The Fatimid Period – Imams Farmans &
Lessons from History
The Fatimid empire and period is a fascinating and pivotal era in Ismaili history, reflected upon by the Imams from our 48th through 50th Imams — including Shah Rahim (Hazar Imam) — in the context of learning from past lessons and, in particular, actualizing pluralism.
This Fatimid empire, with its capital in Cairo, was a time when pluralism flourished, enabling unity, growth, and expansion — from Tunisia under the early Fatimids, through North Africa, Spain, the Middle East, and Persia.
The first Fatimid Imam-Caliph was our 11th Imam – Muhammad al-Mahdi, and the last Imam-Caliph in Cairo was our 19th Imam, Mawlana Nizār. These nine Imams ruled as Imams and Caliphs from 909 to 1171 CE.
The Fatimid state thrived for over 150 years, with sophisticated, pluralist, inclusive education, administration, and governance.
Imams’ Farmans were conveyed, shared, and upheld, while Viziers and the Diwān managed state affairs across all religious communities, not only Ismailis. Dāʿīs oversaw the spiritual teaching and guidance of the Ismaili community, called the Daʿwa.
The downfall began when the Viziers and Diwān shifted from pluralism and upholding the Farmans toward material greed, self-interest, and landholding for a select few, rather than the collective good of all.
The period became marked by exclusion, division, internal family disputes, and political intrigue, culminating in the deposition and assassination of Imam Nizār.
Following this, the Imamat and administrative seat (Diwān) moved east to the Nizārī independent state at Alamut, led by Ḥasan-i Ṣabbāḥ as Chief Dāʿī.
Here, the Dāʿīs and effective Viziers preserved and upheld the spiritual guidance and Farmans conveyed by the Imams, maintaining continuity from Alamut with Dāʿīs appointed to share and uphold Farmans in all regions.
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Summary of Lessons
The following is a short summary reflecting on these lessons, highlighting the rise and fall of the Fatimid empire, the importance of pluralism, accountability, and ethical leadership, and how history can guide us today.
I am also attaching links to the Ismaili social media series, detailing stories of every Imam leading up to Imamat Day, 4 February 2026. These knowledge resources are invaluable for anyone seeking a deeper understanding of the Fatimid rise, governance, decline, and the two periods of concealment (Dawr al-Satr) — and, most importantly, for learning from the lessons and mistakes that remain relevant today.
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Learning from the Fall: To Study, Understand, and Pre-empt
Imam Sultan Mahomed Shah (Aga Khan III) taught us that understanding history critically is not optional — it is essential for shaping our future:
“To understand such saintly thoughts it is necessary that the history of Islam, its glory and its downfall should be understood truly, and dispassionately with the critical faculty of modern histories.” – Preface to The Great Umayyads
Today’s leaders must reflect not only on the rise of the Umayyads and Fatimids, but on the real reasons for their fall:
• When the service of all turned into the self-preservation of the few
• When privilege was protected over ethics, pluralism, and justice
• When control and greed replaced accountability and compassion
These lessons are not ancient history. They are urgent today — a time when pluralism is rejected, truth is silenced, and self-interest escapes scrutiny.
The greatest legacy is not in glorifying the past, but in having the courage to understand it, so we can predict, pre-empt, and avoid repeating failures as we shape our future.
