Shainool Jiwa is a specialist in Fatimid history and Head of Constituency Studies at The Institute of Ismaili Studies, London. She holds graduate degrees from McGill university and the University of Edinburgh, and has lectured at a number of academic institutions for over 25 years. Dr Jiwa has published several studies in the field of medieval Islamic history. Her previous publications include 'Towards a Shi'i Mediterranean Empire: Fatimid Egypt and the Founding of Cairo. The reign of the Imam-caliph al-Mu'izz from al-Maqrizi's' Itti'az al-hunafa' (London, 2009).