什麼是法蒂瑪王朝

Fatimid dynasty

曾在北非和中東建立的一個政教合一的什葉派王朝。王室成員系出法蒂瑪的後裔。他們是什葉派信徒，拒絕承認遜尼派阿拔斯王朝的哈里發，所以決定取而代之。他們把政治勢力從葉門擴張至北非和西西里，909年他們的伊瑪目進而宣稱成立新王朝。前四代法蒂瑪王朝的哈里發的首都設在突尼西亞，969年征服埃及後，修築開羅城建為帝國新都。王朝在鼎盛時期控制了麥加、麥地那、敘利亞、巴勒斯坦和非洲紅海沿岸。為了推翻阿拔斯王朝，法蒂瑪王朝在阿拔斯領土內維繫了一個使節和代理人網路。1057～1059年有一位將軍在阿拔斯首都巴格達宣稱擁護法蒂瑪的哈里發，但法蒂瑪帝國的國運自此走下坡，伊斯瑪儀什葉教派最後還是不見容於遜尼派穆斯林。哈里發的權勢因十字軍、土耳其人和拜占庭人的進攻，以及軍隊內部派系鬥爭而削弱了。阿薩辛派的崛起決定了帝國的命運，1171年最後一個哈里發過世。亦請參閱Saladin。

909～1171年

Fatimid dynasty

Political and religious Ismaili Shiite dynasty of North Africa and the Middle East. Its members traced their descent from Fatima. As Shii Muslims, they opposed the Sunni Abbasid caliphate, which they were determined to supplant. From Yemen they expanded into North Africa and Sicily, and in 909 their imam emerged to proclaim the new dynasty. The first four Fatimid caliphs ruled from Tunisia, but the conquest of Egypt in 969 occasioned the building of a new capital, Cairo. At its height, the dynasty controlled Mecca and Medina, Syria, Palestine, and Africa's Red Sea coast. Seeking to overthrow the Abbasids, the Fatimids maintained a network of missionaries and agents in Abbasid territories. In 1057-59 the Fatimid caliph was briefly proclaimed in Baghdad, the Abbasid capital, but Fatimid fortunes declined thereafter, Ismaili Shiism ultimately proving unacceptable to Sunni Muslims. Attacks by crusaders, Turks, and Byzantines and factionalism in the armed forces weakened the caliphate, and the rise of the Assassins sealed its fate. The last caliph died in 1171. See also Saladin.