A Culmination in Traditionalism 151 SunnI-Seljuq-‘Abbasid domains, the Fatimid counter-caliphate in Egypt and the military provocations of the Nizarls (a branch of the Ismahll ShTIs) were perceived as existential challenges to the ‘Abbasid caliphate. In 492/1099, when Shuhda was ten, news of the Crusader occupation of Jerusalem circulated throughout the central Islamic lands. The reports of these attacks registered only dimly at first with the ‘Abbasid caliph al-Mustazhir, but they could not be ignored for long. Ibn al-jawzl chronicles the horror that Muslims experienced in that year, as the Crusaders massacred more than 70,000 Muslims in Jerusalem and pillaged the Dome of the Rock. 1 6 Firsthand accounts from refugees fleeing to cities such as Baghdad made the alarm palpable in areas far removed from the Crusaders’ battlefields. Further, the loss of Jerusalem, a sacred center, had a profound psychological impact throughout the Muslim world, and the occupation of cities along vital trade routes undermined the economic stability of the entire region. Such factors, in turn, exacerbated the apprehension pervading Baghdad during Shuhda’s life. Inter-Sunni rivalries precluded a unified response to these crises. Competition between the ‘Abbasid caliphs and the Seljuq sultans created political and military fissures. Theological disputes, often manifested along madhbab lines, fueled bitter animosity among leading scholars. Theological feuding was not confined to verbal exchanges between members of the intellectual elite. Rather, seemingly arcane disputes mobilized lay followers of preacher-theologians to violent action. In 469/1077, the sermons of Ibn al-Qushayrl, the Shafi‘I-‘Ash‘ari scholar (and a son of Fatima bint al-Hasan, whom we encountered in Chapter 3), had precipitated bloody rioting between his supporters (Shafi‘I-‘Ash‘arIs) and detractors (Hanballs). The conflict was resolved only when the Seljuq vizier Nizam al-Mulk advised Ibn al-Qushayri to affirm his support for the views of his opponents and desist from his preaching in Baghdad. This was but one of such violent disputes marking the decade before Shuhda’s birth. Amidst these internal and external challenges and threats, traditionalism evolved to emphasize points of consensus among Sunnis and ultimately prevailed as a classical Muslim orthodoxy. As discussed in the (d. 436/1044) are but a few of the indicators of the increased cohesion and intellectual strength of Imam! ShTism. Fatimid expansionism was limited during Shuhda’s lifetime in comparison with previous decades. In 450/1058, the military leader al-BasasIrl, acting on behalf of the Fatimids, routed the ‘Abbasid caliph in Baghdad itself. Signaling a military and psychological victory, he had the khutba in Baghdad recited in name of al-Mustansir, the Fatimid caliph. For a summary of al-Basasirl’s life and military career, see El2, s.v. “al-BasasIrl.” 16 Ibn al-Jawzi, al-Muntazam, 17:47.