Ismāʿīl al-Manṣūr was the third Caliph

Caliph

The Caliph is the head of state in a Caliphate, and the title for the ruler of the Islamic Ummah, an Islamic community ruled by the Shari'ah. It is a transcribed version of the Arabic word   which means "successor" or "representative"...

 of the Fatimids in Ifriqiya

Ifriqiya

In medieval history, Ifriqiya or Ifriqiyah was the area comprising the coastal regions of what are today western Libya, Tunisia, and eastern Algeria. This area included what had been the Roman province of Africa, whose name it inherited....

 (r. 946-953).

History

Ismāʿīl was born in 913 in Raqqada near Kairouan

Kairouan

Kairouan , also known as Kirwan or al-Qayrawan , is the capital of the Kairouan Governorate in Tunisia. Referred to as the Islamic Cultural Capital, it is a UNESCO World Heritage site. The city was founded by the Arabs around 670...

 and succeeded his father Abū l-Qāṣim al-Qā'im (934-946) in 946. The Fatimid realm found itself deep in crisis due to the revolt of Abū Yazīd

Abu Yazid

Abū Yazīd Mukhallad ibn Kayrād , nicknamed Ṣāhib al-Himār "Possessor of the donkey", was a Kharijite Berber of the Banu Ifran tribe who led a rebellion against the Fatimids in Ifriqiya starting in 944...

 (943-947). However, after the unity of the rebels began to crack, Ismāʿīl managed to put down the revolt with the help of the Berber

Berber people

Berbers are the indigenous peoples of North Africa west of the Nile Valley. They are continuously distributed from the Atlantic to the Siwa oasis, in Egypt, and from the Mediterranean to the Niger River. Historically they spoke the Berber language or varieties of it, which together form a branch...

 Zirids. Following this victory he took the epithet al-Mansur, and built a new residence at al-Manṣūriyyah

Al-Mansuriya

Al-Mansuriya was a royal residence near Kairouan, Tunisia, and the seat of Fatimid government from the time of Ismail al-MansurThe new residence was founded in 946 by al-Mansur before the eventual victory over Abu Yazid and replaced Mahdia as the capital of the empire...

 near Kairouan

Kairouan

Kairouan , also known as Kirwan or al-Qayrawan , is the capital of the Kairouan Governorate in Tunisia. Referred to as the Islamic Cultural Capital, it is a UNESCO World Heritage site. The city was founded by the Arabs around 670...

.

Al-Manṣūr concerned himself with the reorganisation of the Fatimid state until the end of his reign. He resumed the struggle with the Umayyads of Córdoba in Morocco

Morocco

Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...

, and reoccupied Sicily

Sicily

Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...

, from where raids into Italy were recommenced. Rule in Sicily was reinforced through the installation

Emirate of Sicily

The Emirate of Sicily was an Islamic state on the island of Sicily , which existed from 965 to 1072.-First Arab invasions of Sicily:...

 of the Kalbids

Kalbids

The Kalbids were a Shia Muslim dynasty in Sicily, which ruled from 948 to 1053 .In 827, in the midst of internal Byzantine conflict, the Aghlabids arrived at Marsala in Sicily, with a fleet of 10,000 men under the command of Asad ibn al-Furat. Palermo was conquered in 831 and became the new capital...

 as Emirs.

Al-Manṣūr died after a severe illness on 19 March 953 and left his realm to his son al-Mu‘izz (r. 953-975).