View source for Ibn Masal

{{Short description|Military commander of Fatimid Caliphate}}
'''Najm al-Din Abu'l-Fath Salim/Sulayman ibn Muhammad al-Lukki al-Maghribi''' ({{langx|ar|ﻧﺠﻢ ﺍﻟﺪﻳﻦ ﺍﺑﻮ ﺍﻟﻔﺘﺢ ﺳﻠﻴﻢ/ﺴﻠﻴﻤﺎﻥ ﺑﻦ ﻣﺤﻤﺪ ﺍﻟﻠﻜﻲ|Najm al-Dīn Abu’l-Fatḥ Salīm/Sulaymān ibn Muḥammad al-Lukkī al-Maghribī}}),  better known as '''Ibn Masal''' ({{langx|ar|ﺍﺑﻦ ﻣﺼﺎﻝ|Ibn Maṣāl}}), was a military commander and official of the [[Fatimid Caliphate]], who served briefly as the ''de facto'' [[Vizier (Fatimid Caliphate)|vizier]] of the Caliphate from 1144/45 until he was overthrown and killed by [[al-Adil ibn al-Sallar]] and his supporters in the winter of 1149/50.

==Life==
His ''[[Nisba (onomastics)|nisbah]]'' (al-Maghribī) and the name Maṣāl suggest a [[Berbers|Berber]] origin. He was born in the town of Lukk in the [[Cyrenaica]].{{sfn|Canard|1971|p=868}} From his father, he learned [[falconry]] and [[veterinary science]], which enabled him to assume a military post in the [[Fatimid Caliphate|Fatimid]] capital [[Cairo]].{{sfn|Canard|1971|p=868}} Details of his military career are not known, but by 1144/45 he had risen to the point where he was entrusted with the leadership of the government by Caliph [[al-Hafiz]]. He was not given the title of [[vizier (Fatimid Caliphate)|vizier]], however, which had been vacant since the ouster of [[Ridwan ibn Walakhshi]] in 1139, but instead was titled "supervisor of affairs" (''nāẓir fi'l-umūr'') and "supervisor of the public interests" (''nāẓir fi'l-maṣāliḥ'').{{sfn|Canard|1971|p=868}}{{sfn|Daftary|2007|p=249}}

When al-Hafiz died in October 1149, his 16-year-old son [[al-Zafir]] succeeded him.{{sfn|Bianquis|2002|p=382}} Al-Zafir, who was more interested in the pleasures of the court than exercising governance, appointed Ibn Masal, despite the latter's advanced age, as his vizier.{{sfn|Canard|1971|p=868}} Ibn Masal received the customary titles of the Fatimid viziers, ''al-Sayyid al-ʿAjal'' ("most noble master"), ''Amīr al-Juyūsh'' ("commander of the armies"), and ''al-Mufaḍḍal'' ("the preferred one") or ''al-Afḍal'' ("most superior one").{{sfn|Canard|1971|p=868}} He was quickly successful in calming the quarrels between the Turkish cavalry (''Rayḥānī'') and the black military slaves by distributing money and promising to take care of their future welfare.{{sfn|Canard|1971|p=868}}{{sfn|Bianquis|2002|p=382}}

He was soon after confronted with the rebellion of the governor of [[Alexandria]], [[Ibn al-Sallar]], who had entertained hopes of becoming vizier himself. Following the appointment of Ibn Masal, together with his stepson [[Abbas ibn Abi al-Futuh|Abbas]], Ibn al-Sallar marched on Cairo to seize the vizierate. When al-Zafir learned of Ibn Sallar's intentions, he called upon assistance from the grandees of the realm in support of Ibn Masal, but they proved unwilling to.{{sfn|Al-Imad|2015}} In the end, the Caliph provided Ibn Masal with funds to raise an army for action against Ibn al-Sallar. Ibn Masal assembled a force of [[Lawata]] Berbers, of blacks, of [[Bedouin]] Arabs and of native Egyptians, but despite a first success in the field, he was soon forced to leave Cairo in December 1149 for Upper Egypt, to recruit more men, while Ibn al-Sallar took over the city.{{sfn|Canard|1971|p=868}}{{sfn|Bianquis|2002|p=382}}{{sfn|Al-Imad|2015}} Ibn al-Sallar sent his stepson Abbas with an army against Ibn Masal and his ally, Badr ibn Rafi, who had tried unsuccessfully to rally resistance among the Arab tribes of the [[Nile Delta]]. The two armies met in battle at Dalas in the province of [[al-Bahnasa]] on 19 February 1150, in which Ibn Masal was defeated and killed. Abbas brought his severed head back to Cairo as a token of victory.{{sfn|Canard|1971|p=868}}{{sfn|Bianquis|2002|p=382}}

His vizierate had lasted only about 50 days.{{sfn|Canard|1971|p=868}} This was the last time a Fatimid caliph would exercise that right, as with Ibn al-Sallar's coup the vizierate became the object of fierce contest between rival strongmen, and the last Fatimid caliphs were reduced to mere figureheads.{{sfn|Canard|1971|p=868}}{{sfn|Daftary|2007|pp=249–252}}

A son of Ibn Masal is reported to have supported [[Shirkuh]] from [[Alexandria]] in 1166/67, before fleeing to Syria. He was later involved in, and is said to have betrayed a [[Pro-Fatimid conspiracy against Saladin]] in 1174.{{sfn|Halm|2014|pp=294, 389 (note 208)}}

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==Sources==
{{Portal|Biography|Fatimid Caliphate}}
* {{cite book | last = al-Imad | first = Leila S.  | title = The Fatimid Vizierate (979-1172) | location = Berlin | publisher = Klaus Schwarz Verlag | year = 1990 | isbn =  3-922968-82-1}}
* {{EI3| title =al-ʿĀdil b. al-Sallār | first = Leila S. | last = Al-Imad | authorlink = | year = 2015 | url = http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/1573-3912_ei3_COM_22987 }}
* {{EI2 | volume = 11 | last = Bianquis | first = Thierry | authorlink = Thierry Bianquis | title = al-Ẓāfir bi-Aʿdāʾ Allāh | pages = 382–383 | url = http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/1573-3912_islam_SIM_8067}}
* {{EI2 | volume = 3 | last = Canard | first = Marius | authorlink = Marius Canard | title = Ibn Maṣāl | pages = 868| doi =10.1163/1573-3912_islam_SIM_3288}}
* {{Daftary-The Ismailis|edition=Second}}
* {{cite book | last = Halm | first = Heinz | authorlink = Heinz Halm | title = Kalifen und Assassinen: Ägypten und der vordere Orient zur Zeit der ersten Kreuzzüge, 1074–1171 | trans-title = Caliphs and Assassins: Egypt and the Near East at the Time of the First Crusades, 1074–1171 | language = German | publisher = C.H. Beck | location = Munich | year = 2014 | isbn = 978-3-406-66163-1}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-vac|last=[[Ridwan ibn Walakhshi]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Vizier (Fatimid Caliphate)|Vizier]] of the [[Fatimid Caliphate]]|years=1149}}
{{s-aft|after=[[al-Adil ibn al-Sallar]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{Fatimid Caliphate topics}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ibn Masal}}
[[Category:1150 deaths]]
[[Category:12th-century Berber people]]
[[Category:12th-century people from the Fatimid Caliphate]]
[[Category:Viziers of the Fatimid Caliphate]]
[[Category:People from Cyrenaica]]
[[Category:People killed in action]]