Aḥmad al-Musta‘lī (died 1101) was the ninth Fatimid

Fatimid

The Fatimid Islamic Caliphate or al-Fāṭimiyyūn was a Berber Shia Muslim caliphate first centered in Tunisia and later in Egypt that ruled over varying areas of the Maghreb, Sudan, Sicily, the Levant, and Hijaz from 5 January 909 to 1171.The caliphate was ruled by the Fatimids, who established the...

 Caliph

Caliph

The Caliph is the head of state in a Caliphate, and the title for the ruler of the Islamic Ummah, an Islamic community ruled by the Shari'ah. It is a transcribed version of the Arabic word   which means "successor" or "representative"...

, and believed by the Mustaali

Mustaali

The Musta‘lī Ismā'īlī Muslims are so named because they accept Al-Musta'li as the nineteenth Fatimid caliph and legitimate successor to his father, al-Mustansir...

 Ismaili sect to be the 19th imam. Al-Musta‘lī was made caliph by Regent al-Afdal Shahanshah

Al-Afdal Shahanshah

al-Malik al-Afdal ibn Badr al-Jamali Shahanshah was a vizier of the Fatimid caliphs of Egypt.- Ascent to power :He was born in Acre, the son of Badr al-Jamali, an Armenian who became Muslim. Badr was vizier for the Fatimids in Cairo from 1074 until his death in 1094, when al-Afdal succeeded him...

 (1094–1121) as the successor to al-Mustansir. By and large, al-Musta‘lī was subordinate to Malik al-Afdal.

One complication of the selection of al-Musta‘lī was that his brother Nizar

Nizar

Abū Manṣūr Nizār al-Muṣṭafá liDīnillāh was a Fatimid Caliph and a Nizāri Ismā‘ilī Imām. He was deposed by his brother, Aḥmad al-Musta‘lī but his son, al-Hādī ibn Nizār, escaped to Alamūt and took refuge with believers there, thereby continuing the Imāmate.The followers of Nizār's descendants...

 was considered the rightful heir to the throne. This led to a power struggle within the Fatimids, and although Nizār's revolt was unsuccessful (ending with his death in prison), the break from the rules of succession caused a schism amongst the Ismā‘ilī

Ismaili

' is a branch of Shia Islam. It is the second largest branch of Shia Islam, after the Twelvers...

 Shī‘a. In Saljūq Syria

Syria

Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....

 and Persia, the Nizārī

Nizari

'The Shī‘a Imami Ismā‘īlī Tariqah also referred to as the Ismā‘īlī or Nizārī , is a path of Shī‘a Islām, emphasizing social justice, pluralism, and human reason within the framework of the mystical tradition of Islam. The Nizari are the second largest branch of Shia Islam and form the majority...

 sect developed, one branch of which is known to history as the Assassins

Hashshashin

The Assassins were an order of Nizari Ismailis, particularly those of Persia that existed from around 1092 to 1265...

. Supporters of Musta'li's imamate became known as the Mustaali sect.

During al-Musta‘lī's reign, the First Crusade

First Crusade

The First Crusade was a military expedition by Western Christianity to regain the Holy Lands taken in the Muslim conquest of the Levant, ultimately resulting in the recapture of Jerusalem...

 (1099) established the Kingdom of Jerusalem

Kingdom of Jerusalem

The Kingdom of Jerusalem was a Catholic kingdom established in the Levant in 1099 after the First Crusade. The kingdom lasted nearly two hundred years, from 1099 until 1291 when the last remaining possession, Acre, was destroyed by the Mamluks, but its history is divided into two distinct periods....

, the County of Tripoli

County of Tripoli

The County of Tripoli was the last Crusader state founded in the Levant, located in what today are parts of western Syria and northern Lebanon, where exists the modern city of Tripoli. The Crusader state was captured and created by Christian forces in 1109, originally held by Bertrand of Toulouse...

 and the Principality of Antioch

Principality of Antioch

The Principality of Antioch, including parts of modern-day Turkey and Syria, was one of the crusader states created during the First Crusade.-Foundation:...

, which further reduced Fatimid power in Syria and Palestine. He was succeeded by his son al-Amīr

Al-Amir

Al-Āmir bi'Aḥkāmi l-Lah was the tenth Fatimid Caliph , and recognised as the 20th imam by the Mustaali Ismaili Shi'a sect....

 (1101–1130), after whose reigh the Mustaali sect again split into the Hafizi

Hafizi

The Hafizi were a branch of Mustaali Ismailism that believed the current ruler of the Fatimid Empire after the reign of Al-Amir Bi-Ahkamillah, Al-Hafiz was also the Imam of the Time.-See also:*List of extinct Shia sects...

 and Taiyabi

Taiyabi

Tayyibi is a branch of Mustaali Ismailism that split with the Fatimid supporting Hafizi branch by believing Taiyab abi al-Qasim was the rightful Imam. They are the surviving branch of the Mustaali and have split into Dawoodi Bohra, Sulaimani Bohra, and Alavi Bohra.Upon the death of the 20th Imam...

 sects.

Table of Imams along with Caliphate

Details of all Ismaili imams are available in article List of Ismaili Imams.

See also

• The Musta‘liyyah
  Mustaali
  The Musta‘lī Ismā'īlī Muslims are so named because they accept Al-Musta'li as the nineteenth Fatimid caliph and legitimate successor to his father, al-Mustansir...
  
  
• List of rulers of Egypt