al-Musta'li bi-Allah
c. 1074 CE–c. 1101 CE · Cairo
Abu al-Qasim Ahmad, who ruled as al-Musta'li bi-Allah ("the one raised up by God"), was the ninth Fatimid caliph of Egypt and, in the reckoning of the Musta'li branch of Ismaili Shi'ism, its nineteenth imam. The Fatimids were a Shi'i dynasty that ruled from Cairo, claiming descent from the Prophet Muhammad through his daughter Fatima. Al-Musta'li was most likely the youngest son of the long-reigning caliph al-Mustansir, and was born in Cairo, traditionally dated to 1074 (the year is given variously and is not certain).
When al-Mustansir died in 1094, the powerful military vizier al-Afdal — al-Musta'li's brother-in-law — placed him on the throne over his elder brother Nizar. Ismaili tradition holds that succession rests on nass, a binding designation by the previous imam; Nizari Ismailis maintain that al-Mustansir had designated Nizar and that such a designation cannot be revoked, while Musta'li tradition holds that a later designation fell to Ahmad. The truth of this contested matter is held differently by the two communities. Nizar rebelled in Alexandria, was defeated, and died in captivity — a rupture that permanently split the movement into Musta'li and Nizari lines that persist to this day.
Throughout his reign al-Musta'li remained subordinate to al-Afdal. During these years the First Crusade reached Syria and captured Jerusalem (1099), and Fatimid forces were defeated at Ascalon. He died in Cairo in 1101, by some reports poisoned, and was succeeded by his young son al-Amir. The later Tayyibi and Bohra communities trace their imamate through his line.
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CairoקהירEgypt
What they did here
Abu al-Qasim Ahmad was born in Cairo, the Fatimid capital, as a son of the caliph al-Mustansir. The exact year is reported variously (commonly 1074, with 1075 also given), so the date is traditional rather than firmly fixed; he is generally held to have been the youngest of al-Mustansir's sons.
Cairo in this era
Under the Fatimid caliphs (969-1171) Cairo was the capital of an empire reaching across North Africa and into Syria. Al-Azhar (970-72) and the House of Knowledge founded by al-Hakim in 1005 made it a centre of Ismaili learning, and the scientist Ibn al-Haytham worked here in the early 11th century.
About Cairo
Cairo, at the head of the Nile delta, grew from two foundations: Fustat, the garrison town built by the Arab conquerors in 641, and al-Qahira ('the Victorious'), the walled city founded by the Fatimid dynasty in 969, where the mosque of al-Azhar opened in 970-72 and became a great centre of learning. Under the Ayyubids (from 1171) and the Mamluks (1250-1517) it was one of the largest cities of the Islamic world. Fustat's Jewish community, home to Maimonides in the 12th century, left the Cairo Geniza, a vast store of medieval documents. Later ruled by the Ottomans and, from 1882, under British occupation, Cairo is the capital of modern Egypt.
The world in their lifetime
Thinkers and teachers of other traditions whose lives overlapped with al-Musta'li bi-Allah’s — a glimpse of the wider world they lived in. Drawn purely from recorded birth and death years.
Works
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