[2] Until her death in February 1023, the government was conducted by Sitt al-Mulk, who according to historian Thierry Bianquis proved "a true stateswoman".

[2] Under this regime, the Fātimid state slipped into crisis - in Egypt, famine and plague led to anarchy in the years 1023–1025, and in Palestine and Syria, there was a revolt amongst the Bedouin (1024–1029).

Meanwhile, in 1028 one of the governing circle, ʻAlī ibn Ahmad Jarjarai, was able to eliminate his colleagues and take over the office of vizir, which he managed to retain until 1045.

To improve relations with Byzantium and the Christian subjects of the realm, the rebuilding of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, destroyed in 1009, was authorised under his caliphate in a treaty with the Byzantine Emperor Romanus III.

[3] This was the result of a power struggle inside of the Fatimid empire in which the Druze were viewed with suspicion because of their refusal to recognize the new caliph as their Imam.