Evaluate the importance of institutions of learning (Dar al-’Ilm) in supporting Fatimid power.

Candidates will make an appraisal of the importance of institutions of learning in supporting Fatimid power, weighing up the strengths and limitations or otherwise. Causes and results may extend beyond the timeframe, but they must be clearly linked to the issue raised in the question. Candidates may refer to the importance of these institutions in producing an educated bureaucracy and the production of missionaries who converted many to the Ismaili sect and spread the influence of the Fatimids. Institutions of learning made Cairo the intellectual centre of Islam and attracted many scholars. This increased the influence of the Fatimids and supported their claim to the caliphate. The institutions of learning increased contact with the non-Islamic world, which served to expand Fatimid commercial influences and prestige. Other relevant factors may be addressed, but with a focus on the question. Candidates’ opinions or conclusions will be presented clearly and supported by relevant evidence.