The first of these to be brought before him was Abu Najah, who was a
member of the Greek Church. Hakim urged him to become a Muslim, and
promised him rapid promotion and immediate rewards if he would do so. Abu
Najah asked that he might be allowed a day’s delay, and this was granted
him. He then went home and, gathering together his kinsmen and friends,
told them what had taken place, and assured them that he had asked for
this delay, not because he was in any doubt as to what he would do,
but in order to meet them and exhort them to remain steadfast in their
faith in the persecution which he fore-saw was about to fall upon the
church. He then entertained them all to a feast and next day presented
himself before the Khalif. Al-Hakim asked him if he had made his choice:
he replied that he had done so:—“And what is your intention?”—“It is to
remain firm in my religion.” Al-Hakim then tried promises and threats,
but without result. He then had him stripped and scourged until he had
received five hundred stripes, so that his flesh was torn and the blood
flowed freely. As the torturers stopped al-Hakim ordered them to continue
until the sufferer had received a thousand lashes. After three hundred
more Abu Najah cried out that he was in thirst and, as this was reported
to al-Hakim he ordered one of the men to give him a drink of water. But
when the water was offered Abu Najah said: “Take away his water. I have
no need of it, because Jesus Christ the true King has given me to drink,”
and then he died. When this was reported to Hakim he ordered the thousand
strokes to be completed on the dead body.
Of the other eight clerks remaining after Fahd and Abu Najah, four
remained firm and were executed, and four turned Muslim. Of these latter
one died during the night after making his profession of faith, the other
three remained conforming Muslims until the penal laws were relaxed in
the latter part of Hakim’s reign when they returned to the Christian
Church, the Khalif protecting them from the legal penalties to which this
exposed them.
Towards the end of 394 Hakim began collecting a large store of wood
on Mokattam, and this was completed in Rabiʿ I. 395. A rumour went
abroad that this was intended to provide a general holocaust of
non-Muslim clerks and civil officials, and a panic took place amongst
the Christians. On the 5th of that month a large number of clerks
assembled at the ar-Riahin and went in procession through the streets
with lamentations and cries for mercy, and finally assembled before
the palace imploring the Khalif’s mercy. At the palace they were met
by the Commander-in-Chief, Husayn b. Jawhar, who undertook to present
their petition to the Khalif. Next day they returned and Husayn gave
them letters of protection written out in three forms, one for Muslims,
another for Christians, and another for Jews (cf. Maq. i. 286, sq.).
Although it was the clerks employed in the public service who were
chiefly concerned in this, there were also merchants and private citizens
who had dealings with the court who joined in the appeal and received
letters of protection. Maqrizi has preserved a specimen of these letters
from which we gather that they were by way of licences of toleration
granted, in the case of Muslims, to those who had not become members of
the Fatimite sect. The example he gives reads: “In the name of God, etc.
This letter is from the servant of God and his wali Mansur Abu ʿAli the
Imam Hakim bi-amrillahi, Commander of the faithful, to the people of the
mosque of ʿAbdullah: You are amongst those who are in safety with the
security of God, the King, the evident Truth, and with the security of
our ancestor Muhammad, the seal of the prophets, and of our father ʿAli
the best of his heirs, and of the line of the prophets, and of the people
of the Mahdi our ancestor, may God be gracious to the Apostle and his
envoy, and to all others of them; and the security of the Commander of
the faithful is upon you yourselves, upon your kindred and property. Do
not fear for yourselves, let no hand be raised against you save for the
punishment of wrong-doing, or for a claim made and proved. Confidence
must be given to this, and one must count on the accurate fulfilment
of what is above, God willing. Written in the month of Jumada II. 395.
Praise be to God, may he be gracious to Muhammad the chief of the
apostles, to ʿAli the best of his successors, and to the Imams of the
house of the Mahdi, kinsmen of the prophet, and may abundant peace be
upon them” (Maq. i. 286). We note that Muhammad is described as “the seal
of the prophets” quite in the orthodox way which gives no indication of
the Fatimite teaching of a subsequent prophet of greater importance in
Abdullah b. Maymun. The general tone is distinctly Shiʿite, but Fatimid
only in the reference to the family of the Mahdi.
Was there any basis to the rumour that a general holocaust was intended?
