 A wide range of Islamic religious expression existed in Egypt during the early Mamluk era, namely Sunni Islam and its major "madhabs" (schools of thought) and various Sufi orders, but also small communities of Ismai'li Shia Muslims, particularly in Upper Egypt.In addition, there was a significant minority of Coptic Christians.Under Sultan Saladin, the Ayyubids embarked on a program of reviving and strengthening Sunni Islam in Egypt to counter Christianity, which had been reviving under the religiously benign rule of the Fatimids, and Ismailism, the branch of Islam of the Fatimid state.