Encyclopaedia Judaica<Arab Period. [since 640]
Jews in Egypt 02: Arab Period 640-1260
Fatimids mostly with tolerance toward other religions - Ayyubids with discrimination rules under Saladin in the course of the policy against the Crusaders
from: Egypt; In: Encyclopaedia Judaica 1971, vol. 6
presented by Michael Palomino (2008)
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There is little information available concerning the condition of the Jews from the Arab conquest in 640 until the end of the tenth century. In Fostat [[today's Cairo]], founded by the conqueror of Egypt, 'Amr ibn al-'As, a relatively large community was established, while the Jewish population probably also grew in other Egyptian cities. Ahmad ibn Tulun (ninth century), the first independent ruler of Egypt under the Muslims, seems to have favoured the Jews. The historian al-Mas'udi relates that he had a Jewish physician. Documents found in the Cairo *Genizah of Fostat give evidence of the commercial ties between the Jews of Egypt and those of *Kairouan (Tunisia) during the second half of the tenth century.
The Jews of Egypt also renewed their relations with the major academies of Babylonia. It is significant for the high standard of Jewish learning in Egypt itself that *Saadiah Gaon (born in Faiyum in 882) acquired his widespread culture there.
[Jewish influx from Babylonia, Palestine, and Syria]
At that time many Babylonian Jews settled in the principal Egyptian cities and established communities with their own synagogue and bet din. They also maintained a close relationship with the academies in their country of origin. Students traveled there to study, and religious and judicial queries were addressed to the heads of the Babylonian academies.
The Palestinian and Syrian Jews who settled in Egypt acted in the same manner. They established Palestinian communities and synagogues, and they recognized the heads of the Palestinian academies, to whom they gave their material support, as their spiritual leaders.
[Karaites]
The activities of Saadiah Gaon prove the presence of large numbers of Karaites in Egypt at the time. It seems that during the ninth and tenth centuries, there was still a variety of sects in Egypt. The work, Kitab al-Anwar wa-al-Maraqib ("The Book of Lights and Watch Towers") by al-*Kirkisani, in 936 (L. Nemoy (ed.), 1 (1939), 12), mentions a sect which observed Sunday as a day of rest instead of Saturday. Members of this sect lived on the bank of the Nile, some 20 miles from Fostat (Bacher, in: JQR, 7 (1894/95) 704).
THE FATIMIDS. [[since 969]]
[Egypt as a center of a powerful kingdom - religious neutrality - relatively good development of Jewry under the Fatimids]
A change in the condition of the Jews occurred with the conquest of the country by the Fatimids in 969. After the conquest by this dynasty of Shi'ites which was in rivalry with the Abbasid caliphs, Egypt became the center of a vast and powerful kingdom, which, at the end of the tenth century, included almost all of North Africa, Syria, and Palestine. The union of all these countries brought a period of prosperity in industry and commerce from which the Jews also benefited.
Of even greater importance was the characteristically tolerant attitude adopted by the Fatimids toward non-Muslim communities. (col. 491)
They did not insist on the observance of the decrees of discrimination, such as the wearing of a distinctive sign on the garments; they permitted the construction and repair of non-Muslim houses of prayer, and they even accorded financial support to the academies in Palestine.
In the court of al-Mu'izz (d. 975) and his son al-'Aziz (975-996), a Jew converted to Islam, Ya'qub *ibn Killis, occupied an important position and was finally appointed vizier. He was the first to hold this post under the reign of the Fatimids in Egypt. There were also Jewish physicians in the service of al-Mu'izz.
[996-1020: Caliph al-Hakim's discriminating decrees: Badge for Christians and Jews etc. - and revocation of the decrees]
The third Fatimid caliph, al-Hakim (996-1020), founder of the *Druze sect and a controversial personality, departed from the policy of tolerance toward non-Muslims, which was characteristic of his dynasty, during the second half of his reign. At first, he ordered that the Christians and Jews mark their clothes with the ghiyar ("distinctive sign"; see Jewish *Badge); later, he issued orders for the destruction of their houses of prayer. He also prohibited Christians and Jews from riding horses and purchasing slaves and maidservants. Many Christians and Jews converted to Islam in order to escape these degrading decrees, while other emigrated to different countries, such as Yemen and *Byzantium. However, after some time, al-Hakim revoked his decrees and authorized the converts to return to their former religion.
In 1036 the grandson of al-Hakim, al-Mustansir, ascended to the throne. A Jewish merchant, who had previously sold al-Mustansir's mother to the caliph al-Zahir, then wielded much influence in the court. This merchant Abu Sa'd (in Hebrew, Abraham b. Yashar) was also named "al-Tustari" after his city of origin in Persia. He and his brother, Abu Nasr Hesed, endeavoured to protect their coreligionists by all available means. According to one opinion, Abu Sa'd and his brother were Rabbanites, while according to another they were Karaites.
In 1047 Abu Sa'd was killed, as was his brother, Abu Nasr, some time later.
[Professions]
The economic stratification of Egyptian Jewry during the Fatimid period was very diversified. According to the lists of taxpayers and of charitable donators (such as the one published by E. Strauss in Zion, 7 (1941 / 42), 142ff.), the majority were engaged in various trades and a minority in commerce. At that time, the transit trade of products from India and the Far East became an important source of income in Egypt and the Jews played an active role in this commerce.
