Related Research Articles
The Imams of Yemen and later the Kings of Yemen were religiously consecrated leaders belonging to the Zaidiyyah branch of Shia Islam. They established a blend of religious and secular rule in parts of Yemen from 897. Their imamate endured under varying circumstances until the republican revolution in 1962. Zaidiyyah theology differed from Ismailis or Twelver Shi'ites by stressing the presence of an active and visible imam as leader. The imam was expected to be knowledgeable in religious sciences, and to prove himself a worthy headman of the community, even in battle if this was necessary. A claimant of the imamate would proclaim a "call" (da'wa), and there were not infrequently more than one claimant. The historian Ibn Khaldun mentions the clan that usually provided the imams as the Banu Rassi or Rassids. In the original Arab sources the term Rassids is otherwise hardly used; in Western literature it usually refers to the Imams of the medieval period, up to the 16th century. The Rassid branch that came to power with imam al-Mansur al-Qasim is known as Qasimids.
The Imams of Yemen and later the Kings of Yemen were religiously consecrated leaders belonging to the Zaidiyyah branch of Shia Islam. They established a blend of religious and secular rule in parts of Yemen from 897. Their imamate endured under varying circumstances until the republican revolution in 1962. Zaidiyyah theology differed from Isma'ili or Twelver Shi'ites by stressing the presence of an active and visible imam as leader. The imam was expected to be knowledgeable in religious scholarship, and to prove himself a worthy headman of the community, even in battle if this was necessary. A claimant of the imamate would proclaim a "call" (da'wa), and there were not infrequently more than one claimant.
Al-Hadi Sharaf ad-Din was a claimant for the Zaidi imamate of Yemen in the years 1878–1890, acting in opposition to the Ottoman occupiers of the country. His period saw a tribal embryo of a state taking form in the highlands of Yemen, which would be strengthened by his successors as imams, and eventually usher into the expulsion of the Ottoman Turks in the early 20th century.
Al-Mansur Ahmad was a Zaydiyya imam who claimed the rulership over Yemen in the years 1849–1853. His strife-ridden career spelt the end of the Zaydi Imamate of Yemen as a coherent force.
Al-Mahdi Ali bin Mohammed was an imam of the Zaidi state in Yemen who ruled in 1349-1372.
An-Nasir al-Hasan bin Ali was a claimant to the Zaidi state of Yemen between 1579 and 1585, in opposition to the Ottoman Turks, who occupied the Yemeni lands for years.
Al-Mansur Ali bin Salah ad-Din (1373–1436) was an imam of the Zaidi state in Yemen who ruled in 1391–1436, partly in rivalry with other claimants to the imamate.
Imam Al-Mutawakkil Ali al-Mutahhar was a ruler of Yemen from Sana’a who reigned from 1436 to 1474. He belonged to the Qasimid family who were descendants of the Prophet Muhammad, He ruled in the way of the Quran and the Sunnah and he left a number of writings on Hadith including praise poetry for the Prophet Mohammed.
Al-Mansur Muhammad was an imam of the Zaidi state in Yemen who ruled in 1475-1504, in rivalry with other claimants for the imamate.
An-Nasir al-Hasan was an imam of the Zaidi state in Yemen, who exerted a limited authority in the northern Yemeni highland in 1495-1523.
Al-Mansur an-Nasir was an imam of the Zaidi state in Yemen who held power in parts of the northern Yemeni highland in 1436-1462.
Yahya bin Muhammad as-Siraji was an imam of the Zaidi state in Yemen who held the imamate in 1261–1262.
Al-Mutawakkil al-Mutahhar bin Yahya was an imam of the Zaidi state in Yemen whose imamate lasted from 1276 to 1298.
Al-Mu'ayyad Yahya was an imam of the Zaidi state in Yemen whose tenure of the imamate lasted from 1328 to 1346.
Al-Hadi Yahya was an imam of part of the Zaidi state in Yemen. He ruled from 1217 to 1239, partly in rivalry with a contender.
An-Nasir Muhammad bin Yusuf was a contender for the Zaidi state in Yemen, whose term as imam is counted from 1474 to 1488.
Al-Mahdi Salah ad-Din was a claimant for the Zaidi state in Yemen, whose tenure as imam is counted from 1436 to 1445.
Al-Hadi Ali was a claimant to the Zaidi state in Yemen, who posed as imam from 1393 to 1432 in rivalry with another prince.
Ad-Da'i Ahmad bin Ali al-Fathi was a claimant to the Zaidi state in Yemen, who posed as imam in 1329-1349, in rivalry with other figures.
References
- ↑ The filiation was: al-Hadi Yahya - Ali - Muhammad - Jibril - al-Mu'ayyad - al-Hadi Ali - al-Hasan - al-Hadi Izz ad-Din.
- ↑ Encyclopaedia of Islam, Vol. VII, Leiden 1993, p. 996.
- ↑ Carl Brockelmann, Geschichte der arabischen Litteratur, Vol. I. Leiden 1943, p. 240.
- ↑ Imam Zaid bin Ali Cultural Foundation, http://www.izbacf.org/page_display.php?book_id=37&page_num=52 Archived 2011-07-26 at the Wayback Machine (in Arabic).
| Preceded by al-Mutawakkil al-Mutahhar | Zaydi Imam of Yemen 1474–1495 | Succeeded by an-Nasir al-Hasan |