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Shia Islam is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that Muhammad designated Ali ibn Abi Talib as his successor as the imam, that is the spiritual and political leader of the Muslim community. However, his right is understood to have been usurped by a number of Muhammad's companions at the meeting of Saqifa where they appointed Abu Bakr as caliph instead. As such, Sunni Muslims believe Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman and Ali to be 'rightly-guided caliphs' whereas Shia Muslims only regard Ali as the legitimate successor.
Yemen is one of the oldest centers of civilization in the Near East. Its relatively fertile land and adequate rainfall in a moister climate helped sustain a stable population, a feature recognized by the ancient Greek geographer Ptolemy, who described Yemen as Eudaimon Arabia, meaning "Fertile Arabia" or "Happy Arabia". The South Arabian alphabet was developed at latest between the 12th century BC and the 6th century AD, when Yemen was successively dominated by six civilizations that controlled the lucrative spice trade: Ma'in, Qataban, Hadhramaut, Awsan, Saba, and Himyar. With the 630 AD arrival of Islam, Yemen became part of the wider Muslim world, where it has remained.
In Shia Islam, the Imamah is a doctrine which asserts that certain individuals from the lineage of the Islamic prophet Muhammad are to be accepted as leaders and guides of the ummah after the death of Muhammad. Imamah further says that Imams possess divine knowledge and authority (Ismah) as well as being part of the Ahl al-Bayt, the family of Muhammad. These Imams have the role of providing commentary and interpretation of the Quran as well as guidance.
Zaydism is a branch of Shia Islam that emerged in the eighth century following Zayd ibn Ali's unsuccessful rebellion against the Umayyad Caliphate. Zaydism is one of the three main branches of Shi'ism, with the other two being Twelverism and Ismailism. Zaydism is typically considered the Shia branch that is closest to Sunni Islam, although the "classical" form of Zaydism had historically changed its stance on Sunni and Shia traditions multiple times, to the point where Zaydis simply accepting Ali as a rightful successor to Muhammad was enough to consider them Shia. Twelver Shias sometimes consider Zaydism to be a "fifth school" of Sunni Islam. Zaydis regard rationalism as more important than Quranic literalism and historically were quite tolerant towards Sunni Shafi'ism, a religion of about half of the Yemenis.
Banu Hashim is an Arab clan within the Quraysh tribe to which the Islamic prophet Muhammad Ibn Abdullah belonged, named after Muhammad's great-grandfather Hashim ibn Abd Manaf.
Saada, located in the northwest of Yemen, is the capital and largest city of the governorate bearing the same name, as well as the administrative seat of the eponymous district. The city lies in the Serat (Sarawat) mountains at an altitude of approximately 1,800 meters. As of 2004, it was the tenth-largest city in Yemen, with an estimated population of 51,870.
The Hashid is a tribal confederation in Yemen. It is the second or third largest – after Bakil and, depending on sources, Madh'hij – yet generally recognized as the strongest and most influential. According to medieval Yemeni genealogies, Hashid and Bakil were the sons of Jashim bin Jubran bin Nawf Bin Tuba'a bin Zayd bin Amr bin Hamdan. Member tribes of the Hashid Confederation are found primarily in the mountains in the North and Northwest of the country.
Islam came to Yemen around 630 during Muhammad's lifetime and the rule of the Persian governor Badhan. Thereafter, Yemen was ruled as part of Arab-Islamic caliphates, and became a province in the Islamic empire.
The Houthi insurgency, also known as the Houthi rebellion, the Sa'dah Wars, or the Sa'dah conflict, was a military rebellion pitting Zaidi Shia Houthis against the Yemeni military that began in Northern Yemen and has since escalated into a full-scale civil war. The conflict was sparked in 2004 by the government's attempt to arrest Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi, a Zaidi religious leader of the Houthis and a former parliamentarian on whose head the government had placed a $55,000 bounty.
The Imams of Yemen and later also the Kings of Yemen were religiously consecrated leaders belonging to the Zaidiyyah branch of Shia Islam. They established a blend of religious and political rule in parts of Yemen from 897. Their imamate endured under varying circumstances until the republican revolution in 1962, then the formal abolition of the monarchy in 1970. 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.
Banu Hamdan is an ancient, large, and prominent Arab tribe in northern Yemen.
The Houthis, also known as the Houthi movement and officially the Ansar Allah, is a Zaydi Shia Islamist political and military organization that emerged from Yemen in the 1990s. It is predominantly made up of Zaydi Shias, with their namesake leadership being drawn largely from the Houthi tribe. The group has been a central player in Yemen's civil war, drawing widespread international condemnation for its human rights abuses, including targeting civilians and using child soldiers. The movement is designated as a terrorist organization by some countries. The Houthis are backed by Iran, and they are widely considered part of the Iranian-led "Axis of Resistance".
