Qadi al-Nu'man

Al-Nu'man ibn Muhammad, known as al-Qadi al-Nu'man ("the judge al-Nu'man"), was the foremost jurist of the Fatimid caliphate, the Isma'ili Shia dynasty that ruled North Africa and later Egypt. He was born in Qayrawan (in present-day Tunisia); his exact birth year is unknown, with estimates ranging from around 896/897 to around 290 AH/903 CE. According to the sources, he came from a family of Maliki Sunni scholars in Qayrawan and was raised within the Isma'ili tradition after his father embraced it. (Isma'ilis are a branch of Shia Islam; the Fatimids claimed leadership, the imamate, through the Prophet's descendants.)

He entered Fatimid service around 313 AH/925 CE and served the dynasty's first four imam-caliphs for roughly fifty years. He was made a judge—first, it is reported, at Tripoli—and then, under the caliph al-Mansur, was appointed chief judge (qadi al-qudat) over Ifriqiya; the caliph al-Mu'izz later confirmed him in that post and entrusted him with hearing grievances (mazalim) and with teaching closed "sessions of wisdom" on Isma'ili doctrine.

His most famous work, the Da'a'im al-Islam ("The Pillars of Islam"), became the official law code of the Fatimid state and remains the principal authority for the law of the Musta'li (Tayyibi) Isma'ilis—including the Bohra communities—to this day. He also wrote on history, doctrine, and the inner interpretation (ta'wil) of scripture. He accompanied al-Mu'izz to the newly founded city of Cairo and died there in 363 AH/974 CE; the sources report that the caliph himself led his funeral prayer.