A Miracle of Heavenly Fire

Turning to Jerusalem, the city upon which mediaeval Athens modelled itself, this chapter describes the central event in the liturgical calendar of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre (Anastasis): the miracle of Holy Light during the Easter Vigil. It explains that Muslims were accustomed to participating in the Vigil, and that opposition to this participation only began to grow from the tenth century onwards, while the shrine itself was not destroyed until the early eleventh century. If it is to be understood properly, the order of destruction issued by al-Hakim c.1009 must be considered within the context of a movement to transfer the destination of pilgrimage from the Holy Cities of Islam to the person of the Ismaʿili Imam-Caliph, who was identified as the ultimate spiritual authority and source of religious illumination. The association of the Fatimid dynasty with eschatological preoccupations peaked in the reign of al-Hakim, who was identified by many of his followers as a messianic figure. Among these followers, the conquest of Byzantium by a purified Umma was thought to mark the End of Days. Such attitudes led to the persecution within the caliphate of groups including the Melkites, Copts, and Sunnis.