Shawar ibn Mujir al-Sa'di (Arabic: شاور بن مجير السعدي, romanized: Shāwar ibn Mujīr al-Saʿdī; died 18 January 1169) was an Arab de facto ruler of Fatimid Egypt, as its vizier, from December 1162 until his assassination in 1169[1] by the Kurdish general Shirkuh, the uncle of the future Ayyubid leader Saladin, with whom he was engaged in a three-way power struggle against the Crusader Amalric I of Jerusalem.
[2] Shawar was notorious for continually switching alliances, allying first with one side, and then the other,[3] and even ordering the burning of his own capital city, Fustat, just so that the enemy could not have it.
He again sought assistance from Sultan Nur ad-Din, who sent one of his generals, Shirkuh, to settle the dispute.
In 1166, Shirkuh attempted another attack, but Shawar called for reinforcements from Amalric, who arrived at the same time in January 1167.
In the winter of 1168, Amalric again attacked Egypt, and Shawar switched alliances again, this time going back to Shirkuh, whom he had betrayed in 1164.
Shirkuh and Shawar attempted to force the Crusader garrison out of Egypt, but Amalric pressed on, until his army was camped south of Fustat (the remnants of which are today in what is known as Old Cairo).