris , in addition to the 2 million Druze of the Levant whose eponymous founder ad-Darazi proclaimed him as the incarnation of God in 1018. Histories of al-Hakim can prove controversial, as diverse views of his life and legacy exist. ( Which page? ) Ismail K. Caliph of Cairo: Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah, 996-??? .
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6th Fatimid caliph (r. 996–1021) and 16th Ismaili Imam For other people with the same name, see Al-Hakim (disambiguation) .Abū ʿAlī al-Manṣūr (13 August 985 – 13 February 1021), better known by his regnal name al-Ḥākim bi-Amr Allāh ( ), was the sixth Fatimid caliph and 16th Ismaili imam (996–1021).Al-Hakim is an important figure in a number of Shia Ismaili sects, such as the world's 15 million Nizaris and 1–2 million Musta'lis , in addition to 2 million Druze . Histories of al-Hakim can prove controversial, as diverse views of his life and legacy exist. Historian Paul Walker writes "Ultimately, both views of him, the mad and despotic tyrant (like Germanic and Roman despots) irrationally given to killing those around him on a whim, and the ideal supreme ruler, divinely ordained and chosen, whose every action was just and righteous, were to persist, the one among his enemies and those who rebelled against him, and the other in the hearts of true believers, who, while perhaps perplexed by events, nonetheless remained avidly loyal to him to the end." He is known by his critics as the "Mad Caliph" and " Nero of Egypt". ( Which page? ) Ismail K. Caliph of Cairo: Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah, 996-??? . Keys to Jerusalem: Collected Essays .Muslim Architecture: From the Advent of Islam in Arabia to the Rise of the Great Ummayad Khilafat in Spain .
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The opening as it stood in 2025
6th Fatimid caliph (r. 996–1021) and 16th Ismaili Imam For other people with the same name, see Al-Hakim (disambiguation) . Abu Ali al-Mansur ( Arabic : أبو علي المنصور , romanized : Abū ʿAlī al-Manṣūr ; 13 August 985 – 13 February 1021), better known by his regnal name al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah ( Arabic : الحاكم بأمر الله , romanized : al-Ḥākim bi-Amr Allāh , lit. ' The Ruler by the Order of God ' ), was the sixth Fatimid caliph and 16th Ismaili imam (996–1021). Al-Hakim is an important figure in a number of Shia Ismaili sects, such as the world's 15 million Nizaris and 1–2 million Musta'lis , in addition to 2 million Druze . Histories of al-Hakim can prove controversial, as diverse views of his life and legacy exist. Historian Paul Walker writes "Ultimately, both views of him, the mad and despotic tyrant (like Germanic and Roman despots) irrationally given to killing those around him on a whim, and the ideal supreme ruler, divinely ordained and chosen, whose every action was just and righteous, were to persist, the one among his enemies and those who rebelled against him, and the other in the hearts of true believers, who, while perhaps perplexed by events, nonetheless remained avidly loyal to him to the end." Appraisals of the more controversial accounts of al-Hakim's life and rule have earned him such monikers as "the Nero of Egypt", and "the Mad Caliph". ( Which page? ) Ismail K. Caliph of Cairo: Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah, 996–??? . Keys to Jerusalem: Collected Essays . Muslim Architecture: From the Advent of Islam in Arabia to the Rise of the Great Ummayad Khilafat in Spain .
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sixth fatimid caliph in egypt
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sixth fatimid caliph and 16th ismaili imam
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