FATIMID DYNASTY

political and religious dynasty that dominated an empire in North Africa and subsequently in the Middle East from AD 909 to 1171 and tried unsuccessfully to oust the 'Abbasid caliphs as leaders of the Islamic world. It took its name from Fatimah, the daughter of the Prophet Muhammad, from whom the Fatimids claimed descent. Before the Fatimids, there had been other rulers in North Africa and Egypt who had succeeded in making themselves virtually independent of the 'Abbasid caliphs in Baghdad; but they had been Muslims of the Sunni branch of Islam, willing to recognize the token suzerainty of the caliph as head of the Islamic community. The Fatimids, however, were the heads of a rival religious movementthe Isma'ili sect of the Shi'i branchand dedicated to the overthrow of the existing religious and political order in all Islam. Unlike their predecessors, they refused to offer even nominal recognition to the 'Abbasid caliphs, whom they rejected as usurpers. They themselvesas Isma'ili imams (spiritual leaders), descendants of the Prophet through his daughter Fatimah and his kinsman 'Aliwere, in the eyes of their followers, the rightful caliphs, both by descent and by divine choice the custodians of the true faith and the legitimate heads of the universal Islamic state and community. Their purpose was not to establish another regional sovereignty but to supersede the 'Abbasids and to found a new caliphate in their place.