Abūʾl-Qāsim ʿĪsā ibn al-Ẓāfir ( ar, أبو القاسم عيسى بن الظافر; 1149–1160), better known by his

regnal name A regnal name, or regnant name or reign name, is the name used by monarchs and popes during their reigns and, subsequently, historically. Since ancient times, some monarchs have chosen to use a different name from their original name when they ...

al-Fāʾiz bi-Naṣr Allāh (), was the thirteenth and penultimate

Fatimid The Fatimid Caliphate was an Ismaili Shi'a caliphate extant from the tenth to the twelfth centuries AD. Spanning a large area of North Africa, it ranged from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Red Sea in the east. The Fatimids, a dyna ...

caliph A caliphate or khilāfah ( ar, خِلَافَة, ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with the title of caliph (; ar, خَلِيفَة , ), a person considered a political-religious successor to th ...

, reigning in

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

from 1154 to 1160, and the 23rd imam of the

Hafizi Hafizi Isma'ilism ( ar, حافظية, Ḥāfiẓiyya or , ) was a branch of Musta'li Isma'ilism that emerged as a result of a split in 1132. The Hafizis accepted the Fatimid caliph Abd al-Majid al-Hafiz li-Din Allah () and his successors as imams ...

Ismaili sect.

Life

Al-Fa'iz was raised to the throne as a five-year-old child in April 1154, following the killing of his father

al-Zafir Abū Manṣūr Ismāʿīl ibn al-Ḥāfiẓ ( ar, أبو منصور إسماعيل بن الحافظ, February 1133 – April 1154), better known by his regnal name al-Ẓāfir bi-Aʿdāʾ Allāh (, ) or al-Ẓāfir bi-Amr Allāh (, ), was the t ...

and two of his uncles by the

vizier A vizier (; ar, وزير, wazīr; fa, وزیر, vazīr), or wazir, is a high-ranking political advisor or minister in the near east. The Abbasid caliphs gave the title ''wazir'' to a minister formerly called '' katib'' (secretary), who was ...

Abbas ibn Abi al-Futuh Abbas may refer to: People * Abbas (name), list of people with the name, including: ** Abbas ibn Ali, Popularly known as Hazrat-e-Abbas (brother of Imam Hussayn) **Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib, uncle of Muhammad ** Mahmoud Abbas (born 1935), Pal ...

, and his son, Nasr. The bloody events soon resulted in Abbas' own downfall, as the terrified women of the Fatimid family called upon the

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...

-born governor of

Asyut AsyutAlso spelled ''Assiout'' or ''Assiut'' ( ar, أسيوط ' , from ' ) is the capital of the modern Asyut Governorate in Egypt. It was built close to the ancient city of the same name, which is situated nearby. The modern city is located at ...

Tala'i ibn Ruzzik Tala'i ibn Ruzzik ( ar, طلائع ﺑﻦ ﺭﺯﻳﻚ, Ṭalāʾīʿ ibn Ruzzīk, with his full titles and surnames ''Abū'l-Gharāt Fāris al-Muslimīn al-Malik al-Ṣāliḥ Ṭalāʾīʿ ibn Ruzzīk al-Ghassānī al-Armanī'') was a military co ...

, for assistance, reportedly sending their own cut hair in supplication. Ibn Ruzzik readily agreed and marched on Cairo. Abbas tried to resist, but faced general opposition, so that he had to force his way out of the capital, and tried to flee with his son and followers to Syria. The party were intercepted by the

Crusaders The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were in ...

near the Dead Sea. Abbas was killed, and Nasr was sold to the Fatimids; he was mutilated and killed by being beaten to death by the palace women. The underage al-Fa'iz was placed under the tutelage of his aunts, headed by al-Zafir's sister

Sitt al-Qusur Sitt al-Qusur ( ar, ست القصور, , Lady of the Palaces; died 1161) was a Fatimid princess, the daughter of Caliph al-Hafiz and the sister of Caliph al-Zafir. Sitt al-Qusur was a younger daughter of the eleventh Fatimid caliph, al-Hafiz (), a ...

