Lamak ibn Mālik al-Ḥammādī (died c. 1097) was a qadi who was a prominent political and religious figure in 11th-century Yemen, under the Sulayhid dynasty.
[1][2] According to Abbas Hamdani, Lamak was responsible for introducing the split between political and religious authority in Sulayhid Yemen after Ali al-Sulayhi's death.
[4] Ibn Malik al-Hammadi, the author of the Kashf Asrār al-Bāṭiniyya, may have been Lamak's brother, and they may have had a falling out due to religious and political differences.
[1] During his stay in Cairo, Lamak resided in the Dār al-‘Ilm, the official headquarters of al-Mu'ayyad fi'l-Din al-Shirazi.
[1] He studied "esoteric sciences of the faith" during his stay at the Dar al-‘Ilm and then, after five years (c. 1066), he was finally allowed to submit his requests in writing to the caliph.
[1] As a result, the Fatimids were increasingly interested in establishing bases around the Indian Ocean region in order to influence trade and strengthen their own economic position.
[1] Abbas Hamdani has speculated that settling the question of who would control the da‘wah in India was another goal of Lamak's mission.
[1] Hamdani has also suggested that Lamak was trying to get official Fatimid recognition of Ali's son al-A‘azz as heir to the Sulayhid state.
[1] Towards the end of his five-year embassy, in early 1067, Lamak was joined by the influential qadi Imran ibn al-Fadl al-Yami, also from the Banu Hamdan, who was commander-in-chief of the Sulayhid army and the governor of Sanaa.
[1] As Ali had not been an ideal submissive ruler (he had disobeyed the caliph's orders twice by attacking Mecca), the Fatimids probably saw an opportunity to influence Yemeni policy-making at that point.
[4] Lamak's date of death is not known, although it must have been sometime before 1097/8 (491 AH) because his son Yahya appears to have become head of the Yemeni da‘wah at that point.