The Baghdad Manifesto was a polemical tract issued in 1011 on behalf of the Abbasid caliph

al-Qadir Abu'l-Abbas Ahmad ibn Ishaq ( ar, أبو العباس أحمد بن إسحاق, Abu'l-ʿAbbās Aḥmad ibn Isḥāq; 947/8 – 29 November 1031), better known by his regnal name al-Qadir ( ar, القادر بالله, al-Qādir bi’llāh, Made po ...

against the rival

Isma'ili Isma'ilism ( ar, الإسماعيلية, al-ʾIsmāʿīlīyah) is a branch or sub-sect of Shia Islam. The Isma'ili () get their name from their acceptance of Imam Isma'il ibn Jafar as the appointed spiritual successor ( imām) to Ja'far al- ...

Fatimid Caliphate.

Background

The manifesto was the result of the steady expansion of the Fatimid Caliphate since its establishment in the early 10th century, and the continued activity of the pro-Fatimid

missionary movement ('' da'wa'') across the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...

. In 1010/11, the ''da'wa'' scored a significant success when the Shi'a

Uqaylids The Uqaylid dynasty () was a Shia Arab dynasty with several lines that ruled in various parts of Al-Jazira, northern Syria and Iraq in the late tenth and eleventh centuries. The main line, centered in Mosul, ruled from 990 to 1096. History Rise ...

, who ruled

Mosul Mosul ( ar, الموصل, al-Mawṣil, ku, مووسڵ, translit=Mûsil, Turkish: ''Musul'', syr, ܡܘܨܠ, Māwṣil) is a major city in northern Iraq, serving as the capital of Nineveh Governorate. The city is considered the second larg ...

, Mada'in,

Kufa Kufa ( ar, الْكُوفَة ), also spelled Kufah, is a city in Iraq, about south of Baghdad, and northeast of Najaf. It is located on the banks of the Euphrates River. The estimated population in 2003 was 110,000. Currently, Kufa and Najaf a ...

, and other towns close to the Abbasid capital of

Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon. I ...

, publicly recognized the suzerainty of the Fatimid caliph al-Hakim by having the ''

khutba ''Khutbah'' ( ar, خطبة ''khuṭbah'', tr, hutbe) serves as the primary formal occasion for public preaching in the Islamic tradition. Such sermons occur regularly, as prescribed by the teachings of all legal schools. The Islamic tradition ...

'' read in his name. They were soon followed by the

Banu Asad Banu Asad ibn Khuzaymah ( ar, ابن أسد بن خزيمة ) is an Arab tribe. They are Adnanite Arabs, powerful and one of the most famous tribes. They are widely respected by many Arab tribes, respected by Shia Muslims because they have buri ...

tribe, also resident in

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...

. This expansion of Fatimid influence to the very doorstep of Baghdad alarmed the Abbasid caliph

, who launched a series of counter-moves. In the same year, he successfully forced the Uqaylid ruler Qirwash to return to recognizing Abbasid suzerainty by threatening to attack him otherwise.

Manifesto

He then called an assembly of leading Sunni and

Twelver Twelver Shīʿīsm ( ar, ٱثْنَا عَشَرِيَّة; '), also known as Imāmīyyah ( ar, إِمَامِيَّة), is the largest branch of Shīʿa Islam, comprising about 85 percent of all Shīʿa Muslims. The term ''Twelver'' refers t ...

Shi'a scholars, including several esteemed Alids. The assembly issued a manifesto denouncing the Fatimids' claims of descent from

Ali ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib ( ar, عَلِيّ بْن أَبِي طَالِب; 600 – 661 CE) was the last of four Rightly Guided Caliphs to rule Islam (r. 656 – 661) immediately after the death of Muhammad, and he was the first Shia Imam ...

and the Ahl al-Bayt (the family of

Muhammad Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the mo ...

) as false, and thus challenge the foundation of the Fatimid dynasty's claims to leadership in the Islamic world. Based on the work of the earlier anti-Fatimid polemicists Ibn Rizam and Akhu Muhsin, the manifesto instead put forth an alternative genealogy of descent from a certain Daysan ibn Sa'id. The document was ordered read in mosques throughout the Abbasid territories, and al-Qadir commissioned a number of theologians to compose further anti-Fatimid tracts. The manifesto and its list of signatories were reproduced by multiple medieval sources,cf. and during the early 20th century, due to the lack of sources that were not made available until later decades, it was used as a principal source on the origins and early history of the Fatimids.

References

Sources

* * {{Fatimid Caliphate topics 1011 11th century in the Abbasid Caliphate 11th century in the Fatimid Caliphate Anti-Ismailism Baghdad under the Abbasid Caliphate History of Ismailism