The Hijazi opposition movements at the time of the Fatimate dynasty

Document Type : Original Article

Author

College of Basic Education Department of Social Studies Public Authority for Applied Education and Training

Abstract

At the time of this study, the Eastern part of the Islamic world was divided into two political blocks, The Abbasid Sunni state in Iraq and the Fatimati Ismaili Shiite in Egypt. Both sides had sought to have a dominant influence over the Hijaz, and specially over both Mecca and Madina, because of their Holy status among Muslims community regardless of their sectarian believes.
There is no doubt that from the beginning of their rule, the Fatimate had always tried to spread its political and sectarian influence and control over the Ashraf ruling families in Mecca and Madina, however this did not prevent the erupt of many political uprising movements against them whether for political, sectarian, or economic reasons.
The opposition movements against the Fatimate in Hijaz took different faces throughout the time. These movements would either raise against the presence of the Fatimate and their representatives in the region, while at other times would raise between the Ashraf ruling families themselves in Macca and at other time between the ruling families in Macca against their cousins who rule in Madina.
Finally, despite the fact that there are many respectable studies that dealt with the Fatimate rule and their presence in the Arabian Peninsula, yet there is no exclusive study that shed the light on the opposition movements in Mecca and Madina. Therefore, this study will try to trace the rare and scatter information of these movements in the primary sources and find out their motivations and impacts.            

Main Subjects