Encyclopedia of Islam

Further reading: Leila Ahmed, Women and Gender in 

Islam: Historical Roots of a Modern Debate (New Haven, 

Conn.: Yale University Press, 1992); Fadwa El Guindi, 

Veil: Modesty, Privacy and Resistance (Oxford, U.K.: 

V

---

Berg, 1999); Aysha Hidayatullah, “Islamic Conceptions 

of Sexuality.” In Sexuality and the World’s Religions,

edited by David W. Machacek and Melissa M. Wilcox, 

255–292. (Santa Barbara, Calif.: ABC-CLIO, 2003).

vizier

The Arabic word wazir (Persian vazir) appears 

in the q

Uran

 referring to Aaron as m

oses

’ wazir,

or “helper.” With the establishment of the a

bba

-

sid

  c

aliphate

 in the eighth century 

c

.

e

. and the 

ongoing formalization of government structures, 

the vizier became an official government position. 

The vizier was usually appointed directly by the 

caliph

, personally responsible to him, and second 

only to him in 

aUthority

. Thus he was the servant 

of the ruler, not the state.

The vizier was in charge of the civil admin-

istration, especially the collection of taxes. Gov-

ernment was divided into the “men of the pen” 

and the “men of the sword,” and the vizier was 

the head of the former. At his appointment he 

was given, among other things, a golden inkpot 

symbolizing his role as the top of the bureaucratic 

machinery of the state. Viziers often clashed with 

the head of the military branch, the amir al-umara,

particularly over the distribution of revenues.

Perhaps the biggest factor in determining the 

power and prestige of the vizier was his own ambi-

tion and personality compared with that of the 

ruler and the rival leaders in the military. The vizier 

was vulnerable to the personal whims of the ruler 

and many a vizier came to an untimely and violent 

end. On the other hand, caliphs often played only 

symbolic roles and sultans were primarily military 

men, leaving the vizier as the effective head of the 

government. The office of the vizierate reached 

its greatest level of power in the medieval period 

under the Seljuk vizier Nizam al-Mulk (1018–92).

During the Abbasid period the viziers came 

from a few influential families, or they rose 

through the ranks of the secretaries and were usu-

ally non-Arab. Often the vizierate could remain 

within an influential family for several genera-

tions. Under the Fatimids the vizier was at first in 

charge of the civil administration, but in 1074 the 

position was taken over by a military man who 

combined the traditional authority of the vizier 

with that of the amir al-umara (or amir al-djuy-

ush) and basically assumed all real authority from 

the Fatimid caliphs. In the Ottoman period the 

vizier often began life as a slave (

mamlUk

), work-

ing his way up and thus owing complete loyalty to 

the ruler who had aided his advancement. While 

this may have ensured loyalty to the ruler, it often 

came at the cost of doing what was in the best 

interests of the state. During the late 18th and 

19th centuries, as the Ottomans tried to reform 

the government in order to keep up with Western 

Europe, there were efforts to transform the vizier-

ate into a position similar to that of prime minis-

ter, but these efforts were ultimately thwarted by 

the rulers, who insisted that ministers report to 

them directly rather than to the vizier.

See also  F

atimid

 

dynasty

;  o

ttoman

 

dynasty

; 

s

elJUk

 

dynasty

.

Heather N. Keaney