Al-Mahdi Ahmad (1633 – July 10, 1681) was an
Imam
Imam (; ar, إمام '; plural: ') is an Islamic leadership position. For Sunni Muslims, Imam is most commonly used as the title of a worship leader of a mosque. In this context, imams may lead Islamic worship services, lead prayers, serve ...
of
Yemen
Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the north and Oman to the northeast and ...
, who ruled in 1676–1681. He belonged to the
Qasimid family that was descended from
Muhammad
Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the mon ...
.
Struggle for the imamate
Ahmad was a son of al-Hasan bin al-Qasim (d. 1639), a brother of the former imam
al-Mutawakkil Isma'il
Al-Mutawakkil Isma'il (c. 1610 – 15 August 1676) was an Imam of Yemen who ruled the country from 1644 until 1676. He was a son of Al-Mansur al-Qasim. His rule saw the biggest territorial expansion of the Zaidiyyah imamate in Greater Yemen.
Ear ...
. In the reign of his uncle, in 1658, he led forces that loosely incorporated
Hadramaut
Hadhramaut ( ar, حَضْرَمَوْتُ \ حَضْرَمُوتُ, Ḥaḍramawt / Ḥaḍramūt; Hadramautic: 𐩢𐩳𐩧𐩣𐩩, ''Ḥḍrmt'') is a region in South Arabia, comprising eastern Yemen, parts of western Oman and southern Saud ...
in the Yemeni kingdom. When al-Mutawakkil Isma'il died, the
imamate
{{expand Arabic, date=April 2021
The term imamate or ''imamah'' ( ar, إمامة, ''imāmah'') means "leadership" and refers to the office of an ''imam'' or a state ruled by an ''imam''.
Theology
*Imamate, in Sunni doctrine the caliphate
:* Naqshb ...
was claimed by Ahmad. He had, however, to fight his cousin and rival al-Qasim who controlled
Shaharah
Shaharah ( ar, شهارة ) is a large mountain village and seat of Shaharah District of the 'Amran Governorate, Yemen. The village "lies at 2600 metres and overlooks mountainous bulging swells to the south and shimmering hot plains to the north." ...
, an almost impregnable fortress north of
San'a
Sanaa ( ar, صَنْعَاء, ' , Yemeni Arabic: ; Old South Arabian: 𐩮𐩬𐩲𐩥 ''Ṣnʿw''), also spelled Sana'a or Sana, is the capital and largest city in Yemen and the centre of Sanaa Governorate. The city is not part of the Govern ...
. Ahmad collected forces which besieged Shaharah and forced al-Qasim to accept his claim.
Reign
At his accession, the imam was already a mature man in his upper forties. He upheld the Yemeni suzerainty in Hadramaut, and was reported to be a pious figure. His residence was al-Ghiras north-east of San'a. In 1679 the imam expelled the
Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
population from San'a and the surrounding regions, being forced to settle in
Mawza close to
Mocha, in what was then known as the
Mawza Exile. The Jews were later allowed to move to ''Qa'a al-Yahud'' (the new Jewish Quarter), a suburb situated two kilometers from San'a.
[R. Serjeant & R. Lewcock, ''San'a'; An Arabian Islamic City''. London 1983, p. 82; R.L. Playfair, ''A History of Arabia Felix or Yemen''. Bombay 1859, p. 112; N.A. Stillman, ''The Jews of Arab Lands.'' Philadelphia 1979, p. 322.] At the death of the imam in 1681, his son Muhammad was prevented from assuming the imamate due to counter-claims by relatives in Rada,
Shaharah
Shaharah ( ar, شهارة ) is a large mountain village and seat of Shaharah District of the 'Amran Governorate, Yemen. The village "lies at 2600 metres and overlooks mountainous bulging swells to the south and shimmering hot plains to the north." ...
,
Sa'dah
Saada ( ar, صَعْدَة, translit=Ṣaʿda), a city and ancient capital in the northwest of Yemen, is the capital and largest city of the province of the same name, and the county seat of the county of the same name. The city is located in the ...
and Mansura. Through mediation of the
Ulama
In Islam, the ''ulama'' (; ar, علماء ', singular ', "scholar", literally "the learned ones", also spelled ''ulema''; feminine: ''alimah'' ingularand ''aalimath'' lural are the guardians, transmitters, and interpreters of religious ...
(religious scholars), one of these,
al-Mu'ayyad Muhammad II
Al-Mu'ayyad Muhammad II (1634 – April 27, 1686) was an Imam of Yemen who ruled from 1681 to 1686. He belonged to the Qasimid family which descended from the Islamic prophet Muhammad, and dominated the Zaidi imamate in 1597–1962.
Muhammad was a ...
, took power.
See also
*
History of Yemen
The history of Yemen describes the cultures, events, and peoples of what 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 ...
*
Imams of Yemen
The Imams of Yemen, later also titled the Kings of Yemen, were religiously consecrated leaders belonging to the Zaidiyyah branch of Shia Islam. They established a blend of religious and temporal-political rule in parts of Yemen from 897. Their i ...
*
Jews of Yemen
Yemenite Jews or Yemeni Jews or Teimanim (from ''Yehudei Teman''; ar, اليهود اليمنيون) are those Jews who live, or once lived, in Yemen, and their descendants maintaining their customs. Between June 1949 and September 1950, t ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mahdi Ahmad
Zaydi imams of Yemen
1633 births
1681 deaths
17th-century Arabs
Antisemitism in Yemen