Fatimid Caliphate

The Crusaders were overpowered and Jerusalem liberated in 1187, the Ismaili Fatimids were finally removed from annoying the Muslims, and a very powerful Khwarazmian Empire had begun in Persia. However, the Islamic world had all of that turn around for them when the Mongols made their way into Southwest Asia. “The Mongols were a tribe…

finance his efforts against the Franks in Syria. Saladin however was building up his army to keep the Egyptians in check and to field a force with enough manpower to resist the Franks. Nur ad-Din became suspicious after Saladin sent him a gift from the Fatimid treasury which failed to impress and Nur ah-din began to suspect Saladin of treachery but with the death of Nur ah-Din (1174) Saladin began his pursuit of Empire in earnest. The heir to Nur –ah-Din’s territory was his nine year old nephew…

forces later in1169. He was later appointed as a Wazir (advisor) to the Shi'ite caliph in Cairo consolidating his position by removing the Fatimid's sub-Saharan infantry slave forces. Salah al-Din brought the Shi'ite Fatimid caliphate to a halt which led to the recognition of Sunni caliphate in Baghdad (Brill & Houtsma, 1993). At the same time, Salah al-Din continued getting pressure from Nur al-Din to send him supplies, troops, and money although he stalled. The two would have gone to an open…

forgiveness of sins” which epitomises how many men were going on crusade in order for their sins to be forgiven and to preach the glory of God to the infidels. Thus was launched the first and most successful of at least eight crusades against the Muslim caliphates in the East, driven by the refrain "God wills it!" This fully conveys how the First Crusade was inspired by religious fervour to take back Jerusalem and the Holy Land as a whole and to appease their God. This therefore amalgamated the…

The Cairo Genizah or “Sacred Trash” is the collection of 300,000 manuscript of Jewish literary collected from the storeroom of Ben Eza Synagogue in old Cairo, Egypt. Genizah in Hebrew means hide away or keeping aside, like Janaza (means burial) in Arabic is derived from Persian word ganj denotes a treasure. These manuscripts dated from 870 CE to 19th century, contain approximately 1000 years of information about the Jewish communities of Cairo (Schechter). Genizah contains the largest…

The importance of knowledge in the Islamic world was intrinsic to its culture. For, the Prophet Muhammad had repeatedly stressed on the importance of knowledge and learning: “Acquire knowledge, it enables its possessor to distinguish right from wrong; it lights the way to heaven. It is our friend in the desert, our company in solitude and companion when friendless. It guides us to happiness, it sustains us in misery, it is an ornament amongst friends and an armour against enemies.” Several…