 The mosque acquired its current name , al @-@ Azhar , sometime between the caliphate of al @-@ Mu ’ izz and the end of the reign of the second Fatimid caliph in Egypt , al @-@ Aziz Billah . Azhar is the masculine form for <unk> ′ , meaning " splendid " or " most resplendent . " <unk> ′ is an epithet applied to Muhammad 's daughter Fatimah , wife of caliph Alī ibn Abī <unk> . She was claimed as the ancestress of al @-@ Mu ’ izz and the imams of the Fatimid dynasty ; one theory is that her epithet is the source for the name al @-@ Azhar . The theory , however , is not confirmed in any Arabic source and its plausibility has been both supported and denied by later Western sources . 