Such a thing seems almost incredible, but there are certain signs which
point in its favour. Soon after the appeal made to the Khalif in Rabiʿ
I. he made a huge bonfire of all the wood collected, and for this there
was no obvious purpose, and it is certain that he had developed a
tendency to use burning as a form of punishment. We are not prepared to
say, therefore, that the rumours circulated about the store of wood on
Mokattam were entirely baseless.
Al-Hakim was particularly severe upon the inferior servants of the court,
and especially on the runners or footmen, many of whom were put to death
whilst others obtained letters of protection. This may have been an
instance of religious intolerance, or simply a case of the capricious
cruelty which now began to appear in Hakim’s conduct and contributed so
much to the theory that he was suffering from a disordered mind.
In 395 the old penal laws dating from the year 36 were re-enforced
against Christians and Jews. Both were required to wear a distinctive
dress, the Christians to have turbans of black or dark blue, a custom
which the Christians seem to have adopted voluntarily in the first place,
and which the Coptic clergy retain to the present day, the Jews to wear
yellow turbans: the women of both religions were forbidden to wear the
waist sash which was a characteristic part of female attire, and the men
were required to adopt it. At the same time it was forbidden to sell
slaves to Christians or Jews.
The citizens of Fustat, sorely tried by the scarcity and dearness of
food resulting from the bad Niles, groaned in secret over the caprices
and severities of their ruler, but did not yet venture to express their
dissatisfaction openly. It was otherwise with the free Arab tribes
settled in the country, and in 395 the B. Qorra in Lower Egypt broke
out in open rebellion. Al-Hakim had no great trouble in punishing
these rebels but his severity in doing so, although it checked the
movement, only left them ready to take up arms again on a more promising
opportunity, and for this they had not long to wait.
A serious revolt took place in North Africa in 396, which before long
seemed to threaten the very existence of the Fatimid Khalifate. In its
first inception this revolt connected with far off Spain. There the
Umayyads had been reigning since 138, but were now in their decline.
The supreme power at this time had passed into the hands of the Wazir
Mansur ibn Abi ʿAmir, who treated the Khalif of Cordova very much in the
same way as Kafur had treated the later Ikhshids, but, more cruel and
unscrupulous, was steadily getting rid of every one who stood in the way
of his ambition. Many of the Umayyad kindred were put to death, whilst
others left the country. Amongst these latter was one commonly known as
Abu Raqwa, “the man with the leather bottle,” because he carried a bottle
like that used by the travelling darwishes. As a darwish he journeyed
to Egypt, thence to Mecca, Yemen, and Syria, everywhere observing the
possibilities of forming a party to support the claims of the Umayyad
family and the evidences of discontent and probabilities of stirring up
civil strife. In all his wanderings, however, he met with no success: the
Umayyads had long passed out of the main current of Islamic life, and it
did not seem that their name could anywhere be used as a rallying cry
for the dissatisfied; there was no religious attachment to the Umayyads
like there was to the ʿAlids. At last he came back to Egypt at the time
when the B. Qorra were smarting under the severe chastisement they had
received from Hakim, and this seemed to him to offer some promise.
Passing westwards he took refuge amongst the Berber tribe of Zanata where
he obtained great esteem for his piety, acting as Imam in the services
of the mosque and teaching the Qurʾan to the children. It is perhaps as
well to note that “Imam” in this connection means no more than customary
leader in prayer; it has nothing in common with the “Imam” as understood
by the Shiʿites, save that both imply the general idea of religious
teacher. At length he managed to get a following, and proclaimed himself
as Emir under the title of “he who is sent by the order of God” and “he
who has victory over the enemies of God,” both titles common enough
amongst the Shiʿites but strange as applied to an Umayyad. His supporters
were chiefly drawn from the Zanata, but before long he was joined also by
other Berber tribes and by the B. Qorra.
