Intellectual Life and Its Effects on Construction Renaissance in Egypt during the Periods of the Two Caliphs Al-Āmir Bi-Aḥkām Allah and Al-Ḥāfiẓ Li-Dīnillāh (1101-1149 AD)

This study sheds light on Fatimid society and administration, with a focus on architecture and intellectual life. I argue that the distinctiveness of Fatimid culture led to the development of religious and intellectual institutions that represent an enlightened period of Islamic construction history.

This study presents the intellectual, social and political changes that occurred in the religious ideological philosophy during the era of the two caliph’s al-Āmir bi-Aḥkām Allah and al-Ḥāfiẓ li-Dīnillāh (1101-1149). Ideological tolerance prevailed across the Fatimid caliphate during this period. The study also focuses on the special distinction of religious, educational and social life, investigating how it had an effect on the architectural renaissance, and the development of ornaments for religious and intellectual institutions. How did religious, educational and social life have a role in the design of mosques, Mashads, educational institutions and their architectural style? And how did the innovative construction and its design play a role in the religious, social and intellectual life in this era?