('Lady of the Palaces'), who had played a leading role in securing revenge against Abbas and Nasr for the murder of her brothers. Outside the walls of the

Great Fatimid Palaces The Great Palaces of the Fatimid Caliphs (or Great Fatimid Palaces, among other name variants) were a vast and lavish palace complex built in the late 10th century in Cairo, Egypt, to house the Fatimid Caliphate, Fatimid caliphs, their households, a ...

, however, Ibn Ruzzik was the actual ruler of the state, and al-Fa'iz was virtually his prisoner. A

Twelver Shi'ite Twelver Shīʿīsm ( ar, ٱثْنَا عَشَرِيَّة; '), also known as Imāmīyyah ( ar, إِمَامِيَّة), is the largest branch of Shīʿa Islam, comprising about 85 percent of all Shīʿa Muslims. The term ''Twelver'' refers t ...

, he actively sponsored the Alid in the

Hijaz The Hejaz (, also ; ar, ٱلْحِجَاز, al-Ḥijāz, lit=the Barrier, ) is a region in the west of Saudi Arabia. It includes the cities of Mecca, Medina, Jeddah, Tabuk, Yanbu, Taif, and Baljurashi. It is also known as the "Western Provi ...

and

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...

, but he made no attempt to depose the dynasty, instead ruling on its behalf as a ''de facto'' king in the style of the all-powerful and illustrious Armenian viziers

Badr al-Jamali Abū'l-Najm Badr ibn ʿAbdallāh al-Jamālī al-Mustanṣirī, better known as Badr al-Jamali ( ar, بدر الجمالى) was an Armenian Shia Muslim Fatimid vizier, and prominent statesman for the Fatimid Caliphate under Caliph al-Mustansir. H ...

and

al-Afdal Shahanshah Al-Afdal Shahanshah ( ar, الأفضل شاهنشاه, al-Afḍal Shāhanshāh; la, Lavendalius/Elafdalio; 1066 – 11 December 1121), born Abu al-Qasim Shahanshah bin Badr al-Jamali was a vizier of the Fatimid caliphs of Egypt. According to a ...

, whom he attempted to emulate. Seeking legitimacy, Tala'i ibn Ruzzik returned to an aggressive policy against the Crusaders in Palestine. He scored some successes with a naval attack on Tyre in 1155 and at Gaza and

Hebron Hebron ( ar, الخليل or ; he, חֶבְרוֹן ) is a Palestinian. city in the southern West Bank, south of Jerusalem. Nestled in the Judaean Mountains, it lies above sea level. The second-largest city in the West Bank (after Eas ...

in 1158, but his efforts to secure Egypt through an alliance with the

Zengids The Zengid dynasty was a Muslim dynasty of Oghuz Turkic origin, which ruled parts of the Levant and Upper Mesopotamia on behalf of the Seljuk Empire and eventually seized control of Egypt in 1169. In 1174 the Zengid state extended from Tripoli to ...

of Syria under Nur al-Din Zangi failed. When

Baldwin III of Jerusalem Baldwin III (1130 – 10 February 1163) was King of Jerusalem from 1143 to 1163. He was the eldest son of Melisende and Fulk of Jerusalem. He became king while still a child, and was at first overshadowed by his mother Melisende, whom he eventu ...

prepared an invasion of Egypt in 1160, he had to be bought off. Ibn Ruzzik's reputation as a holy warrior, a poet, and a patron of culture was counterbalanced by his despotic rule, resorting to confiscations to address the by now chronic shortfalls of revenue, exacerbated by the active pursuit of the war against the Crusaders. Al-Fa'iz died during an

epileptic Epilepsy is a group of non-communicable neurological disorders characterized by recurrent epileptic seizures. Epileptic seizures can vary from brief and nearly undetectable periods to long periods of vigorous shaking due to abnormal electrical ...

seizure An epileptic seizure, informally known as a seizure, is a period of symptoms due to abnormally excessive or synchronous neuronal activity in the brain. Outward effects vary from uncontrolled shaking movements involving much of the body with l ...

in July 1160, and was succeeded by his nine-year-old cousin al-Adid, who was to be the last Fatimid caliph.

References

Sources

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Faiz bi-Nasr Allah 1149 births 1160 deaths 12th-century Fatimid caliphs Deaths from epilepsy Royalty and nobility with disabilities Egyptian Ismailis Hafizi imams Medieval child rulers Neurological disease deaths in Egypt Rulers who died as children

Life

See also

References

Sources