Al-Zafir

Abu Mansur Isma'il al-Zafir bi-Amr Allah, February 1133 – April 1154), was the twelfth Fatimid caliph, reigning in Egypt from 1149 to 1154, and the 23rd imam of the Hafizi Ismaili sect.

Al-Zafir
Caliph of the Fatimid Dynasty
Reign	1149 – 1154
Predecessor	al-Hafiz li-Din Allah
Successor	al-Fa'iz bi-Nasr Allah
Born	late February 1133
Died	late March 1154 Cairo
Dynasty	Fatimid
Religion	Hafizi Isma'ilism

Life

The future al-Zafir was born in late February 1133 as the fifth son of the eleventh Fatimid imam-caliph, al-Hafiz li-Din Allah (r. 1132–1149).[1] As all his older brothers predeceased their father, al-Zafir was appointed heir-apparent.[1] Al-Zafir was proclaimed caliph immediately after his father's death, on 10 October 1149.[1]

To calm the rival military factions of the Turks and Black Africans, who were clashing in the streets of Cairo, a generous donative was distributed and promises were made to look after them. The situation was brought under control in November, when the vizier, Ibn Masal, executed the faction leaders.[1] Al-Zafir then turned to the pleasures of his harem, but a revolt by the governor of Alexandria, Ibn al-Sallar, overthrew Ibn Masal. After being recognized as vizier by the caliph, Ibn al-Sallar had his predecessor executed.[1]

The imam-caliph al-Zafir was murdered by his vizier, Abbas ibn Abi al-Futuh and his son Nasr, who succeeded Ibn al-Sallar. Al-Zafir never exercised power in his own right, with his viziers exercising real power. Instead of devoting himself to the administration, al-Zafir exceedingly inclined to a life of pleasure. He was murdered at the age of 21 years in 1154 and was succeeded by his five-year-old son, al-Faiz.

See also

• List of rulers of Egypt
• Hafizi-Isma'ili family tree
• Usama ibn Munqidh

References

1. Bianquis 2002, p. 382.

Sources

• Bianquis, Thierry (2002). "al-Ẓāfir bi-Aʿdāʾ Allāh". In Bearman, P. J.; Bianquis, Th.; Bosworth, C. E.; van Donzel, E. & Heinrichs, W. P. (eds.). The Encyclopaedia of Islam, New Edition, Volume XI: W–Z. Leiden: E. J. Brill. pp. 382–383. ISBN 978-90-04-12756-2.
• Brett, Michael (2017). The Fatimid Empire. The Edinburgh History of the Islamic Empires. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. ISBN 978-0-7486-4076-8.
• Halm, Heinz (2014). Kalifen und Assassinen: Ägypten und der vordere Orient zur Zeit der ersten Kreuzzüge, 1074–1171 [Caliphs and Assassins: Egypt and the Near East at the Time of the First Crusades, 1074–1171] (in German). Munich: C.H. Beck. ISBN 978-3-406-66163-1.