Caliph Al-Qadir, noted for taking the lead in the Sunni struggle against Isma'ili Shi'ism, has helped Sunnis set up their own festivals to rival the Shi'a celebrations and made the Hanbali school the official Muslim position.

Mohammad Arkoun considers his decrees against heresies such as the createdness of the Qur'an, which effectively outlawed the mu'tazila school, as sounding the death knell for philosophy in Islamic thought.

Most Ismailis viewed the Fatimids as their rightful spiritual and political leaders.

In response to the growth of the Fatimid-supporting Ismaili sect of Islam within his borders, and threatened by a possible rebellion within his empire, the Abbasid Caliph asks esteemed scholars and jurists to issue an edict claiming that the Fatimids are not descended from Ali ibn Abi Talib.

With the so-called Baghdad Manifesto, Al-Qadir intends to delegitimize the Ismaili allegiance to the rival Fatimid domain on the basis of their claimed descent.