By M. Chatur | 24 July 2025
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Links to The Ismaili Social Media Posts of the Fatimid Imams
11th Imam – Muhammad al-Mahdi (First Fatimid Imam)
https://x.com/chaturmahebub/status/2005 ... hqfO552USg
12th Imam – Mawlana al-Qa’im
https://x.com/chaturmahebub/status/2005 ... hqfO552USg
13th Imam – Mawlana al-Mansur
https://x.com/chaturmahebub/status/2005 ... hqfO552USg
14th Imam – Mawlana al-Muʿizz li-Din Allah
https://x.com/chaturmahebub/status/2006 ... hqfO552USg
15th Imam – Mawlana Al Aziz
https://x.com/chaturmahebub/status/2006 ... hqfO552USg
16th Imam – Mawlana al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah
https://x.com/chaturmahebub/status/2007 ... hqfO552USg
17th Imam – Mawlana al-Zahir
https://x.com/chaturmahebub/status/2007 ... hqfO552USg
18th Imam – Mawlana al-Mustansir bi-llah
https://x.com/chaturmahebub/status/2007 ... hqfO552USg
19th Imam – Mawlana Nizār
https://x.com/chaturmahebub/status/2008 ... hqfO552USg
Key Points of the 19th Imam – Mawlana Nizār:
• End of pluralism in Cairo
• End of Fatimid Caliphate unity
• Move to Alamut – the new independent Nizārī Ismaili Persian state
• Split of the Ismaili community into Nizārī & Mustaʿlī branches
• Assassination of Imam Nizār
• Start of the second era of concealment, with Farmans conveyed through Dāʿīs
• First Chief Dāʿī after Fatimid Cairo: Ḥasan-i Ṣabbäh (d. 1124), who established the state of Alamut
FATIMID ERA
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FATIMID ERA
The Fatimid Legacy
A Presentation by the Institute of Ismaili Studies
Delivered on 8 January 2026
Legacy Is Not Only Heritage — It Also Teaches Us to Learn the Lessons
Earlier today, the Institute of Ismaili Studies delivered a c.40-minute presentation, partially live-streamed, addressing the legacy of historical empires through culture, architecture, and interconnectedness.
The dominant framing presented legacy primarily as continuity of culture and shared human heritage, deliberately not engaging with the political state, nor with questions of rise, decline, or fall.
The most important point, however, lies not merely in recognising heritage, but in what history actively teaches us today.
This was the clear emphasis in the concluding remarks by Dr Jiwa, who deliberately framed legacy as instruction, not nostalgia.
Her conclusion can be understood in two closely linked parts.
⸻
1. Legacy as Shared Heritage and Interconnectedness
Dr Jiwa first emphasises that empires and societies of the past cannot be understood in isolation, but as deeply interconnected:
“From my point of view the one thing that I think remains to be done and we can all benefit from is to see the interconnectedness of these empires at the time and therefore the shared human heritage…”
This frames history as continuity, not fragmentation — cultures flowing into one another, shaping and reshaping identities, pluralism, and belonging over time.
⸻
2. Legacy as a Lesson for the Present — “a big, big lesson”
She then makes the crucial move: history is not simply to be admired, but learned from:
“But I think [this] has a lot to teach us today about how we can be much more understanding of the connectedness as cultures and people rather than what I think divides us often. And I think that is a big, big lesson from my point of view. It’s a big realisation that in fact we are far, far more interconnected than we think, even within this language.”
— Dr Jiwa, 8 January 2026
This is not a neutral observation. It is a normative claim: that our contemporary tendency to emphasise division — often through political, sectarian, or institutional language — stands in contrast to how interconnected societies functioned historically.
⸻
What This Teaches Us — and What Is Left Unsaid
One of the most striking examples of this interconnectedness is precisely where history is often presented as “split” or “division”: the Nizārī–Mustaʿlī separation. While historically distinct, both communities demonstrate remarkable continuity of geography, culture, and lived practice — from Yemen to India — where Mustaʿlī Bohras and Nizārī Ismailis continue to coexist within overlapping cultural worlds.
This continuity itself is a lesson.
Division did not erase interconnectedness.
Nor did difference negate shared heritage.
Yet the presentation does not crucially include:
• how divisions emerged,
• how power, authority, and governance shaped outcomes, were contested, or were usurped, or
• how failure to learn from history can itself become a repeating pattern, shaping our future today.
Instead, it leaves us with a responsibility:
If history teaches interconnectedness, are we willing to apply that lesson today — especially within our own faith lives, institutions, narratives, and communities?
That question — implicit in Dr Jiwa’s conclusion — may be the most important Fatimid legacy of all.
