14 - Resistance to and Acceptance of the Fatimids in North Africa: A Shiʿi Dynasty in Negotiation with Both Adherents and Enemies

Summary

How the Fatimids, locally considered foreign easterners and heretical Shiʿa, negotiated sufficient acceptance in the Maghrib to withstand fierce opposition from Maliki Sunnis and Ibadi Kharijis, raises key issues concerning the formation of Islamic empires. Despite a plethora of enemies among the population, their rule endured and even prospered. What we know has grown substantially with new sources about the interaction of Ismaili authorities with the local ʿulamāʾ and the inner dynamics of their daʿwa and its allocation of restricted knowledge to members. Conversion of sections of the local elite and the demotion or expulsion of hostile elements helped. An internal document preserved by the daʿwa explains how its adherents were expected to prove their loyalty and the reward for doing so. The Ismailis existed both as one component in the new society and yet also remained apart as a community of Believers within the broader society of Muslims.