Al-Muizz li-Din Allah
Al-Mu'izz li-Din Allah was the fourth Fatimid caliph and the ruler who conquered Egypt and founded Cairo. Born in 932 in Ifriqiya, in what is now Tunisia, he succeeded in 953 as head of a Shia Ismaili dynasty that claimed descent from the Prophet's daughter Fatima and disputed the legitimacy of the Sunni Abbasid caliphate in Baghdad. He consolidated North Africa, suppressed Kharijite revolts, and built a fleet that took Sicily and raided as far as the coasts of Italy and Spain. The conquest of Egypt in 969 was prepared for years. His general Jawhar al-Siqilli, a Sicilian or Greek freedman of exceptional ability, marched east with a large army at a moment when Egypt was suffering famine and factional collapse under the Ikhshidids. It was taken with almost no fighting, and Jawhar issued guarantees of security to the population. Jawhar founded a new capital immediately north of Fustat, named al-Qahira, the victorious — Cairo — and began the mosque of al-Azhar in 970, which became the leading centre of learning in the Islamic world and remains so. Al-Mu'izz moved his court from Ifriqiya to Cairo in 973, bringing the coffins of his ancestors with him. He is credited with a tolerant administration that employed Christians and Jews in senior posts, notably the Jewish convert Ya'qub ibn Killis, who reorganised the finances. A tradition, probably legendary, has him challenged by the Abbasids to prove his descent and drawing his sword, saying it was his lineage and gold his argument. He died in Cairo in 975.
- Lived: 932 CE – 975 CE
- Nationality: Fatimid
- Roles: ruler