At the head of a considerable army of the usual undisciplined Berber
type Abu Raqwa advanced eastwards and took Barqa where he was careful to
prevent all pillage and violence, and thus proclaimed that he was not
a mere leader of tribes on the war path, but aimed at establishing an
orderly government. At the fall of Barqa Hakim saw that the rebellion
had to be taken seriously, and sent out an army under the command of
Inal. This Egyptian force had to cross a considerable stretch of desert
before it could reach Barqa, and Abu Raqwa sent a rapidly moving body of
cavalry across the route to fill in the wells, and then waited at the
end furthest from Egypt. At length Inal’s force appeared, exhausted and
thirsty from its desert march, and the engagement which followed left
the advantage with Abu Raqwa. Before the action commenced a number of
the Katama tribesmen serving with the Egyptians deserted and joined the
enemy, induced to do so by disgust with the conduct and now notorious
cruelties of Hakim. When they presented themselves before Abu Raqwa their
first act was to intercede with him on behalf of their fellow tribesmen
still serving in the Fatimid army, and as he promised them a favourable
reception they called out to them and they deserted also. After this Abu
Raqwa joined battle and inflicted a serious defeat on Inal. The news of
this disaster caused great alarm in Cairo; there was an immediate rise
in the prices of provisions, and preparations were made for another
expedition to North Africa.
After his success Abu Raqwa made his residence at Barqa and seemed
disposed to establish a kingdom in Ifrikiya. Before long, however, he
received letters from several leading men in Egypt, including Husayn b.
Jawhar who was Hakim’s Commander-in-Chief, begging him to invade Egypt
and assuring him of a welcome and substantial support. This, more than
anything else, shows to what an extent the strange conduct of Hakim
had now alienated his subjects and even those who, like Husayn, were
his chief ministers and were, or had been, his personal friends. If
we suppose that, by this time, Hakim had given unmistakable signs of
disordered intellect we shall find in that a reasonable explanation
of the desire for some one to come and deliver the country from what
threatened to be a serious danger.
In response to this invitation Abu Raqwa started his advance into Egypt.
The news of his undertaking threw the country into great alarm. The
Druze books describe Hakim himself as completely unmoved, but other
writers speak of him as seriously frightened and even planning to retire
to Syria if all came to the worst. Meanwhile he sent to Syria for the
Hamdanid armies, and put the general Fadi b. Salih in command of the
native forces. With these Syrians and such other levies as he could raise
Fadl went out and encamped at Gizeh, waiting for the invaders. At their
arrival Fadl did not give battle, but manoeuvred so as to evade them,
and by his position at Gizeh prevented them from being able to make a
crossing of the river as that would have exposed them to his attack
whilst going across. Meanwhile he managed to open up correspondence
with some of the subordinate officers, amongst them with a certain
captain of the B. Qorra named Mahdi, who agreed to keep him informed of
all Abu Raqwa’s plans. After some delay the invaders advanced direct
upon the Fatimid general who was unable to evade the movement, and so
an engagement was forced near Kum Sharik. It was not decisive, but it
was very severe, and caused Fadl to determine not to give battle again
if he could possibly avoid doing so. Owing to his severe losses he was
compelled to retire, but still lay between Abu Raqwa and the river so as
to be able to make a flank attack if the Berbers tried to cross.
Abu Raqwa and his men, however, were perfectly confident that success
was assured, and made plans for their future policy as conquerors. They
decided to settle in Egypt and rule that country and the adjacent North
Africa, leaving Syria to the Arabs. This scheme repeated the old plan of
a purely Berber state in Africa with the Arabs excluded and sent back to
their own country. Fadl received full information as to these projects.
But there was treachery in his own army also: the Arab leaders brought
from Syria had been tampered with by Abu Raqwa’s agents who tried to
persuade them that they were making a mistake in fighting for the Fatimid
state, and that it would be more satisfactory to divide its territories
between them, the Africans under Abu Raqwa taking Egypt, the Asiatic
Arabs taking Syria. It was agreed therefore that Abu Raqwa should make
a night attack on Fadl’s army and, as soon as the attack commenced, the
Syrian leaders were to march their men over to the enemy and thus an easy
victory would be assured. But Fadl was fully informed of this plan, and
the evening before the projected attack he invited the Arab leaders to
dine with him. When the dinner was over and the guests wished to retire
he detained them and, on one pretext or another, kept them near him until
the enemy attacked. Even then he still detained them and sent orders to
the Syrians to engage their opponents, and the Syrians, ignorant of the
private plans of their leaders, did so. The followers of Abu Raqwa were
surprised at the unexpected resistance and were finally driven off.
