Abū Ḥanīfaẗ al-Nuʿmān ibn Muḥammad ibn Manṣūr al-Tamīmī is said to have been born in
Qayrawān (Kairouan); he died in
Al-Qāhiraẗ (Cairo). He was an Ismaili jurist, judge and preacher. Scholars are divided as to which rite he belonged to before he converted to the
Ismaili rite, but he may have inherited it from his father. From the year 313/925 and throughout the reign of the four
Fatimid caliphs who ruled
Ifrīqiyyaẗ, he held various positions, including that of judge in
Tripoli. He was later summoned by Caliph
Al-Manṣūr to the position of Grand Cadi, “judge of judges”, for the whole of
Ifrīqiyyaẗ. He also entrusted him with the madhalem [the examination of abusive acts], in addition to his role as official preacher for the Fatimids. It was he who laid the foundations of Ismaili fiqh [jurisprudence] in
Ifrīqiyyaẗ and it was he who wrote its provisions and made them accessible to all. He is also the theorist of the Ismaili doctrine. His ideas are recorded in more than forty books of various kinds, many of which have been published, including the one on the disagreements between the different legal schools.