Tamim ibn al-Mu'izz (; 6 July 1031 - 29 February 1108) was the fifth ruler of the

Zirids The Zirid dynasty (), Banu Ziri (), was a Sanhaja Berber dynasty from what is now Algeria which ruled the central Maghreb from 972 to 1014 and Ifriqiya (eastern Maghreb) from 972 to 1148. Descendants of Ziri ibn Manad, a military leader of th ...

Ifriqiya Ifriqiya ( '), also known as al-Maghrib al-Adna (), was a medieval historical region comprising today's Tunisia, eastern Algeria, and Tripolitania (roughly western Libya). It included all of what had previously been the Byzantine province of ...

(1062–1108). Tamim took over from his father al-Mu'izz ibn Badis (1016–1062) at a time when the Zirid realm found itself in a state of disintegration following the invasion of the

Banu Hilal The Banu Hilal () was a confederation of Arab tribes from the Najd region of the central Arabian Peninsula that emigrated to the Maghreb region of North Africa in the 11th century. They ruled the Najd, and campaigned in the borderlands between I ...

. Only the coastal towns were under control, and a reconquest of the hinterland from the Bedouin failed. Even on the coast the Zirids were not unchallenged -

Tunis Tunis (, ') is the capital city, capital and largest city of Tunisia. The greater metropolitan area of Tunis, often referred to as "Grand Tunis", has about 2,700,000 inhabitants. , it is the third-largest city in the Maghreb region (after Casabl ...

was lost to the Khurasanid dynasty (1063–1128). The capital,

Mahdia Mahdia ( ') is a Tunisian coastal city with 76,513 inhabitants, south of Monastir, Tunisia, Monastir and southeast of Sousse. Mahdia is a provincial centre north of Sfax. It is important for the associated fish-processing industry, as well as w ...

, was attacked by the city-states of

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

and

Pisa Pisa ( ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Tuscany, Central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for the Leaning Tow ...

in 1087 and forced to pay a high ransom - a sign of the growing dominance of Christian powers in the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

which also manifested itself in the

Norman conquest of Sicily The Normans, Norman conquest of southern Italy lasted from 999 to 1194, involving many battles and independent conquerors. In 1130, the territories in southern Italy united as the Kingdom of Sicily, which included the island of Sicily, the sout ...

(1061–1093). Tamim is described as handsome, both his face and sculpture ; he was well-built, had a pearly complexion, a slim nose and wide-open eyebrows. He also purged himself frequently, thinking he was maintaining his health, he used to go regularly to the hammam and used fire medication. He was an avid drug user and had frequent sexual relations. His drug use caused his skin to dry and fitness exercices were harder for him as time passed by. Tamim's son Yahya ibn Tamim inherited what was left of the Zirid kingdom in 1108.

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* 11th-century births Year of birth uncertain 1108 deaths 11th-century Berber people 12th-century Berber people Zirid emirs of Ifriqiya 11th-century monarchs in Africa 12th-century monarchs in Africa 11th-century people from Ifriqiya 12th-century people from Ifriqiya {{Africa-royal-stub