Meanwhile Hakim succeeded in raising reinforcements of 4,000 horsemen,
which he tried to send across the river to Fadl. Abu Raqwa heard of this
and determined to intercept them, setting out so quickly that Mahdi was
unable to send a message to Fadl until he was already on the way. When
the message reached Fadl it was too late, he could no longer get into a
position to protect the new force from the fierce onset of the Berbers,
and about a thousand of them were slain. The news of this misfortune,
which Fadl contrived to conceal from his men for a time, caused great
alarm in the city: the people were seized with panic, they feared an
immediate assault, they were too much alarmed to remain in their houses
and camped for the night in the streets.
Even yet the way to the river was not clear, for a considerable force
remained ready to attack the Berbers if they tried to get down to the
ford, and Abu Raqwa found it impossible to get to grips with them. So the
Berbers were moved nearer and took up their position before the pyramids.
Fadl followed at a distance. Then Abu Raqwa thought that he could force
an engagement by leading him into an ambush. He passed on, therefore,
towards the Fayyum, and at a place called Sabkha stationed a body of men
in concealment and sent another company back towards Fadl. This body made
a perfunctory attack and then turned to flight so as to draw the pursuers
to the place of ambush. Unfortunately the whole plan had not been clearly
explained to the men beforehand, and when those in ambush saw the others
in flight they thought there had been a real defeat and, coming out of
concealment, joined their retreat. This change in the arranged programme
threw Abu Raqwa’s men into confusion, and Fadl profiting by the disorder
fell upon them and inflicted a severe defeat. This took place on the 3rd
of Dhu l-Hijja in 396. As a result Fadl was able to send to Cairo 6,000
heads of enemy slain and 100 prisoners.
This severe engagement was decisive, although Abu Raqwa himself
escaped and fled, first to Upper Egypt, then to Nubia. Here he went
to Hisnaljebel where the Nubian king lay ill, and pretended to be an
ambassador sent by the Khalif Hakim. Owing to the king’s illness he
was not able to see him and thus, ostensibly waiting for an interview,
he was able to live for some time in security. Fadl had followed close
behind to the Nubian frontier and managed to find out where he was. As
soon as he knew this he sent a messenger to the governor of the palace
informing him of the facts, and the governor had Abu Raqwa kept under
close observation. In due course the king died and his son ordered the
fugitive to be conducted across the frontier, and so he was taken across
and conducted to Fadl’s camp. The Fatimid general received him with
every courtesy and, fully supposing that Fadl’s conduct represented
the attitude of the Khalif the prisoner, as he was in spite of polite
treatment, wrote a letter to al-Hakim appealing to his generosity and
begging that he might be pardoned for his rebellion with protestations of
penitence.
The letter was duly sent and Fadl marched down towards Cairo with his
prisoner who was still treated with every consideration. When they had
passed Gizeh and were about to enter Fustat, on Saturday the 27th Jumada
II. 397, orders were received by Fadl from the Khalif that Abu Raqwa was
to enter the city riding on a camel, wearing Abzari’s turban, and with
Abzari and his monkey mounted behind. Abzari’s turban was one of many
gaudy colours which it was customary for those condemned to death to
wear on their final parade to the place of execution, and the monkey was
specially trained to strike with a whip across the face of a criminal set
in front of him. For this performance Abzari was to receive 500 pieces of
gold and ten pieces of cloth.
Thus Abu Raqwa entered Fustat in the midst of the army, preceded by
fifteen elephants. The whole city was adorned as for a public holiday,
and the population lined the streets to see Abu Raqwa paraded until he
was brought to a balcony where al-Hakim was seated. The Khalif then
pronounced on him the sentence that he was to be conducted to a piece of
elevated ground before the mosque of Raydan and there beheaded. But when
they reached the place of execution and the camel knelt for Abu Raqwa to
dismount it was found that he was already dead. The body was stretched
out, and the head cut off and carried to the Khalif.
This success raised Fadl’s reputation, and for a time al-Hakim showed
great appreciation of his services. When the general fell ill the Khalif
visited him several times, and when he recovered he presented him with
gifts of large estates. Two years later, however, Fadl was put to death.
