How the Fatimids, locally considered foreign easterners and heretical Shiʿa, negotiated sufficient acceptance in the Maghrib to withstand fierce opposition from Maliki Sunnis and Ibadi Kharijis, raises key issues concerning the formation of Islamic empires. Despite a plethora of enemies among the population, their rule endured and even prospered. What we know has grown substantially with new sources about the interaction of Ismaili authorities with the local ʿulamāʾ and the inner dynamics of their daʿwa and its allocation of restricted knowledge to members. Conversion of sections of the local elite and the demotion or expulsion of hostile elements helped. An internal document preserved by the daʿwa explains how its adherents were expected to prove their loyalty and the reward for doing so. The Ismailis existed both as one component in the new society and yet also remained apart as a community of Believers within the broader society of Muslims.

The reign of the caliph al-Qadir signals the rediscovery of Abbasid religious authority on the basis of new terms. The Buyid--Abbasid rivalry with the Fatimids of Egypt provides an opportunity for shared interests between the caliph and the Buyids. The drafting of the Qadiri Creed in Baghdad outlines elements of Sunni belief that become official doctrine and provide a rebuttal of Fatimid ideology. The rise in the caliph's position as a religious arbiter, and the alignment of al-Qadir and al-Qa'im with a prolific class of 'ulama and jurists, such as al-Mawardi, attracts distant support from the newly rising Ghaznavids and the Seljuks. The Seljuk entry to Baghdad in 1055 brings about a new formula of affinity between caliphs and sultans. Continued Abbasid attempts for a reassertion of authority finally succeed in the caliphate of al-Nasir, who is helped by an international situation that ends the last vestiges of Seljuk political influence. The Mongols, under Genghis Khan, dominate the Iranian world but stop short of invading Baghdad. Al-Nasir's interest in Sufism and the Futuwwa movement incorporates a new dimension in Abbasid religious authority, while the rising tide of conquests against the Crusades further strengthens the caliphate's image as a central religious authority in the Islamic world.