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Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Through a Glass Darkly Iii. Shi`i Mahdist State(s) in History The most successful, overtly Mahdist Shi`i movement in history-and the only one that will be treated in this paper--would almost certainly be that of the Fatimids, who ruled Egypt for almost a quarter of a millennium, from 969-1171 CE, following a period of 60 years of power in what is now Tunisia. They of course traced their descent from `Ali and Fatimah, via Isma`il, son of Ja`far al-Sadiq.

In the 10th c. CE Isma`ili da`is won over the Kutama Berbers of the Maghrib and, when the chief Isma`ili da`i `Ubayd Allah arrived in Tunisia, he was soon put in power and took the title of al-Mahdi, although he likely thought that the successor (and possibly son), al-Qa'im, was the true Mahdi. Under the fourth caliph-mahdi, al-Mu`izz, the general Jawhar conquered Egypt and the Fatimid Mahdiyah was transferred there.

Although even before taking Egypt the Fatimids "proclaimed aloud that universal sovereignty was given to them by divine decree and that they were called to displace the Umayyads of Spain as well as the Abbasids of Baghdad and the Byzantine emperors…." So there is little doubt about the universalistic Mahdist aspirations of the Fatimids.

And unlike the modern views of most Shi`is, at least in the Twelver World, the Fatimids saw no problem with openly proclaiming and waging jihad against their enemies, be they Abbasid or Seljuq Muslims or Christian Byzantines. However, internally, the Fatimids were very tolerant of Christians-and to a lesser extent, of Jews-with the notable exception of the reign of al-Hakim (996-1021).

In fact "Christians and Jews were massively employed in the Fatimid administration," and a number of Christians even became viziers-which is remarkable for Muslim states of the period. Furthermore, the Fatimid government tolerated and even sometimes participated in Christian ceremonies such as Epiphany and Palm Sunday processions.

There is little data on the Sufis under Fatimid rule, but as for the administration of law under the Fatimids: while the Fatimid qa'im-caliphs never arrogated to themselves the status of interpreting the Qur'an and Hadith without recourse to any other input, they did attempt to create a Fatimid madhhab and give it precedence over the other schools of law, enforcing the situation with a Fatimid qadi al-Islam. But by the 11th c. it was relegated to the status of primus inter pares, at best.