Sitt al-Mulk set aside the Fatimid heir after the caliph al-Hakim disappeared in 1021 and put his son al-Zahir on the throne

In 1013 the Fatimid caliph al-Hakim named his cousin Abd al-Rahim ibn Ilyas, governor of Damascus, as heir, passing over his own son Ali. His half-sister Sitt al-Mulk, daughter of the previous caliph al-Aziz, backed Ali. On the night of 13 February 1021 al-Hakim rode out to the Muqattam hills outside Cairo and did not return. Searchers found his mount and bloodstained clothes; no body was found. Some medieval sources say slaves of the Kutama commander Ibn Dawwas killed him at Sitt al-Mulk's urging. Others, including Yahya of Antioch and al-Musabbihi, do not mention her. She took control of the palace. Abd al-Rahim was drawn back from Damascus to Egypt by a ruse, imprisoned and killed. Ali, aged 16, was proclaimed caliph as al-Zahir. Ibn Dawwas was executed soon after. Sitt al-Mulk ran the state for her nephew until she died in Cairo on 5 February 1023. Al-Hakim's body has never been found. His mosque stands on al-Mu'izz Street in Cairo, south of Bab al-Futuh.