The battle of Saada was a military confrontation that erupted in March 2011 between Houthi rebels and tribal forces loyal to Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh in the northern city of Saada. Following days of heavy clashes, the Houthis managed to capture the entire Saada Governorate including its provincial capital and established an independent administration, thereby marking the first such Yemeni governorate to fall out of central government control since the nationwide uprising began in 2011. Saada later becomes known as the Houthi stronghold since its takeover.
The Imams of Yemen, later also titled the Kings of Yemen, were religiously consecrated leaders (imams) belonging to the Zaidi branch of Shia Islam. They established a blend of religious and temporal-political rule in parts of Yemen from 897. Their imamate endured under varying circumstances until the end of the North Yemen civil war in 1970, following the republican revolution in 1962. Zaidi theology differs from Isma'ilism and Twelver Shi'ism 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" (dawah), and there were not infrequently more than one claimant.
Abūʾl-Ḥusayn Yaḥyā ibn al-Ḥusayn ibn al-Qāsim ibn Ibrāhīm Ṭabāṭabā al-Ḥasanī, better known by his honorific title of al-Hādī ilāʾl-Ḥaqq, was a religious and political leader in the Arabian Peninsula. He was the first Zaydi imam who ruled portions of Yemen from 897 to 911. He is also the ancestor of the Rassid Dynasty which ruled Yemen intermittently until the North Yemen Civil War in 1962.
Al-Mansur al-Qasim al-Iyyani was an imam of the Zaidi state in Yemen who briefly re-established a comprehensive Zaidi realm in the years 999–1002.
Abdul-Malik al-Houthi is a Yemeni politician and religious leader who has been the second and current leader of the Houthi movement, an organization principally made up of Zaydi Shia Muslims, since 2004.
The siege of Dammaj began in October 2011 when the Houthis, a rebel group which controls the Saada Governorate, accused Salafis loyal to the Yemeni government of smuggling weapons into their religious center in the town of Dammaj and demanded they hand over their weapons and military posts in the town. As the Salafis refused, Houthi rebels responded by imposing a siege on Dammaj, closing the main entrances leading to the town. The town was controlled by the Houthis and the fighting was mainly centered at Dar al-Hadith religious school, which was operated by Salafis.
Shia Islam in Yemen is practiced by a substantial minority of the population, with the vast majority of Shia Muslims in Yemen being Zaydi, while a minority are Twelver and Isma'ili. Sunni Muslims make up 65% percent of Yemen, while 35% of the country are Shia Muslims. These Shia Muslims are predominantly concentrated in the northwestern regions of the country, including the capital and major cities that are some of the most densely populated areas of Yemen.
The Union of Popular Forces, sometimes also written as Union of Yemeni Popular Forces or Federation of Popular Forces is a liberal Zaydi Shi'a political party in Yemen. It was founded in 1961 and has been characterized as a small party of Zaydi intellectuals. Like the Islamist Hizb al-Haqq, it has been founded by Sayyids, which are members of the traditional elite of the country's north who claimed descent from the family of Muhammad.
References
- ↑ "The 1968 Siege of Sana: A Houthi Historical Parallel | The Washington Institute". www.washingtoninstitute.org. Retrieved 2025-02-04.
- ↑ "From local guerrilla to global disruption: the rise and evolution of…". Med-Or. Retrieved 2025-02-04.
- ↑ "Profile: Al Houthi Movement". American Enterprise Institute - AEI. Archived from the original on 2024-11-08. Retrieved 2025-02-04.
- ↑ https://abaadstudies.org. "The Future of the Hashemites in Yemen". Abaad Studies & Research Center. Retrieved 2025-02-05.
{{cite web}}: External link in|last= - ↑ "Who are the Houthis, and why are we at war with them?". Brookings. Retrieved 2025-02-04.
- 1 2 3 "Coercing Compliance: The Houthis and the Tribes of Northern Yemen | The Washington Institute". www.washingtoninstitute.org. Retrieved 2025-02-04.
- ↑ https://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/research_reports/RR2500/RR2551/RAND_RR2551.pdf
- ↑ "Yemen's Houthis Used Multiple Identities to Advance". Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Retrieved 2025-02-04.
- ↑ Osberg, Spencer (2020-11-18). "The Houthi Movement from a Local Perspective: A Resurgence of Political Zaidism". Sana'a Center For Strategic Studies. Retrieved 2025-02-04.
- 1 2 "The rise of Yemen's Houthi rebels". BBC News. 2015-02-28. Retrieved 2025-02-04.
- ↑ "Profile: Al Houthi Movement". American Enterprise Institute - AEI. Archived from the original on 2024-11-08. Retrieved 2025-02-04.
- ↑ "UNHCR Web Archive". webarchive.archive.unhcr.org. Retrieved 2025-02-04.
- ↑ "Houthis and Iran: A War Time Alliance". ISPI. Retrieved 2025-02-04.
- ↑ "Yemen's enigmatic Houthi leader is fierce battlefield commander". Reuters. Archived from the original on 2024-11-20. Retrieved 2025-02-04.