Al-Amir bi-Ahkami'l-Lah

Manṣūr ʾAbū ʿAlī
Arabic: الآمر بأحكام الل‎
Al-Āmīr bi'Aḥkāmi’l-Lāh
Predecessor ʿAhmad al-Mustā‘lī b’il-Lāh
Successor Al-Hāfiz / Hāfiz’īyyah
At-Tāyyīb / Tāīyāb’īyyah
Born 31 December 1096
Cairo
Died Tuesday, 3rd Zu-l-qada, 524 AH October 7, 1130 AD
Issue At-Tāyyīb Abū’l-Qāsim
Full name
ʾAbū ʿAlī Manṣūr al-Āmīr
Father Abū’l-Qāsim ʿAhmad al-Mustā‘lī

Manṣūr al-Āmir bi'Aḥkāmi’l-Lāh (31 December 1096 – 1130 (3rd Zulqada 524 AH, Tuesday[1]) (Arabic: منصور الآمر بأحكام الله ‎) was the tenth Fatimid Caliph (1101–1130), and recognised as the 20th Imam by the Mustaali Ismaili Shia sect.

Like his father al-Musta‘lī (1094–1101), al-Āmir was controlled by the regent al-Afdal Shahanshah (1094–1121) and had little influence in political matters. However, after the overthrow of al-Afdal in 1121 AD he managed to gain control of government. His reign was marred by the loss of Tyre to the Crusaders, as well as by the continuation of the schism between the Nizari and the Mustaali. This conflict climaxed in the assassination of al-Amir on Tuesday, 3rd Zu-l-qada, 524 AH / 7 October 1130 AD.

Birth of son and Amir Assassination

As per chronicle of Ibn al-Muyassar(d.677): "In Rabi al-awwal(of..524 AH)..Qasim al-Tayyib, was born to al-Amir;...Cairo was decorated. .New suits of clothes were issued to the troops...at the 'aqiqa ceremony... in presence of al-Amir...child was brought in, and Chief Qadi Ibn al- Muyassar was given the honour of holding it...the palace was filled with fruits and other sweets..."[2]

Imam al-Amir was assassinated on 3rd Zul-qaad, 524 AH, Dai Ibne Madyan propagated d`awa towards Imam Tayyib, whilst his half uncle Abd-al-Majeed(Al-Hafiz) was entrusted with affairs of state. This arrangement did not last much, Ali (bin(s/o) Afzal) (Kutayfat) expressed his enmity to Abd-al-Majedd & other Imam follower (Aimmat Tahereen) and aimed to take over Egypt. He imprisoned Abd-ul-Majeed and began his subterfuge assisted by Al-Hasan (bin(s/o) Abdul Majeed). Imam follower were killed, their possessions were seized, Ibne Madyan and four figureheads of D`awa, namely; Naslaan, al-Azizi, Raslaan and Qunis were slain.[3]

It is said that the guardian of Tayyib was Ibn Madyan, who have hidden him in a mosque. The infant son of al-Amir was supposed to carry in a basket of reeds by Abu Turab in which were vegetables (‘dishes of cooked leeks and onions and carrots’), and the baby wrapped in ‘swaddling clothes was on the bottom with the food above him, and he brought him to the cemetery and the wet nurse suckled him in this mosque, and he concealed the matter from al-Hafiz until the baby grew up and began to be called Kufayfa, “little basket.”’ [4][5]

There was unrest amongst al-Amir follower. Emir Yanis 'organized resistance, and found a great response, especially among the soldiers of the Kutami 'the hereditary mainstay of Fatimid rule'. On 16 Muharram, 526 AH, Ali s/o Afzal was 'killed while riding outside the city' and 'Abd al-Majid(Al-Hafiz) 'fetched from his prison' and 'restored as regent(Wali) of Imam Tayyib'. The event was commemorated annually, right to the end of the Fatimid dynasty, named as 'Eid al-Nasr' held on that date. This is expressly stated by al-Maqrizi(cf. al-Maqrizi, Khitat, I, 357, 490), and is confirmed by a 'coin struck in Alexandria in 526, bearing the old legend: 'Abd al-Majid wali-ul-ahd (representative) al-muslimyn'.[6] Meantime Dai Abu Ali ( brother in law of IbnMadyan) had managed to go into "hiding with Imam Al-Tayyib and followers toward the westward land".[7]

Later Al-Hafiz claimed Imamat himself. The Taiyabi claimed that Taiyab abi al-Qasim, the two-year-old son (in 526 AH) of al-Amir was the rightful successor.

See also

Al-Amir bi-Ahkami'l-Lah
Born: 31 December 1096 Died: 7 October 1130
Regnal titles
Preceded by
Aḥmad al-Musta‘lī		 Fatimid Caliph
1101–1130 		Succeeded by
Al-Hafiz, Taiyab abi al-Qasim

References

  1. ↑ The Succession to the Fatimid Imam al-Amir.., S.M.Stern, p.198, 'the cUyun has Tuesday the 3rd Dhu-l-qacda' foot note p.195
  2. ↑ The Succession to the Fatimid Imam Amir, by S M Stern, DRILL, p.196,97
  3. ↑ The Isma'ilis: Their History and Doctrines; By Farhad Daftary; p.283,284
  4. ↑ http://ismaili.net/heritage/node/10675; Quote: ‘Anyhow, the chief guardian of Tayyib was Ibn Madyan, who is said to have hidden the minor Tayyib in a mosque called Masjid ar-Rahma. Makrizi tells that the infant son of al-Amir was carried in a basket after wrapping it up and covering it over with vegetables. Here in the mosque, a wet nurse cared for him’
  5. ↑ http://archnet.org/system/publications/contents/3039/original/DPT0868.pdf?1384770478., p.9, THE CULT OF cALID SAINTS IN THE FATIMID MONUMENTS OF CAIRO, PART II: THE MAUSOLEA , By :CAROLINE WILLIAMS, page ‘47
  6. ↑ The succession of the Fatimd Imam al-Amir; by: S M Stern;p.206,7
  7. ↑ The Isma'ilis: Their History and Doctrines; By Farhad Daftary; p.283,284
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