1012 CE

Muslim Fatimid Caliph Al-Hakim Destroys Synagogues in Jerusalem

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With the Caliphate expanding and establishing a stronger financial and political foothold, the dependence on taxes imposed on those outside the faith as a key financial source waned, aggravating hostility towards unbelievers.

Caliph Al Hakim, ruling from 996 to 1021 CE, showed fierce hostility towards unbelievers and ordered the forcible conversion of Jews and Christians in 1012 CE.

Violent pogroms followed, with Jews butchered and synagogues burned. With his decrees eventually revoked and religious toleration restored, the persecution notably left a dismal mark and a decisive point of decline in Jewish numbers.

Pictured here are an artist's rendition of Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah, a fragment from a bathhouse in Fustat , Egypt, and a golden dinar coin minted in Fustat during his reign.

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Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah. (Fragment from a bathhouse. Fustat, Egypt). Museum of Islamic Art, Cairo.

Photo: Alamy

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Gold Dinar - Abu ʽAli al-Manṣur al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah, 996–1021 CE minted in Cairo

Credit: Classical Numismatic Group, Inc. via Wikimedia Commons

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Overview

Caliph Al Hakim showed fierce hostility towards unbelievers and ordered the forcible conversion of Jews and Christians in 1012 CE. The violent persecution notably left a dismal mark and a decisive point of decline in Jewish numbers.

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