⸻
Further Reading and Viewing
For those who wish to engage directly, the full presentation is available below:
• Full video recording:
https://youtu.be/Qggc6Pc3w4o
Text excerpt of the Legacy last part of the presentation
below
“ When you go to your place like Tunisia or to Cairo to Egypt you of course find a lot of architecture that Felix Indonesia you have a city on the southern coast called Marc dear it’s MAHDIA it’s still a city it was built by the first Cali Mehdi after he established Shaffin in North Africa so back to 915 916 it’s fascinating because the city will still exist you still can go to the that place. The city gates are still there. They are massive and you walk through the city gates and you walk through the streets. The guy named after some of these key figures and end during that period and you get to see where the palace was you get to see the mosque that they had built which has been rebuilt several times but it’s in the same space. There is a museum there where you see some fascinating art artefacts Queens and Marble PCs and also decorations from them from the pen et cetera beautiful mosaics so you have that kind of architecture that still survives similarly in Cairo Cairo has three city gates that were originally built in mid times that still exist to this day. They have several of the buildings that are from that period or at least part of from that period the main ton of affair in downtown Cairo, which is what was the fatty city Hub it still exist of course it has been rebuilt several times but you can actually walk along the telephone. it’s still called the street of Aloys leading so you find that architecturally there is a lot that still exist in terms of material culture that are these species that are fascinating clothes species from linen and silk and bouquet that were commissioned in the Royal court and which would have given his gifts we’ve got pieces of those that have survived so you get a lot of stuff in terms of people was fascinating why the dynasty itself comes to an end Egypt which the split from within the Fatima house you have the who established themselves after this in 1094 in Iran and in Syria and day of course continue to this day so you have living communities that see themselves a success to the fact and you have the most communities who also know the split that happens in Egypt within the fact with house they moved to Yemen and then from Yemen to India and who are around today and so you have these two communities living communities who look back to this past as a heritage is the continuity of their history and heritage to have this communities that are also living as it were in carry on and draw from this history and this heritage to this day and so if you look at the way the Boras for example build their places of learning in their places of worship they will offer replicate this Fatima buildings architecturally because for them this is part of the living culture, culture and tradition in heritage
from my point of view the one thing that I think remains to be done and we can all benefit from is to see the interconnectedness of these of these empires at the time and therefore the shared human heritage that really is very very engaging for that time but I think has a lot to teach us today about how we can be much more understanding of the connected with is as cultures and people rather than what I think devices often and I think the ad is a big big lesson from my point of view. It’s a big realisation that in fact we are far far or interconnected let me think even within this language so when we talk about this year in the Sony et cetera you often hear about this a very political context sometimes but in fact there is a lot more that mines us that connects us and I think it’s it’s fascinating to see how people of over 1000 years years ago we’re able to do that so successful successfully.”
https://youtu.be/Qggc6Pc3w4o
A Presentation by the Institute of Ismaili Studies
Delivered on 8 January 2026
Legacy Is Not Only Heritage — It Also Teaches Us to Learn the Lessons
Earlier today, the Institute of Ismaili Studies delivered a c.40-minute presentation, partially live-streamed, addressing the legacy of historical empires through culture, architecture, and interconnectedness.
The dominant framing presented legacy primarily as continuity of culture and shared human heritage, deliberately not engaging with the political state, nor with questions of rise, decline, or fall.
The most important point, however, lies not merely in recognising heritage, but in what history actively teaches us today.
This was the clear emphasis in the concluding remarks by Dr Jiwa, who deliberately framed legacy as instruction, not nostalgia.
Her conclusion can be understood in two closely linked parts.
⸻
1. Legacy as Shared Heritage and Interconnectedness
Dr Jiwa first emphasises that empires and societies of the past cannot be understood in isolation, but as deeply interconnected:
“From my point of view the one thing that I think remains to be done and we can all benefit from is to see the interconnectedness of these empires at the time and therefore the shared human heritage…”
This frames history as continuity, not fragmentation — cultures flowing into one another, shaping and reshaping identities, pluralism, and belonging over time.
⸻
2. Legacy as a Lesson for the Present — “a big, big lesson”
She then makes the crucial move: history is not simply to be admired, but learned from:
“But I think [this] has a lot to teach us today about how we can be much more understanding of the connectedness as cultures and people rather than what I think divides us often. And I think that is a big, big lesson from my point of view. It’s a big realisation that in fact we are far, far more interconnected than we think, even within this language.”
