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The Baghdad Attestation on Fatimid Lineage

المحضر البغدادي في الطعن في نسب الفاطميين

c. November 1011 CE · Rabi' II 402 AH

Baghdad

In Rabi' II 402 a document was drawn up in the chancery of the caliphate at Baghdad, attested and signed by the sharifs, judges, jurists, the pious and the certifying witnesses. In it they testified to discrediting the lineage of the Fatimid caliphs of Egypt and the basis of their call, stating that they are ascribed to Daysan b. Sa'id, that their claim to descent from the sons of Ali b. Abi Talib is false and fabricated, and that this denial is widespread in the two holy cities and well known in the West. Among those who wrote their signatures were a large number of 'Alids, headed by the two sharifs al-Radi and al-Murtada and Ibn al-Azraq al-Musawi; among the judges Ibn al-Akfani, al-Kharzi and al-Suri; and among the jurists Abu Hamid al-Isfara'ini, Abu al-Husayn al-Qaduri, Abu 'Abd Allah al-Saymari and al-Bayda'i. It was read out in Basra and across the other regions 1.

Depth

At a glance

Era
The Buyid, Fatimid and Seljuk Era
Region
Levant & Iraq
Review
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In time

100010101020 c.
The Buyid, Fatimid and Seljuk Era

In space

Baghdad

Map: Natural Earth, public domain · places and route from the graph

Summary

In Rabi' al-Akhir 402 AH the well-known record impugning the lineage of the Fatimids of Egypt was written in the caliphal diwan at Baghdad, and senior Alids, judges, and leading jurists and hadith scholars affixed their signatures to it. 1

The testimony

The signatories testified that the rulers of Egypt, descended from Ubayd Allah al-Mahdi, were pretenders and Kharijites with no lineage among the descendants of Ali ibn Abi Talib (may God be pleased with him); that their claim to be of the People of the House was false and baseless; that this denial was widespread in the two Sanctuaries and well known in the Maghrib; and that they had departed from the ways of Islam and made forbidden things lawful. 2

Principal signatories

A great number of the notables of Baghdad signed the record. From among the Alids came al-Sharif al-Radi, his brother al-Sharif al-Murtada, and Ibn al-Azraq al-Musawi. From among the judges came Abu Muhammad ibn al-Akfani and Abu al-Qasim al-Kharzi. From among the leading jurists came Abu Hamid al-Isfara'ini, Abu al-Husayn al-Qaduri the Hanafi, Abu Abd Allah al-Saymari, and Abu Ali ibn Hamkan. The record was read out in Basra and in all the other regions. 1

Connections

Explore the connections

Located in
Baghdad
Had participant
al-Qadir bi-llah Ahmad ibn Ishaq ibn al-Muqtadir· al-Sharif al-Radi· al-Sharif al-Murtada· Abu Hamid al-Isfarayini, Ahmad ibn Muhammad

People and things also explored

The death of al-Qadir and the accession of al-Qa'im bi-amr Allah, 422· The Baratha Mosque Affair in 420· The burning of a codex attributed to Ibn Mas'ud and the Karkh strife· The reading of the Qadiri Creed in the Dar al-Khilafa· The investiture of al-Sharif al-Radi in black with the headship of the nuqaba'· Riot at the funeral of Bint Abi Nuh and the plunder of the Dar al-Rum church· Al-Qadir's rescript imposing distinguishing dress on the dhimmis· Al-Qadir bans dealing in Maghrebi dinars

Sources

  1. al-Muntazam fi Tarikh al-Muluk wa'l-Umam — Ibn al-Jawzi , j.7 p.255-256
  2. al-Muntazam fi Tarikh al-Muluk wa'l-Umam — Ibn al-Jawzi , j.7 p.255
Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “The Baghdad Attestation on Fatimid Lineage”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/event/baghdad-manifesto-402/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-22.

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The death of al-Qadir and the accession of al-Qa'im bi-amr Allah, 422

The caliph al-Qadir bi'llah died on the night of Monday 11 Dhu'l-Hijja 422, aged eighty-six years, ten months and twenty-one days, having reigned forty-one years and three months, a span no caliph before him had reached. The doors were shut; then al-Qa'im bi-amr Allah came out at the time of 'asr, led the people in the maghrib prayer, prayed over his father with four takbirs, and sat in the Dar al-Shajara in a shirt and mantle. The people gave him bay'a, first among them al-Sharif al-Murtada, and on the next day Abu Ahmad al-Hasan ibn Isa ibn al-Muqtadir came and gave bay'a too. The Turks clamoured over the bay'a money; when a Hashimite killed a Turk, a signed decree of the caliph was issued on the matter, and it was settled that the bay'a be levied at three million dinars. Among his well-known displays of tact, he put up a caravanserai, a garden and a heap of goods for sale to meet it. He gave titles to the viziers and chamberlains and arranged the offices of state.