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Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah

Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah
Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah.jpg
A portrait of the al-Hakim
Caliph of the Fatimid Caliphate
Reign 14 October 996 – 13 February 1021
Predecessor Abu Mansur Nizar al-Aziz Billah
Successor Ali az-Zahir
Born 13 August 985
Cairo, Fatimid Caliphate, Egypt
Died 13 February 1021 (aged 36)
Issue Ali az-Zahir
Full name
Abu ‘Ali Mansur al-Ḥākim bi-Amr Allāh
House Fatimid
Father Abu Mansur Nizar al-Aziz Billah
Mother As-Sayyidah al-‘Azīziyyah
Full name
Abu ‘Ali Mansur al-Ḥākim bi-Amr Allāh

Abū ʿAlī Manṣūr (13 August 985 – 13 February 1021), better known by his regnal title al-Ḥākim bi-Amr Allāh (Arabic: الحاكم بأمر الله‎‎; literally "Ruler by God's Command"), was the sixth Fatimid caliph and 16th Ismailiimam (996–1021). Al-Hakim is an important figure in a number of Shia Ismaili religions, such as the world's 15 million Nizaris and in particular the 2 million Druze of the Levant whose eponymous founder ad-Darazi proclaimed him as the incarnation of God in 1018.

Histories of al-Hakim can prove controversial, as diverse views of his life and legacy exist. Historian Paul Walker writes: “Ultimately, both views of him, the mad and despotic tyrant irrationally given to killing those around him on a whim, and the ideal supreme ruler, divinely ordained and chosen, whose every action was just and righteous, were to persist, the one among his enemies and those who rebelled against him, and the other in the hearts of true believers, who, while perhaps perplexed by events, nonetheless remained avidly loyal to him to the end."

Born in 985 CE, Abu `Ali "Mansur" was the first Fatimid ruler to have been born in Egypt. Abu `Ali "Mansur" had been proclaimed as heir-apparent (wali al-‘ahd) in 993 CE and succeeded his father Abū Mansūr Nizār al-Azīz (975–996) at the age of eleven on 14 October 996 with the caliphal title of al-Hakim Bi-Amr Allah. Al-Ḥākim had blue eyes flecked with reddish gold.

Al-Ḥākim was born on Thursday, 3 Rābi‘u l-Awwal in 985 (375 A.H.). His father, Caliph Abū Mansūr al-‘Azīz bil-Lāh, had two consorts. One was an umm al-walad who is only known by the title as-Sayyidah al-‘Azīziyyah or al-‘Azīzah (d. 385/995). She was a Melkite Christian whose two brothers were appointed patriarchs of the Melkite Church by Caliph al-‘Azīz. Different sources say either one of her brothers or her father was sent by al-‘Azīz as an ambassador to Sicily.


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