— Dr Jiwa, 8 January 2026
This is not a neutral observation. It is a normative claim: that our contemporary tendency to emphasise division — often through political, sectarian, or institutional language — stands in contrast to how interconnected societies functioned historically.
⸻
What This Teaches Us — and What Is Left Unsaid
One of the most striking examples of this interconnectedness is precisely where history is often presented as “split” or “division”: the Nizārī–Mustaʿlī separation. While historically distinct, both communities demonstrate remarkable continuity of geography, culture, and lived practice — from Yemen to India — where Mustaʿlī Bohras and Nizārī Ismailis continue to coexist within overlapping cultural worlds.
This continuity itself is a lesson.
Division did not erase interconnectedness.
Nor did difference negate shared heritage.
Yet the presentation does not crucially include:
• how divisions emerged,
• how power, authority, and governance shaped outcomes, were contested, or were usurped, or
• how failure to learn from history can itself become a repeating pattern, shaping our future today.
Instead, it leaves us with a responsibility:
If history teaches interconnectedness, are we willing to apply that lesson today — especially within our own faith lives, institutions, narratives, and communities?
That question — implicit in Dr Jiwa’s conclusion — may be the most important Fatimid legacy of all.
⸻
Further Reading and Viewing
For those who wish to engage directly, the full presentation is available below:
• Full video recording:
https://youtu.be/Qggc6Pc3w4o
Text excerpt of the Legacy last part of the presentation
below
“ When you go to your place like Tunisia or to Cairo to Egypt you of course find a lot of architecture that Felix Indonesia you have a city on the southern coast called Marc dear it’s MAHDIA it’s still a city it was built by the first Cali Mehdi after he established Shaffin in North Africa so back to 915 916 it’s fascinating because the city will still exist you still can go to the that place. The city gates are still there. They are massive and you walk through the city gates and you walk through the streets. The guy named after some of these key figures and end during that period and you get to see where the palace was you get to see the mosque that they had built which has been rebuilt several times but it’s in the same space. There is a museum there where you see some fascinating art artefacts Queens and Marble PCs and also decorations from them from the pen et cetera beautiful mosaics so you have that kind of architecture that still survives similarly in Cairo Cairo has three city gates that were originally built in mid times that still exist to this day. They have several of the buildings that are from that period or at least part of from that period the main ton of affair in downtown Cairo, which is what was the fatty city Hub it still exist of course it has been rebuilt several times but you can actually walk along the telephone. it’s still called the street of Aloys leading so you find that architecturally there is a lot that still exist in terms of material culture that are these species that are fascinating clothes species from linen and silk and bouquet that were commissioned in the Royal court and which would have given his gifts we’ve got pieces of those that have survived so you get a lot of stuff in terms of people was fascinating why the dynasty itself comes to an end Egypt which the split from within the Fatima house you have the who established themselves after this in 1094 in Iran and in Syria and day of course continue to this day so you have living communities that see themselves a success to the fact and you have the most communities who also know the split that happens in Egypt within the fact with house they moved to Yemen and then from Yemen to India and who are around today and so you have these two communities living communities who look back to this past as a heritage is the continuity of their history and heritage to have this communities that are also living as it were in carry on and draw from this history and this heritage to this day and so if you look at the way the Boras for example build their places of learning in their places of worship they will offer replicate this Fatima buildings architecturally because for them this is part of the living culture, culture and tradition in heritage
from my point of view the one thing that I think remains to be done and we can all benefit from is to see the interconnectedness of these of these empires at the time and therefore the shared human heritage that really is very very engaging for that time but I think has a lot to teach us today about how we can be much more understanding of the connected with is as cultures and people rather than what I think devices often and I think the ad is a big big lesson from my point of view. It’s a big realisation that in fact we are far far or interconnected let me think even within this language so when we talk about this year in the Sony et cetera you often hear about this a very political context sometimes but in fact there is a lot more that mines us that connects us and I think it’s it’s fascinating to see how people of over 1000 years years ago we’re able to do that so successful successfully.”
https://youtu.be/Qggc6Pc3w4o