Al-Aziz Billah العزيز بالله |
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Caliph of the Fatimid Caliphate | |||||
Reign | 21 December 975 – 13 October 996 | ||||
Predecessor | al-Mu'izz Li-Dinillah | ||||
Successor | al-Hakim Bi-Amrillah | ||||
Born | 9 May 955 | ||||
Died | 13 October 996 | ||||
Issue | al-Hakim Bi-Amrillah | ||||
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Father | Al-Mu'izz Li-Dinillah | ||||
Religion | Shia Islam |
Full name | |
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Kunya: Abu Mansur Given name: Nizar Laqab: al-Aziz Billah |
Abu Mansur Nizar al-Aziz Billah, commonly known as al-Aziz (10 May 955 – 14 October 996) (Arabic: أبومنصور نزار العزيز بالله) was the fifth Caliph of the Fatimid Caliphate (975–996).
Since Abdallah, the heir to the throne, had died before his father Al-Mu'izz li-Din Allah (953-975), his brother Abu Mansur Nizar al-Azizbillah acceded to the Caliphate with the help of Jawhar as-Siqilli. Under Al-Aziz, the Fatimid Empire stretched as far as Palestine and Syria (from 977/978). Mecca and Medina also acknowledged the suzerainty of the Fatimids.
The reign of Al-Aziz was primarily significant for the strengthening of Fatimid power in Egypt and Syria, which had then only very recently been conquered (969). In 975 al-'Aziz took control of Baniyas in an attempt to subdue the anti-Fatimid agitation of the Sunni Mahammad b. Ahmad al-Nablusi and his followers. The bedouin Tayy tribe under Mufarrij ibn Daghfal ibn al-Jarrah was defeated in Palestine 982 and finally subjugated at Damascus 983. Towards the end of his reign Al-Aziz sought to extend his power to northern Syria, focusing his attention on the Hamdanids of Aleppo. The fact that they were under the suzerainty of the Byzantine Empire resulted in the outbreak of war with this great power, a conflict which would not be resolved until the reign of al-Hakim (996-1021).