Accession and Early Reign
Al-Hakim came to power as a child of 11 years in 386 AH / 996 CE, following the death of his father Imam al-‘Aziz bi-Allah. His early reign was dominated by powerful viziers, particularly the Kutama Berber general Barjawan — until al-Hakim had Barjawan assassinated in 390 AH / 1000 CE and began ruling directly.
His intellectual institutions: In 395 AH / 1004-1005 CE, al-Hakim founded Dar al-‘Ilm (the House of Knowledge, sometimes called Dar al-Hikma) in Cairo — a library of 600,000 volumes (some accounts say more) open to scholars of all subjects. It offered free study of astronomy, mathematics, logic, grammar, medicine, and theology. This institution was in many respects the intellectual heir of the Fatimid Majalis al-Hikma.
See also: Fatimid Cairo, Al Azhar Mosque, Majalis Al Hikmah, Fatimid Caliphate
The Controversial Policies
Al-Hakim’s reign included policies that have remained subjects of scholarly debate:
The ghiyar regulations: Regulations requiring non-Muslims to wear distinctive clothing (Christians: black; Jews: bells) — more restrictive than the standard Abbasid-era ghiyar norms. These were reversed at various points during his reign and rescinded near the end.
The destruction of the Holy Sepulchre (400 AH / 1009 CE): Al-Hakim ordered the demolition of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem — the most significant Christian site — a decision that had no clear precedent in Fatimid policy and has been variously attributed to complex political pressures, a dispute over Byzantine pilgrimage practices, and his increasingly idiosyncratic decision-making. Its demolition would eventually be cited as a pretext for the First Crusade a century later.
Prohibition of beer and certain foods: Al-Hakim periodically banned certain activities and foods — sometimes reversed shortly after.
Decrees against women leaving the house: Periods in which women were prohibited from going out — again, later rescinded.
Modern historians debate whether these policies reflect religious conviction, political calculation, mental instability, or complex pressures from different court factions.
See also: Imam Al Muiz, Al Imam Al Zahir, Sitr And Zuhur
The Druze Movement
The most historically consequential event of al-Hakim’s reign was the emergence of the movement that would become the Druze religion:
Hamza ibn ‘Ali: An Ismaili da’i who began promoting the idea of al-Hakim’s divinity in 408 AH / 1017 CE — claiming al-Hakim was the divine’s incarnation (hulul) and the final manifestation of the Universal Intelligence.
Al-Darazi (Muhammad ibn Isma’il al-Darazi): Another da’i who promoted similar ideas and whose name the community (Druze — a corruption of “Darazi”) eventually took.
Al-Hakim’s relationship to the movement: Fatimid sources are divided on whether al-Hakim supported, tolerated, or was manipulated by the Hamzite preachers. After al-Darazi’s assassination (possibly at al-Hakim’s order), Hamza went underground and the movement continued as a secret esoteric religion in Syria, Lebanon, and eventually Palestine.
The Fatimid repudiation: Al-Hakim’s successor Imam al-Zahir explicitly repudiated the Druze claims, restoring the Ismaili theological position: the Imam is the representative of the divine, not the divine incarnate. The Druze community separated permanently from Ismaili Islam.
See also: Al Imam Al Zahir, Al Mustansir Billah, Imamah, Wali Al Asr, Nass Designation
His Disappearance
On the night of 27/28 Shawwal 411 AH / February 1021 CE, al-Hakim rode out into the Muqattam hills near Cairo — as was his habit for solitary nighttime walks — and never returned. His donkey was found the next morning, its saddle cut but with no blood. His body was never found.
The mystery of his disappearance generated immediate speculation:
- Natural death: Most mainstream historians accept he was assassinated, likely by agents of his sister Sitt al-Mulk, with whom he had a fraught relationship.
- Druze belief: The Druze hold that al-Hakim did not die but entered al-ghayba (occultation) and will return at the end of time.
- Ismaili understanding: The Fatimid da’wa passed the Imamate to his son al-Zahir, treating al-Hakim’s disappearance as death, consistent with the doctrine of nass-designation.
See also: Ghayba, Dai Al Mutlaq Institution, Tayyibi Dawat
See also: Fatimid Cairo, Al Azhar Mosque, Majalis Al Hikmah, Fatimid Caliphate, Imam Al Muiz, Al Imam Al Zahir, Sitr And Zuhur, Al Mustansir Billah, Imamah, Wali Al Asr, Nass Designation, Ghayba, Dai Al Mutlaq Institution, Tayyibi Dawat