How was the Fatimid missionary network organized from Cairo?

The Fatimid missionary network, known as the daʿwah, was an elaborately and secretly organized institution that functioned as a third branch of the government, alongside the military and bureaucratic establishments.1

Operating under the supreme direction of a chief missionary based in Cairo, the network served as an institutionalized state religion. Its primary objectives were to disseminate Ismāʿīlī doctrine, gain converts, and engage in subversion against the Sunni Abbasid order.1

To support these efforts, the Fatimids established colleges and libraries, such as Al-Azhar, which were tasked with training missionaries for field work and providing advanced instruction to converts brought to Cairo. Through this organized system, the Fatimid caliph—acting as the spiritual imām—maintained a vast network of missionaries and agents across lands under Abbasid suzerainty, effectively merging the universal aims of their faith with the imperial grand strategy of the Fatimid state.1