The Dog-Killing Caliph of Cairo | Animated History of Egypt

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al-Hakim bi Amr Allah: Caliph of the Fatimid Caliphate, killer of dogs, lover of stars, and all-around weird guy. Let's take a closer look shall we?

Big thanks to Sir Flemeington from Discord for the video idea!

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Some additional context I couldn't fit in the video:
- al-Hakim's mother was most likely a Greek slave. This is heavily disputed by the Ismaili Shia and Druze though, who claim that she was an Arab princess.
- It is entirely possible that al-Hakim destroyed churches not because he personally hated Christians, but because he viewed it as an easy thing to do for political clout. People were wary about his relationship with Christians, so he could gain popularity by at least superficially appearing to persecute them.
- Another possible reason for his destruction of churches is that he may have simply been relocating them. In order to prevent religious violence, al-Hakim physically separated the Muslims and non-Muslims in Cairo and he may have just destroyed the churches that were in the "Muslim section" of the city so that he could move them to the "Christian section." This doesn't explain why he destroyed the church of the Holy Sepulture though.
- Contemporary sources written by Jews appear to express admiration for him.
- Although he passed a bunch of wacky laws against women, he freed all of his female slaves and was apparently kind to his wife.
- It is heavily theorized that his sister arranged for his murder, but his body was never found, so we're just not sure.

Sources:

Assaad, Sadek Ismail. “The Reign of Al-Hakim Bi Amr Allah: A Political Study.” University of London, Proquest, 2017, pp. 26–157.

Bulliet, Richard, et al. The Princeton Encyclopedia of Islamic Political Thought. Course Book ed. Princeton University Press, 2012, pp 5-6.

Firro, Kais M. “The Druze Faith: Origin, Development and Interpretation.” Arabica, vol. 58, no. 1/2, 2011, pp. 76–99. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/41330761. Accessed 30 Aug. 2020

Haider, Najam. “On Lunatics and Loving Sons: A Textual Study of the Mamlūk Treatment of Al-Hākim.” Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, vol. 18, no. 2, 2008, pp. 109–139. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/27755927. Accessed 1 Sept. 2020.

Kennedy, H. (2016). The Prophet and the Age of the Caliphates. London: Routledge, https://doi-org.grinnell.idm.oclc.org/10.4324/9781315673516

Meddeb, Abdelwahab and Benjamin Stora. A History of Jewish-Muslim Relations: From the Origins to the Present Day. Course Book ed. Princeton University Press, 2013, pp. 33-34

Pruitt, Jennifer. “Method in Madness: Recontextualizing The Destruction of Churches in the Fatimid Era.” Muqarnas, vol. 30, 2013, pp. 119–139. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/42751918. Accessed 28 Aug. 2020.
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