Part 92

On the second Friday, the khutbah was given in the name of the caliph alMustadi' bi Amr-Illah Abu Muhammad al-Hasan ibn al-Mustanjid Billah, and khutbahs were no longer given in the name of al-'Adid li Deen-Illah; khutbahs were no longer given in the name of the Fatimids and that has remained the case until today.651 It may be noted that khutbahs in the name of the Abbasids were given in Alexandria two weeks before Cairo and the rest of Egypt. That is because Alexandria remained Sunni throughout the Fatimid era.652 Al-'Adid died on 10 Muharram 567 AH/1171-1172 CE.653 It was said that Salah ad-Deen was told of al-'Adid's death a few days later, and he regretted having hastened to stop the khutbahs being given in his name. He said that if he had known that he — meaning al-'Adid — would die within a few days, he would not have omitted his name from the khutbahs. Al-Qadi al-Fadil laughed and replied, "O my master, if he knew that you would not erase his name from the khutbahs, he would not have died!"654 Everyone present smiled at this word play between the vizier Salah ad-Deen and his scribe and adviser, which concluded the final page of the history of the 'Ubaydi Fatimid state.655 The death of al-'Adid 567 AH/1171 CE Ibn Katheer said: Al-'Adid in Arabic means 'the chopper'. The Messenger of Allah (SAAW) said concerning Makkah: 'Its trees are not to be chopped down (la yu'dad)' i.e., they are not to be cut down, and with him their state was cut off. His name was 'Abd-Allah and his kunyah was Abu Muhammad ibn Yoosuf al-Hafiz ibn Muhammad ibn al-Mustansir ibn adh-Dhahir ibn al-Hakim ibn al-'Azeez ibn al-Mu'izz ibn al-Mansoor ibn al-Qa'im ibn al-Mahdi, and alMahdi was the first of their kings. Al-'Adid was born in 546 AH and lived for twenty-one years. His attitude and conduct were bad. He was an evil Shiite and if it had been possible for him to kill everyone he could of Ahl asSunnah, he would have done so.656 Muslims rejoicing at the end of the Fatimid state When news reached the king Noor ad-Deen in Syria, he sent word to the Abbasid caliph with Ibn Abi 'Asroon, telling him of that. Baghdad was decorated, its gates were locked, tents were set up and the Muslims rejoiced greatly, sermons in the name of the Abbasids had ceased in Egypt in 359 AH, during the caliphate of the Abbasid al-Mutee', when the Fatimids took control during the days of the Fatimid caliph al-Mu'izz, the builder of Cairo, until this day, two hundred and eighty years later.657 The poets reacted to this momentous event that had reverberations throughout the world. Al-Imad alIsfahani said in verse: Al-'Adid the impostor has died and no man of innovation can open his mouth in Egypt. The age of the pharaoh has ended and its Joseph is now in control of its affairs. The burning coal of the misguided has been extinguished And all the fires of shirk have been put out...65S Noor ad-Deen Mahmood thought that eliminating the Fatimid state was a strategic step towards putting an end to the Christian (Crusader) presence and Batini influence in Syria. Hence he was keen to restore Egypt to true Islamic rule. He set out the necessary plans, prepared the necessary armies and appointed commanders with the right qualifications, and Allah granted him what he wanted to achieve at the hands of his sincere soldier and trustworthy commander Salah ad-Deen, who implemented the wise policies of Noor ad-Deen. The Muslim Ummah and its leaders had the right to rejoice at this great news of the fall of the Batini state. Lessons from the fall of the Fatimid state in Egypt The Fatimid state lasted for a little more than two hundred and eighty years, then became a thing of the past, as if they had never dwelt or flourished there. The first of their rulers was al-Mahdi, who was one of the people of as-Salamiyah; he was a blacksmith whose name was Sa'eed, and he was a Jew. He went to the Maghreb and called himself 'Ubayd-Allah, and claimed to be a descendant of the Messenger (SAAW) through 'Ali and Fatimah, and he said that he was the Mahdi. This was mentioned by more than one of the prominent scholars, such as al-Qadi Abu Bakr al-Baqillani, Shaykh Abu Hamid al-Isfarayeeni and others. The point is that the fabrications of this impostor and liar found a receptive audience in that land and he was supported by a group of ignorant ascetics and he gained power and authority. He managed to build his city, which he called al-Mahdiyah, after himself, and he became a king who made an outward display of being Rafidi but inwardly it was pure disbelief. He was succeeded by his son alQa'im, then came al-Mansoor, then al-Mu'izz — who was the first of them to enter Egypt and for whom Cairo was built — then al-'Azeez, then al-Hakim, then adh-Dhahir, then al-Mustansir, then al-Musta'li, then al-Amir, then alHafiz, then adh-Dhafir, then al-Fa'iz, then al-'Adid, who was the last of them. There were fourteen kings in total whose dynasty lasted for approximately two hundred and ninety years.