The Fatimids and the Church
843-1025
Shia: The Shiites of Ali still demanded the caliphate for him and his descendants and considered themselves more deserving of it. The Abbasid caliphs used to warn them, monitor them and persecute them, but the Shiites would not give up their demand and the caliphs would not change their policy. The Abbasids were more capable of tracking the Shiites than the Umayyads because they knew the Alawites and their methods. They had mixed with them and allied with them to work against the Umayyads. Whenever an Abbasid caliph rose, an Alawite preacher would rise up and call for himself, then fight and be killed. His secret might be exposed before he emerged and he would be imprisoned or poisoned. Al-Ma'mun's sympathy for the Shiites was of no avail and its benefit did not last, so Al-Mutawakkil took a hard line on them and resumed the persecution in the year 850. He demolished the grave of Ali in Najaf and plowed the grave of Al-Hussein in Karbala.
This continuous persecution led to secrecy, so the Shiites adopted the principle of taqiyya. (1) بحيث أخفت ميولها اتقاء للضرر. وحصرت الشيعة الخلافة في علي وابنه الحسن ثم الحسين (680) ثم علي زين العابدين (712) فمحمد الباقر (731) فجعفر الصادق (765) فموسى الكاظم (799) فعلي الرضا (818) فمحمد الجواد (835) فعلي الهادي (868) فالحسن العسكري (874) فمحمد المنتظر. وهو -كما يعتقد الشيعة- في حالة غيبة مؤقتة حي لايموت. وقد تغيّب في كهف في جامع سامرأ سنة 878. هو المهدي الذي سيظهر فيحكم العالم قاطبة ويكون ظهوره فاتحة عصر يسبق نهاية العالم. وهو الإمام المدير “قائم الزمان”.
Ismailia: Ja'far al-Sadiq had appointed his son Ismail as his successor, but he later appointed his second son Musa al-Kadhim. The majority of the Shiites agreed to this change, but some of them remained followers of Ismail. When he died in the year 760, they considered him the hidden Imam Mahdi. Since Ismail was the previous Imam, these people were also known as the Seveners.
ثم راجت النظريات الفلسفية اليونانية واشتد الاحتكاك بالمانوية والمجوسية فأخذ الاسماعيليون عن فيثاغوروس وافلوطين وغيرهما واعتبروا العدد سبعة مقدساً وجعلوا التجليات سبعة: الله والعقل والنفس والمادة الأصلية والفضاء والزمن وعالم الأرضيين والبشر. وقالوا بسبعة أنبياء مشترعين “ناطقين”: آدم ونوح وإبراهيم وموسى وعيسى ومحمد ثم محمد التام ابن اسماعيل. وقالوا أيضاً بسبعة أبناء صامتين بين كل نبيين ناطقين. وأول هؤلاء الأساس ومنهم اسماعيل وهارون وبطرس وعليّ. وجاء بعد هؤلاء زعماء الدعاية وأحدهم “حجة” فالمبشرون “الدعاة”. وقالوا أيضاً بتأويل القرآن فرأوا المعنى الحقيقي مستوراً بالمعنى الظاهري. ومن تعاليهم تناسخ الأرواح وحلول الإلهية في اسماعيل وانتظار “رجعته” مهدياً. وجعلوا المريدين المتدرجين سبعة طبقات أيضاً ناسجين على منوال اليونان والمانويين.
The most famous of their men in the ninth century was Abdullah ibn Maymun al-Qaddah, who completed their religious-political system. He first made Basra his headquarters, then moved to Salamiyah, east of Hama. From there, he sent preachers to all parts of the Islamic world to spread doubt about the prevailing beliefs and direct attention to the awaited Mahdi.
Qarmatians and familiarity: وقبل وفاة عبدالله بن ميمون في السنة 874 للميلاد لمع بين أتباعه حمدان قرمط. وكان من غلاة الدعاة. فابتنى لنفسه مقراً “دار الهجرة” في جوار الكوفة في السنة 890. واستغل العداوة المزمنة بين الفلاحين وأبناء البادية. وجعل لمنظمته أرزاقاً جارية “مشتركة” مستمدة من تبرعات المريدين. وأباح حمدان الإشتراكية “الألفة” في الأموال. وشدد على المساواة وجعل للعمال والصناع مراسيم تقربهم من نقابات العصر الحديث. وفي الرسالة الثامنة من رسائل اخوان الصفا وصف لهذه النقابات الإسلامية القديمة فليراجع في محله. ويرى العلامة المستشرق الفرنسي ماسينيون صلة بين حركة حمدان قرمط وبين الماسنونية وغيرها من الجمعيات السرية التي بدأت تظهر في الغرب بعد ذلك بقليل.
The Qarmatians participated in the Zanj Revolt in Basra (868-883) and established a state for themselves in Al-Ahsa (899). They invaded Mecca and took it (930) and carried the Black Stone from there to Hajar. Some of them took refuge in Salamiyah, the headquarters of their Ismaili brothers in northern Syria, and from there they launched raids on the people of the country who were neighbors. Their seditions and unrest reached Khorasan and Yemen.
