Abbas ibn Abi al-Futuh

Abu’l-Faḍl ʿAbbās ibn Abī al-Futūḥ al-Ṣinhājī (Arabic: ابوالفضل عباس ﺑﻦ ﺍﺑﻲ ﺍﻟﻔﺘﻮﺡ الصنهاجي), also known by the honorific al-Afḍal Rukn al-Dīn (lit.

He grew up in the household of the Fatimid general and governor al-Adil ibn al-Sallar, whom his mother married after Abbas' father died.

[4] When Abu al-Futuh died, Abbas' mother, Bullara, married a second time, to the powerful Fatimid general and governor of Alexandria, al-Adil ibn al-Sallar.

[1][4] Abbas likely accompanied his stepfather during his uprising, and was then tasked with the pursuit of Ibn Masal, who had fled the capital to rally troops in Lower Egypt.

[1][4] Ibn Masal managed to gather an army of Lawata Berbers, Bedouin Arabs, native Egyptians, and Black African troops, and prevailed in first engagement with Abbas.

[1] Abbas reappears in the sources in early 1153, when he was appointed to lead an expedition to Ascalon, at the time the last remaining stronghold that the Fatimids held in the Levant against the Crusader states.

At the instigation of Usama, Abbas resolved to secretly send his son, Nasr, who had the ear of the caliph, to Cairo in order to ask al-Zafir to depose Ibn al-Sallar.

This was easily achieved, as Ibn al-Sallar's rule was regarded as oppressive, and the caliph apparently had already sought to get rid of his over-mighty vizier.

[4] The terrified women of the Fatimid harem called upon the Armenian-born governor of Asyut, Tala'i ibn Ruzzik, for assistance, reportedly sending their own cut hair in supplication.

Abbas tried to resist, but faced general opposition: most of the troops were reluctant to support him or defected outright, and the remainder found themselves under attack by the populace with stones.