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Shajar al-Durr's killing of her husband Izz al-Din Aybak

قتل شجر الدر زوجها عز الدين أيبك

c. 1257 CE · 655 AH

In 655 al-Mu'izz Aybak, sultan of Egypt, died — killed by his wife Shajar al-Durr; they raised his son al-Malik al-Mansur Ali after him 1.

Depth

At a glance

Era
The Mongol and Post-Mongol Era
Region
Egypt & Nile
Review
Draft Completeness 2/5 · Help complete it

In time

1240125012601270 c.
The Crusades, Ayyubids and Mamluks · The Mongol and Post-Mongol Era

Overview

In 655 AH al-Mu'izz Aybak, sultan of Egypt, died, and the sources report that his wife Shajar al-Durr killed him. After him they made his son al-Mansur Ali sultan. 1

Ibn al-Imad's account

Ibn al-Imad reports that news of al-Mu'izz's marriage to the daughter of the lord of Mosul spread, and this weighed heavily on Shajar al-Durr. She agreed with a group of servants and promised them money. When he entered the bath, they threw him to the ground and strangled him in the night. In the morning the emirs found him dead. 2

Connections

Explore the connections

Had participant
al-Malik al-Mansur Ali b. Aybak· عز الدين أيبك التركماني الملك المعز· شجر الدر سلطانة مصر

People and things also explored

The Murder of Turanshah and the Sultanate of Shajar al-Durr· al-Malik al-Mansur Ali b. Aybak· عز الدين أيبك التركماني الملك المعز· شجر الدر سلطانة مصر

Sources

  1. Tarikh al-Khulafa — al-Suyuti (Dar al-Minhaj edition) , p. 710
  2. Shadharat al-Dhahab — Ibn al-Imad al-Hanbali , p. 275
Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “Shajar al-Durr's killing of her husband Izz al-Din Aybak”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/event/aybak-murder-655/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-22.

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The Murder of Turanshah and the Sultanate of Shajar al-Durr

In 647 the Franks took Damietta as al-Malik al-Salih lay dying; his slave-girl Umm Khalil — Shajar al-Durr — hid the death and fetched his son Turanshah, who was killed that Muharram by his father's ghilman. They raised Shajar al-Durr over them, the Turks swearing to her and her deputy Izz al-Din Aybak, who took the sultanate as al-Mu'izz in Rabi' II, then set up the eight-year-old al-Ashraf as atabeg-front till 652, when he dropped the name and ruled alone.