The Princeton Encyclopedia of Islamic Political Thought

Hakim bi-Amr Allah (985–1021)

Born in Cairo in 985, Hakim bi-Amr Allah ascended to the Fatimid caliphate at the age of 11 after the early death of his father in 996. He was then under the watchful supervision of Barjawan, a palace eunuch with unusual power and political skill. Soon enough, however, Hakim resolved to rid himself of his guardian by assassination and to rule alone. Thereafter, until the end of his reign, he governed his empire with an unusually resolute hand, acting both as caliph for a widely diverse population of Muslim and non-Muslim religious communities and as imam—the supreme authority—for the Isma‘ilis, who were devoted to him with total and unreserved allegiance. His position therefore resembled a combination of king and pope. The Fatimids then governed a vast domain, comprising the vassal states of North Africa, Sicily, the Islamic holy cities of Mecca and Medina, Syria, plus Egypt and Palestine. In addition, missions (da‘was) of his adherents reached clandestinely deep into the realm of the other Islamic lands. Significantly, the Fatimid state lost none of its territory or its status under him.

Nevertheless, in marked contrast to his father, who had become well known for tolerance and clemency, Hakim applied harsh and uncompromising policies that resulted in a large number of executions, particularly of members of the bureaucracy and the elite. Commencing about 1005, he issued a series of laws designed to closely regulate the habits, practices, and morals of the people in his domain. One edict ordered the public denouncing of those of the Prophet’s Companions who had failed to support the direct succession of ‘Ali b. Abi Talib. Others forbade the sale and consumption of foods such as turmus (lupine), jirjir (rocket, or arugula), scaleless fish, and mulūkhiyya (jute, whose leaves were used to make soup), as well as all kinds of intoxicating beverages, among them various beers, wine, and zabīb (raisin liquor). He likewise severely restricted the movements of women, eventually decreeing that shoemakers not produce footwear for them to ensure that they could not venture outside their homes. He also sought to control his Christian and Jewish subjects in an increasingly onerous fashion, commanding them to wear distinctive badges and clothing and to observe restrictions on interactions with Muslims and finally instituting a deliberate policy of destroying houses of worship, including, most notably, the destruction of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem.

Of these measures, the denouncing of the Prophet’s Companions lasted barely two years and was replaced by a decidedly tolerant policy. Consequently, the fomenting of religious strife, including speaking ill of those connected to the Prophet, became anathema. The other initiatives, however, not only persisted but were often strengthened, becoming more of a burden on the people. Yet after a decade, Hakim began to relent by granting Christians and Jews who wanted to leave his lands permission to do so. Near the end of his reign, he also permitted those who had converted to Islam as a response to his repressive policies to reclaim their original religions and allowed the rebuilding of many of the churches and synagogues he had destroyed.

Despite his reputation for cruelty and repression and for an unpredictable and paradoxical style of rule, he remained uncommonly popular. Until the day of his disappearance in 1021, by that time having ruled for 25 years, he could ride through the streets and districts of the capital unaccompanied by an armed guard. His supporters boasted that he was courageous to appear regularly in public and that his seemingly untouchable, almost hallowed persona miraculously protected him from the harmful designs of his many enemies. A small group of especially fervent followers, who were later to be called the Druze, carried their enthusiasm for him further. They insisted that he was not really human but divine and that he was in fact an incarnation of God, come to instill in mankind a new and truer religion that superseded all others, including Islam.