Study of the reign of the fifth Fatimid Imam/Caliph Al-'Aziz Billah

Abstract

The fifth Fätiimid Imam/Caliph, al-'Aziz billäh, is viewed in a number of primary sources as being the best of the Fätimid sovereigns. Yet, this particular Fätimid ruler has hitherto received little attention either from scholars in the Arab world, or in the West. This thesis seeks to remedy this neglect and aims to conduct a thorough study of the reign of al-'Aziz billäh.

After an initial survey of sources and a political overview of the reign of al-'Aziz, the thesis undertakes an analysis of his religious policies vis-ä-vis his Muslim subjects and the ahl al-Kitäb. The relations of al-'Aziz with his three powerful neighbours - the Büyids and the 'Abbäsids at Baghdad, the Byzantine Empire and the Umayyads of Andalusia - are then examined.

As a result of these investigations, al-'Aziz billäh emerges as an extremely competent, yet humane sovereign with whom even the most powerful potentates of his time, including the great 'Adüd al-Dawla, sought to establish diplomatic relations.