al-Zafir

States People Centers Other Abū Manṣūr Ismāʿīl ibn al-Ḥāfiẓ (Arabic: أبو منصور إسماعيل بن الحافظ, February 1133 – April 1154), better known by his regnal name al-Ẓāfir bi-Aʿdāʾ Allāh (الظافر بأعداء الله, lit.

[4] The official sect of Isma'ili Shi'ism had lost its appeal and was weakened by disputes and schisms, and the dynasty's legitimacy was increasingly challenged by a Sunni resurgence in Egypt.

[4] Al-Zafir's father had tried to curtail the power of his viziers, and for the last decade of his reign, did not appoint anyone to that office, instead relying on high-ranking clerks as ad hoc directors of government affairs.

In return, the underage caliph, more interested in the pleasures of the palace than governing, appointed Ibn Masal to the vacant vizierate, with full and plenipotentiary powers.

[2] 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.

In retaliation, in January 1150 Ibn al-Sallar gathered the caliphal guard (sibyan al-khass), an elite corps of cadets comprising the sons of high dignitaries and officials, and executed most of them, sending the rest to serve on the empire's frontiers.

[1][3] The raid, though successful, was a hollow victory, as the Fatimids failed to follow it up;[9] it also cost the enormous sum of 300,000 gold dinars, so that the treasury had to curtail expenses, such as the free distribution of clothing in Cairo.

[11] Abbas sent his son Nasr, a favourite of the Caliph, back to in Cairo to stay with his grandmother in the palace of Ibn al-Sallar, ostensibly to spare him from the dangers of war.

He then sent a message by carrier pigeon to his father, who quickly returned to Cairo to claim the vizierate for himself (9 April), showing Ibn al-Sallar's severed head to the populace assembled before the Bab al-Dhahab gate.

[4] A search ensued, but eventually the truth became known when a servant of the caliph's escort, who had managed to hide and escape the massacre of the previous night, informed the palace.

[4] Al-Zafir's rule marks the beginning of the end for the Fatimid state: from then on the caliphs were underage youths, sidelined from government affairs and mere puppets at the hands of the strongmen who vied for the vizierate.