Bensalem Himmich - The Theocrat

And so all Jews and Christians under our protection must wear a mark.

For Jews, that means wooden stars around their neck and black turbans; for Christians, crosses.

Every mark must be fully visible.

Jews and Christians will have their own baths where they can be cleansed of their particular contaminations.

They may not ride horses, but only mules and donkeys with wooden saddles.

Anyone who does not wish to wear the mark can renounce his error and become a Muslim, released thereby from all suspicion and taxation.

In this same year a decree was announced forbidding people to meddle in matters that did not concern them. They were ordered to pray at the proper times, to encourage what is good and forbid what is bad. They were also forbidden to interfere in the sultan’s affairs and decrees or in the secret matters of authority.

Al-Maqrizi tells us that in this year, “Many diseases spread among the populace, and death was widespread. People were scared of al-Hakim, so he penned a number of assurances of protection to a variety of people.” 10

During the fourteenth year of al-Hakim’s quarter century, i.e. A.H. 400, the caliph’s religious sensitivities became increasingly perturbed and extreme. The following comes from accounts of historians for this year:

In this year al-Hakim sent someone to the home of Ja‘far al-Sadiq in al-Madina with word to open it up and bring back everything inside; this included a copy of the Qur’an, a bed, and some utensils. The person who opened the house was one of al-Hakim’s devotees, named Khatkin al-‘Adudi. He also took with him registers of the Prophet’s own family. With all this he returned to Egypt, accompanied by a group of ‘Alawite shaykhs. When they arrived, al-Hakim gave them a small payment, let them have the bed, but kept the rest for himself. “I deserve it the most,” he said. They all left muttering imprecations against him. Word of what he had perpetrated spread abroad, and people started cursing his name at the end of prayers without any attempt to conceal it. That made him relent, and he became scared. He ordered a House of Learning to be constructed and furnished, then had the most precious volumes sent there. He ordered two Sunni shaykhs to reside there, one of whom was Abu Bakr al-Antaki. He bestowed on them robes of honor, granted them frequent audiences, and charged them with attendance at his council sessions and convening jurisconsults and hadith scholars. He also ordered that the righteous deeds of the Prophet’s Companions were to be recited there (in so doing, he lifted the prohibition on such acts). At the same time, he again permitted the Ramadan and noon prayers and altered the call to prayer, replacing the phrase “Come to the best of works” with “Prayer is better than sleep.” He himself rode to the Mosque of ‘Amr ibn al-‘As and prayed the noon prayer there. He began to show a preference for the doctrines of the Maliki school; in the mosque he placed a silver stove lit by 1,100 wicks inside and two others underneath. The procession consisted of guards, trumpets, and cries of joy and praise to God, all accompanied by drums; this all took place on the night of mid-Sha’ban. On the first day of Ramadan he attended the grand mosque in Cairo; all kinds of furnishing were brought there, including gold and silver chandeliers. The populace prayed devoutly for him. That year on the tenth day of Ramadan he wore a woolen garment, rode on a donkey, made a public display of his self-denial and filled his arms with notebooks. On Friday he preached the sermon and led the prayer. He prevented anyone from addressing him as “My Lord,” or from kissing the ground in front of him. He gave contributions to the poor. Qur’an reciters, strangers, and travelers who sought refuge in mosques. He had a large niche [mihrab] of silver made for the mosque; it had ten candle holders and was encrusted with jewels. For three years he continued this way, carrying perfumes, incense, and candles to mosques, things no one had ever done before. Then suddenly he had a change of heart: he killed the jurisconsult. Abu Bakr al-Antaki, and the other shaykh with him, along with a great number of other Sunnis. and for no justifiable reason. All this he carried out in a single day. In addition, he closed the doors of the House of Learning, revoked everything he had done, and went back to his old ways, killing scholars and jurisconsults and so on. He continued this way until he was murdered. 11

In the eighteenth year of al-Hakim’s quarter century, a number of decrees were issued aimed at Egyptians and. in particular, women, singers, and astrologers, which had a debilitating effect. There follows a sample selection of them:

Decree against astrologers and singers:

I have come only to refute the stars and disrupt their purity and predictive power. My method involves filling my kingdom with incidents and exceptional circumstances and thwarting the power of principles and expectations.

On such a basis, anyone who practices astrology or predicts by the stars sets himself in opposition to me. I will exile anyone who opposes me, or else I shall cause his star to fall from the skies. Did not ‘Ali, the Prophet’s own trustee, say: “Beware of the science of astrology, except whatever may guide you through the dark regions of earth and sea. The astrologer is like the magician; magicians are soothsayers, unbelievers roasting in hellfire.”

My decision is irrevocable, even for those astrologers who strive to convert the pearls of heaven to my benefit and service.

Singers should be banished from my sight.

My people are innate dancers. What need do they have of people to play instruments or sing?

I have proclaimed all-out war against all kinds of debauched transvestitism and effeminate behavior. Singing belongs in that category, since it tempts and corrupts the body. As long as I live and am your pastor, singing is forbidden.

In this same year astrologers left the country, except for those who claimed to be blind or mad and a few others who took refuge in deserted towers or underground storehouses.

All musical instruments were collected and burned. No one was allowed to ride boats to the Canal; all gates leading to it and all balconies and windows looking out on it were closed.

Decree concerning the proper cloistering of women:

By Fatima the radiant, what I have to say about women is nothing but good!

How can I possibly despise them or defame them when beneath the feet of my mother lies my own paradise. My own state gets its name and its foundation from a blessed woman, Fatima, daughter of the Prophet and wife of Ali, His own trustee and legatee of their secrets?

I have indeed commanded that all cloistered women should remain inside their houses. They are to be prevented from going outside or looking out of windows or balconies. I have given orders that any cobbler who makes them shoes, any bath-owner who opens his doors to them, is to be punished. This is not a cruel act on my part, but is meant to prevent the anti-Christ from involving himself in a war of sexual provocation. Such a conflict will be futile and accursed, since it only serves to make men and women alike forget the real war that we have all to fight against that enemy who is ever on the watch for our foibles and slips.

In this same year the chancellery was inundated with requests from women for special dispensations: maidservants, women with grievances, midwives, washers of corpses, widows, yarn-sellers, and those who needed to travel.

Some women were locked up inside public baths and suffocated.

That year a pregnant sheep was sacrificed, and, when the inside was opened up, historians are prepared to swear on the most solemn of oaths that the foetus inside had human features.

In this year, and, some say, the year before as well, “Al-Hakim sent a letter to Sultan Mahmud ibn Subuktakin, the ruler of Ghazna, inviting him to submit to his authority. The latter ripped it up, spat on it, and then forwarded it to al-Qadir, the Abbasid Caliph.” 12