The Fatimid government encouraged these commercial ties with India and protected the seaways and overland routes. The friendly attitude of the Fatimids was also expressed by the granting of a large degree of autonomy to the merchants.
[The nagid office: physicians - also Jewish nagid]
At the beginning of their rule, the office of nagid was established. The first nagid seems to have been a physician in the service of the caliph al-Mu'izz. In later generations the office of nagid was also filled by men employed in the court, especially as court physicians.
The Fatimid dynasty began to weaken at the end of the 11th century, but the condition of the Jews did not worsen.
A Jewish family which during several generations produced scholars and physicians held high positions at the royal court at that time. Judah b. Saadiah was probably court physician and from 1065 acted as nagid. He was followed by his younger brother *Mevorakh, who was also court physician and nagid from 1079-1110. During this period of office *David b. Daniel b. Azariah, a scion of a family of Babylonian exilarchs, arrived in Egypt. David made an effort to secure the leadership of the Jewish population and succeeded in deposing Mevorakh for a short while.
Moses the elder son of Mevorakh, was nagid from 1110-1140. At that period a Christian favorite of the regent al-Afdal endeavoured to remove the Jews from government service (see Neubauer, in JQR, 9 (1896 / 97), 29-30). Fragments from the Genizhah (col. 492)
mention another enemy who plotted against the Jews until Yakhin b. Nethanel, who was influential in the royal court, succeeded in saving them. On the other hand, *Abu al-Munajja, one of the Jewish courtiers, was responsible for the administration of the "Eastern" province. In the middle of the 12th century *Samuel b. Hananiah was court physician. He was a distinguished scholar and also acted as nagid from 1142 to 1159. His poems in honor of his guest, *Judah Halevi, are well known.
During this period the Jews of Egypt prospered in every sphere. *Benjamin of Tudela, who was in Egypt in c. 1171, gives much information concerning the prevailing conditions in the communities he visited. On the basis of his information and other relevant data, the number of Jews in Egypt at that time has been estimated at between 12,000 and 20,000 (see Neustadt-Ayalon in Zion, 2 (1937), 221; Ashtor, in JQR, 50 (1959 / 60), 60 and JJS, 18 (1967), 9-42; 19 (1968), 1-22).
After the death of Samuel b. Hananiah, there was a crisis within the Jewish community of Egypt. An ambitious individual named *Zuta, who succeeded in being appointed nagid for a short while during the lifetime of Samuel b. Hananiah, exploited his connections to secure the office for a second time, after Samuel's death, and later a third time. As a result of Zuta's activities, the prestige attached to the office of nagid declined and for a long time there was no new appointment.
[Jewish schools and academies]
At that time the heads of the Fostat academy became the leading authorities of Egyptian Jewry; an academy had existed in Fostat from at least the end of the tenth century. During the reign of al-Hakim the academy in the Egyptian capital was headed by *Shemariah b. Elhanan, who had studied in Babylonia in his youth. He was succeeded by his son, *Elhanan b. Shemariah. During the first half of the 12th century, *Mazli'ah ha-Kohen b. Solomon, a member of the family of the Palestinian academy heads, arrived in Egypt. He founded an academy in Fostat, whose leaders were referred to as geonim. They appointed dayyanim [[judges]] and and gave authority to their activities. The authority of these geonim was recognized even outside Egypt, especially in South Arabia and *Aden. In the early 1150s Abu Sa'id Joshua b. Dosa headed the academy in Fostat.
[Time of Saladin and Ayyubid dynasty: Caliph al-Hakim's discriminating decrees are enforced again: Badge for Christians and Jews etc.]
With the end of the Fatimid dynasty, orthodox Islam again became the official religion in Egypt. Saladin (Salah al-Din) and his successors made their religiosity conspicuous and, among other actions, Saladin renewed the discriminatory decrees against the non-Muslim communities.
[[Saladin had fought against the Crusaders which wanted to destroy the Muslim world together with the Mongoles, and there were some cases of fraud from the Crusaders. So these are the reason for the general discrimination laws though a general discrimination is a sign of helplessness of course.
see: Ulrich Haarmann (ed.): Geschichte der arabischen Welt; edition C.H. Beck, Munich 1987, chronology here]].
However, both he and his successors were by no means fanatical and they did no persecute non-Muslims. His successors, the Ayyubids, who reigned in Egypt until 1250, followed the same policy.
Communal life was well organized (col. 493)
and cultural activities were maintained. During this period a number of scholars from Christian countries settled in Egypt and took an active part in the communal life. They included *Anatoli b. Joseph and *Joseph b. Gershon from France, who became dayyanim [[judges]] in Alexandria. Moses *Maimonides spent most of his life in Cairo, where he played a leading role in the life of the community. His son, *Abraham b. Moses, acted officially as nagid after the death of his father in 1205 until his own death in 1237. He had an independent mind and was also a halakhic authority, as can be seen from the numerous legal questions which were addressed to him.> (col. 494)
Sources
Encyclopaedia Judaica (1971): Egypt, vol.6, col. 491-492
Encyclopaedia Judaica (1971): Egypt, vol.6, col. 493-494