The Fatimids: In the late ninth century, a man from Sana'a, Yemen, named Abu Abdullah al-Husayn, became prominent among the Ismaili preachers. He traveled to North Africa and spread his message among the Berbers, especially in the strongholds of the Banu Kutama, which were then subject to the Aghlabid state. Abu Abdullah was successful, so Sa'id ibn Hussein, the leader of the Ismailis, left Salamiyah and went into hiding in North Africa. Sa'id said that he was a descendant of Fatima, a descendant of Hussein and Ismail. Sa'id was imprisoned in Sijilmasa by order of Ziyada al-Aghlabi (903-909). Abu Abdullah al-Husayn saved him in a revolution that ended the Aghlabid state. Sa'id was proclaimed emir and became known as Imam Ubayd Allah al-Mahdi, the grandson of Fatima, a descendant of Hussein and Ismail.
Al-Mahdi (909-934) ruled from Raqqada, killed Abu Abdullah al-Husayn, and extended his authority to the borders of Egypt. He then occupied Alexandria in 914. He established a new capital for himself on the Tunisian coast, southeast of Kairouan, and named it after himself, so it became known as Mahdia. He was succeeded by al-Qa'im (934-945), then al-Mansur (945-952), then al-Mu'izz (952-975). During the reign of the latter, the Fatimid fleet gained prominence, and invaded the coasts of Spain in 955. Three years later, the army advanced westward until it reached the Atlantic Ocean. In 969, the Fatimids seized Egypt and put an end to the Ikhshidid rule. The hero of these wars was Jawhar al-Siqilli al-Rumi. He was a Christian born in Sicily and brought from there to Kairouan as a slave.
Jawhar was not satisfied with conquering Egypt, but he also worked to extend the Fatimid influence to the Levant. He sent his commander Jaafar ibn Falah to fight the Ikhshidids in Palestine and Syria. The two opponents met in Ramla in September 969. Al-Hasan al-Ikhshid was at the head of the resistance armies and was taken prisoner. The Fatimid victories continued, and they conquered Tiberias. Jaafar Aqil, Fazara, Murrah, and other Bedouin tribes fought each other and headed to Damascus. Its people revolted against the Ikhshidids, but they were defeated one month after the Battle of Ramla. The Fatimids made Damascus their base and set out north and west, capturing the coast as far as Tripoli, but they were defeated by the Romans in Antioch. The sermon was given by al-Mu'izz li-Din Allah al-Fatimi in Damascus on the first Friday of the month of Muharram in the year 359 AH, i.e. on November 19, 969, and the name of the Abbasid Caliph al-Muti' was deleted.
After Ubayd Allah al-Mahdi left Salamiyah, the Qarmatians assumed leadership of all the Ismaili sects in and around it. When Ubayd Allah became the Imam of the Fatimids, he interfered in the affairs of Salamiyah, and some of the Qarmatians supported him there while others resisted him. The second camp, led by Ahmad ibn Abi Saeed and his brothers, saw that they should direct politics in a way that would benefit the Qarmatians themselves. The friend of the Fatimids died in the year 744, leaving no sons fit for rule and leadership, so the Istiqlalists took over the reins of politics and did not stop until the Fatimids arrived in Syria.
وتوفي المعز في أواخر السنة 975 وخلفه ابنه “العزيز بالله” أبو منصور نزار. ولبث في الخلافة إحدى وعشرين سنة. ومال إلى اصطناع الموالي ولم يعتمد على المغاربة إلا قليلاً. وانتقى مواليه من الأتراك والصقالبة فولى بنجوتكين التركي القيادة على ولاية دمشق. وولى وفيا الصقلبي على عكة و”بشارة” الاخشيدي على طبرية وجهاتها. ومن هنا القول “بلاد بشارة” حتى يومنا هذا. فأدى هذا الانتقاء إلى كثير من الحسد والنزاع بين الأتراك والمغاربة.
Dear Christians: (975-996) Al-Aziz did not limit the rule to Muslims alone, so he appointed Issa bin Nestorius, the Christian, as a minister and made Abu al-Fath Mansur, the Christian, his physician, and gave him a high position in the state. The number of Christian and Jewish dhimmis increased in the offices and government positions, and they monopolized a great deal of power and influence. It came to Abu Salih al-Armani that the Fatimid caliphs encouraged the establishment of churches and monasteries, and perhaps they themselves undertook the construction of them.
Al-Aziz's wife and Sitt al-Mulk's mother were Greek Orthodox slave girls. During her husband's time, she had great influence in the state. Her daughter Sitt al-Mulk was decisive, wise, and insightful in matters. Al-Aziz loved her, listened to her, and took her advice. She had a clear impact in directing his policy toward the Christians. Sitt al-Mulk had two maternal uncles, whom Al-Aziz elevated to the pinnacle through his interference in church affairs. He made one of them, Orestius, Patriarch of Jerusalem (984-1005), and the other, Arsenius, Metropolitan of Cairo and then Patriarch of Alexandria.
(1) To learn about the principle of Taqiyya in Shiite doctrine, click here