Biography
Born in North Africa, he converted to Isma'ili Islam and began his career in Ifriqiya (modern-day Tunisia, western Libya and eastern Algeria) under the first caliph, al-Mahdi Billah (r. 909-934 CE/ 297-322 AH), quickly rising to become the most prominent judge (qadi) of the Fatimid state. During his lifetime, he served four Fatimid Caliphs:
- al-Mahdi Billah
- Muhammad al-Qa'im Bi-Amrillah
- Ismail al-Mansur
- Al-Muizz Lideenillah
In his fifty years of service to the Fatimids, he wrote a vast number of books under the encouragement of the caliphs on history, biography, jurisprudence (fiqh) and the interpretation of scripture (ta'wil). After the Fatimid conquest of Egypt and Syria, al-Nu'man left Ifriqiya and travelled to the newly-founded city of al-Qahira (Cairo) where he died in 974 CE/ 363 AH.
Read more about this topic: Qadi Al-Nu'man