Editing Fatimid dynasty (section)

===Reign of al-Hakim===
Al-Aziz died in 996, while preparing a major campaign against the Byzantines and Hamdanids. He was succeeded by his eleven-year-old son, [[al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah|al-Hakim]]  ({{reign|996|1021}}).{{sfn|Halm|2014}} Initially under the tutelage of powerful officials, al-Hakim managed to seize the reins of power for himself in 1000.{{sfn|Halm|2014}} The early years of his reign saw the conclusion of peace with Byzantium in 1001,{{sfn|Canard|1965|p=855}} as well as the great tribal revolts of [[Abu Rukwa]] in [[Cyrenaica]] in 1005, and of [[Mufarrij ibn Daghfal]] in Palestine in 1012–13.{{sfn|Halm|2014}} In the north, the [[Uqaylids]] of [[Mosul]] briefly acknowledged Fatimid suzerainty in 1010, and in 1015, Aleppo did the same, with Fatimid troops entering the city and imposing direct control in 1017.{{sfn|Canard|1965|p=854}} Relations with the Zirids, who quickly had begun distancing themselves from Cairo's authority, became more strained under al-Hakim due to disputes over Cyrenaica and [[Tripoli, Libya|Tripoli]],{{sfn|Canard|1965|p=855}} and in 1016/7, the new Zirid emir, [[al-Mu'izz ibn Badis]], launched a pogrom against the remaining Isma'ilis in Ifriqiya.{{sfn|Halm|2014}}

From 1015 on, the Fatimid Caliphate, and the Isma'ili community, were confronted by a rise in sectarianism: a series of preachers who propagated extremist versions of Isma'ilism appeared, preaching the imminence of the end times, the divinity of al-Hakim, and the abolition of the [[Sharia]]. The Fatimid religious establishment opposed such [[antinomian]] views, but al-Hakim seems to have tolerated, if not encouraged them. Although al-Hakim never officially espoused their views, the teachings of men such as [[al-Darzi]] and [[Hamza ibn Ali]] resulted in the birth of the [[Druze]] faith.{{sfn|Halm|2014}} At the same time, al-Hakim made curious innovations in the succession, by splitting up his office in two: one to succeed the caliphate, i.e. the secular office, and one to succeed as imam, i.e. as leader of the Isma'ili community. Furthermore, he sidelined his own son and appointed two cousins to the posts, thereby arousing the hostility of the Fatimid elites. As a result of a conspiracy among the latter, al-Hakim was murdered during one of his night rides outside Cairo, and his corpse disposed of, never to be found.{{sfn|Halm|2014}}