Severus of Ashmunayn relates an anecdote about al-Hakim which is commonly
supposed to refer to Fadl, but it is not certain that it does so refer,
and many things related by Severus seem to be open to question. According
to this anecdote a certain favourite, who may have been Fadl or may not,
once entered al-Hakim’s presence and found him with a comely child whom
he had bought for 100 pieces of gold. He had just cut the child’s throat,
and had opened the body and taken out the liver and entrails which he was
cutting up as the visitor entered. At the sight the onlooker could not
repress an involuntary movement of repulsion and hastily withdrew. He
knew quite well that his discovery and expression of disapproval meant
his execution, and at once went home, put his affairs in order, and
waited for his summons. Before long a messenger from the palace arrived,
and the minister who had seen too much was led away and put to death.
Whether Fadl was the hero of this anecdote, or whether the story has any
basis at all, remains uncertain, but it is known that he was executed by
the Khalif’s orders.
Abu Raqwa’s rebellion certainly makes an important turning-point in
Hakim’s reign. After it he made certain concessions to prevailing Muslim
opinion, that is to say he relaxed some of his Shiʿite prejudices and
left off some of the practices, such as the cursing of the early Khalifs,
which were most offensive to his orthodox subjects, but at the same
time he increased in severity towards the Christians and Jews who were
generally hated as forming the greater part of the civil officials and
tax-collectors.
As might be expected the rebellion was followed by several changes in
the personnel of the court. The Commander-in-Chief, Husayn b. Jawhar,
was deprived of his office on the 10th of Shaban 398, ordered to remain
in his house, and forbidden to take part in the public processions
which accompanied the Khalif on his visits to the principal mosques:
but shortly afterwards he was pardoned and ordered to resume his place
in these functions. As we have seen, it was Husayn who took part in the
invitation to Abu Raqwa. Whether this was known at the time to the Khalif
or not does not appear, but it is very probable that he had reasons for
suspecting his fidelity. The office of Commander-in-Chief was given to
Salih Rudbari b. ʿAli.
On the 16th of Rejeb 398 the Chief Qadi and Daʿi ʿAbdu l-ʿAziz also
was deprived of office, perhaps here again there was reason to suspect
correspondence with the enemy, and his place given to Malik b. Saʿid
al-Faraqi. About three years later, as we shall see, both Husayn and
ʿAbdu l-ʿAziz were so much alarmed that they fled the country, but
afterwards returned and were put to death in 401. A change was made also
in the important governorship of Damascus to which ʿAli b. Falah was
appointed in 398.
We may trace a connection between the anxiety caused by Abu Raqwa’s
revolt, complicated by growing dissatisfaction amongst the people, with
Hakim’s abandonment of his more aggressive Shiʿite attitude and partial
return to Sunni practice. In 397 he ordered all the inscriptions reviling
the early Khalifs to be effaced, and all persons who cursed them were
punished by flogging and paraded through the streets in disgrace (Maq.
ii. 286, Ibn Khall. iii. 450). This year (397) he sent a white veil to
cover the “House of God” at Mecca, white being more or less the official
colour of the Fatimids. Perhaps this more orthodox attitude should be
connected with his severer treatment of the Christians which dates from
398, and both were bids for popularity.
The year 398 had a particularly bad Nile, the river rising only sixteen
yards and sixteen fingers of the seventeenth yard, with the result that
there was a great rise in prices and consequent hardship. Complaint
was made to the Khalif that the dearness of corn was largely caused
by dealers hoarding supplies so as to force an increase, and al-Hakim
announced that he would ride through the city himself and make enquiry,
and would behead anyone he found with a hoard of corn. Next day he
rode from his palace and passed through Fustat and out to the mosque
of Rashida, his attendants entering houses and searching for stores of
corn. None, however, were found, and the result of this was that popular
feeling was pacified and the idea that the scarcity was artificially
produced removed. In 399 the Nile suffered an unexpected check and there
was increased anxiety. Twice the Khalif conducted public prayers for a
good Nile. Several taxes were remitted, but bread became so dear that it
could be obtained only with the greatest difficulty. On the 4th of the
Egyptian month of Tot (circ. 1st September) the canal was opened, but the
river had then risen only 15 yards. On the 9th of Muharram, the middle of
Tot, the waters began to go down, the total rise having reached only 16
yards: as a result food became even dearer and the famine was followed by
plague.
It was no doubt as an act of mourning that Hakim issued orders forbidding
the holding of pleasure parties, excursions, or concerts on the river or
its banks.