In 1943 the squadron flew to Kairouan, Tunisia, and from there conducted operations against Italy and Sicily, returning to the UK in November of the same year.
However, Abu'l Hasan went too far in attempting to impose more authority over the Arab tribes, who revolted and in April 1348 defeated his army near Kairouan.
After the loss of Kairouan (1057) the rule of the Zirids was limited to a coastal strip with Mahdia as the capital, while several Bedouin Emirates formed inland.
Kairouan |
On being ransomed, Ḥushiel went to Kairouan, an ancient seat of Talmudical scholarship (Harkavy, Teshubot ha-Ge'onim, Nos. 199, 210).
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According to the Sefer Ha-Kabbalah of Abraham ibn Daud, Chushiel was one of the four scholars who were captured by Ibn Rumaḥis, an Arab admiral, while voyaging from Bari to Sebaste to collect money "for the dowries of poor brides." Ḥushiel was sold as a slave in North Africa, but he and the other three rabbis were ransomed by Jewish communities in Alexandria, Cordoba, and Kairouan.