The call was suspended briefly between 19 May 1018 and 9 May 1019 CE during the apostasy of ad-Darazi and again between 1021 and 1026 CE during a period of persecution by Ali az-Zahir for those who had sworn the oath to accept the call.[1] Persecutions started forty days after the disappearance into occultation of Al-Hakim, who was thought to have been converting people to a Unitarian faith for over twenty years prior.[1] Al-Hakim convinced some heretical followers such as Ad-Darazi of his soteriological divinity and officially declared the Divine call after issuing a decree promoting religious freedom.[1][3]