Abbas ibn Abi al-Futuh

Abu’l-Faḍl ʿAbbās ibn Abī al-Futūḥ al-Ṣinhājī (Arabic: ابوالفضل عباس ﺑﻦ ﺍﺑﻲ ﺍﻟﻔﺘﻮﺡ الصنهاجي), also known by the honorific al-Afḍal Rukn al-Dīn (lit. 'Most Excellent Pillar of the Faith'),^[1] was a prince of the Zirid dynasty of Ifriqiya who served as vizier of the Fatimid Caliphate in 1153–1154.

Abbas' family fled to Egypt when he was an infant. He grew up in the household of the Fatimid general and governor al-Adil ibn al-Sallar, whom his mother married after Abbas' father died. Abbas aided his step-father in the latter's revolt and assumption of the vizierate in 1149, pursuing and killing his predecessor, Ibn Masal. In 1153, charged with relieving the Siege of Ascalon by the Crusaders of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, he instead arranged the murder of Ibn al-Sallar and became vizier himself. Along with his son, Nasr, Abbas was then responsible for the murder of Caliph al-Zafir in April 1154, and the accession of the infant al-Fa'iz to the throne. This provoked the women of the Fatimid harem to call upon the governor Tala'i ibn Ruzzik for aid. Ibn Ruzzik overthrew Abbas, who with a few followers fled to Syria. The party was intercepted by the Crusaders, and Abbas was killed on 7 June 1154. Nasr was handed over to the Fatimids, who had him executed.