Part 74

It also had the effect of informing the masses about the truth and establishing the foundations of the Sunnah. These writings were of two types: i) Books which dealt with issues of theology in general, according to the way of the 'People of the Sunnah and the Community'. Among the issues that they discussed was that of the caliphate according to the followers of the Sunnah and the superiority of Abu Bakr, 'Umar, 'Uthman and 'Ali (may Allah be pleased with them), and the legitimacy of the caliphates of the first three, in contrast to the beliefs of the Shiites. A related issue was approval of all the Companions of the Messenger of Allah (MESSENGER (SAAW) without differentiating between them, and regarding them all asbeing of good character, in contrast to the Shiites, who deemed them all to be unbelievers and evildoers except a few. This type of book was highly effective in informing the people about their religion and spreading the true madh-hab among them, until they began to regard anyone who went against it as being against Islam and outside the main body of Muslims, and to whom was due everything that was due to the unbeliever, namely enmity, fighting, boycotting and so on, in the hope that he might be deterred, and recant and repent.519 ii) Books which were specifically aimed at refuting the Shiites and their beliefs. This type of book — as previously mentioned — appeared as the result of particular circumstances which required a reaction from the People of the Sunnah and a specific refutation of falsewould. Among this type of book we may mention two, written by Imam Muhammad ibn Sahnoon, on the topic of the imamate. They are the greatest books that have been written on this topic. 'Eesa ibn Miskeen commented, "Nothing like them has (since) been written on this topic."520 Imam Ibraheem ibn 'Abdullah az-Zubaydi wrote a book called Al-Imamah ('The Imamate') and another called Ar-Radd 'aid ar-Rdfidah ('The Response to the Heretics'); these two books were the reason why he was tried, imprisoned and beaten by the Fatimid 'Ubaydi state.521 Resistance by the Sunni poets Alongside the writing of books such as those discussed above, another means of resistance was poetry which lampooned and criticized Banu 'Ubaydah. There were many prominent poets in this field, such as AbulQasim al-Fazari, who described them and their conduct as follows: They worshipped their kings and thought that by means of them they would be saved. Satan took control of their actions and showed them their misguidance as guidance. They turned away from the example of as-Siddeeq and al-Fdrooq in their rulings; may they never be safe. They replaced them with the barking Ibn al-Aswady Abu Quddrah and the accursed Tameem. They followed the dogs of Hell and turned away from those whom Allah made stars. Are they Jews? Or Christians? Or atheists who regard the creation as the creator? Or are they Sabaeans or a group who worship stars and follow astrology? Or are they heretics who thought that there will be no punishment or blessing tomorrow?... O Lord, curse them and inflict upon them great punishment at the hands of Abu Yazeed.522 Al-Mu'izz li Deen-Illah the Fatimid enters Egypt Al-Mu'izz li Deen-Illah, ruler of the Fatimid state, was following news of the rulers and commanders of Egypt closely, and he began to think of capturing Egypt. With the death of Kafoor al-Ikh-sheedi in 355 AH, Egypt was thrown into turmoil. Al-Mu'izz took advantage of this opportunity and did not let it pass by. He decided, planned and went ahead with digging wells and building fortresses between Qayrawan and the Egyptian border. He assembled great armies and gathered a great deal of wealth, and selected Jawhar as-Siqilli to lead this army, which was composed of more than one hundred thousand men. Al-Mu'izz ordered all his commanders to listen to, obey and follow Jawhar as-Siqilli. The 'Ubaydi army set out to transfer their Batini madh-hab to Egypt so as to free themselves of the crises, revolutions and fierce conflicts that had been led by the Sunni scholars for five decades in North Africa. As discussed above, the latter rejected the Batini madh-hab and proclaimed the beliefs of the People of the Sunnah and the Community. Al-Mu'izz took advantage of al-Ikh-sheedi's weakness and shot his poisoned arrow, sending in his frenzied army as he sought to put an end to the Abbasid state. In Jumadah II 358 AH, the armies of al-Mu'izz managed to enter Egypt under the leadership of Jawhar as-Siqilli, who encountered no difficulty in annexing it to the 'Ubaydi possessions. This Jawhar as-Siqilli is the same one who built Al-Azhar, the construction of which was completed in 361 AH, to serve as a cradle for preparing batini Ismaili preachers. After Egypt was ready to receive al-Mu'izz the'Ubaydi Fatimid, he prepared his armies, bodyguards, family and wealth, and began his march from Ifriqiyah to Egypt, coming to take it over. He left North Africa in the care of al-Ameer as-Sanhaji Balki ibn Zeeri and added Tripoli, Sirt and Barqah to Egypt's territory. With him was his poet Muhammad ibn Hani' al-Andalusi, who went to extremes in praising al-Mu'izz, saying: It is as if you are the Muhammad and as if your supporters are the Ansdr.