Fatimid Cairo and al-Azhar
A Shia Ismaili dynasty from North Africa conquers Egypt and founds Cairo and the mosque of al-Azhar, which becomes the greatest seat of Sunni learning.
- Cairo — André Raymond, Harvard University Press (2000)
- The Cambridge History of Egypt, Volume 1: Islamic Egypt, 640–1517 — Carl F. Petry (ed.), Cambridge University Press (1998)
- Egypt — Encyclopaedia Britannica
In 969 the Fatimids, a dynasty from North Africa who claimed descent from the Prophet’s daughter Fatima and followed the Ismaili branch of Shia Islam, conquered Egypt. Their general Jawhar founded a new walled palace city beside Fustat and named it al-Qahira, “the Victorious”, which became Cairo. In 970 he began building a mosque there, al-Azhar, completed in 972, which grew into a centre of teaching.
- Cairo — André Raymond, Harvard University Press (2000)
- The Cambridge History of Egypt, Volume 1: Islamic Egypt, 640–1517 — Carl F. Petry (ed.), Cambridge University Press (1998)
For two centuries Cairo was the capital of a rival caliphate to the Abbasids of Baghdad, rich from Red Sea and Mediterranean trade. Most Egyptians stayed Sunni. In 1171 Saladin, a Kurdish commander, abolished the Fatimid caliphate and restored Sunni rule; al-Azhar later became, and remains, the most prestigious institution of Sunni learning in the world.
- Cairo — André Raymond, Harvard University Press (2000)
- The Cambridge History of Egypt, Volume 1: Islamic Egypt, 640–1517 — Carl F. Petry (ed.), Cambridge University Press (1998)
- Saladin — Encyclopaedia Britannica
Why it matters today
Medieval Cairo, "the city of a thousand minarets", is the heart of Egyptian historic pride, and al-Azhar is one of Egypt's most powerful institutions. Its Grand Imam is a leading voice of Sunni Islam worldwide, and its graduates teach across the Muslim world.