Ad-Da'i Yusuf (died September 12, 1012) was an

imam Imam (; , '; : , ') is an Islamic leadership position. For Sunni Islam, Sunni Muslims, Imam is most commonly used as the title of a prayer leader of a mosque. In this context, imams may lead Salah, Islamic prayers, serve as community leaders, ...

of the Zaidi state in

Yemen Yemen, officially the Republic of Yemen, is a country in West Asia. Located in South Arabia, southern Arabia, it borders Saudi Arabia to Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, the north, Oman to Oman–Yemen border, the northeast, the south-eastern part ...

who ruled for two highly turbulent terms (977–999, 1002–1012).

Struggles against Yu'firids and Ziyadids

Yusuf bin Yahya was a son of the imam

al-Mansur Yahya Al-Mansur Yahya (died 976) was an imam of the Zaidi state in Yemen, whose tenure as imam is counted from 934 to 976. Yahya bin Ahmad was the fifth son of the imam an-Nasir Ahmad, and the grandson of the founder-imam al-Hadi ila'l-Haqq Yahya. Ev ...

who died in 976. In the following year, Yusuf was proclaimed with the regnal name ad-Da'i Yusuf. His early years were filled with struggles against the Yu'firid Dynasty that ruled much of the Yemeni highland. The important city San'a at this time was subjected to the overlordship of the

Sunni Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any successor and that his closest companion Abu Bakr () rightfully succeeded him as the caliph of the Mu ...

Ziyadid dynasty The Ziyadid dynasty () was a Muslim dynasty that ruled western Yemen from 819 until 1018 from the capital city of Zabid. It was the first dynastic regime to wield power over the Yemeni lowland after the introduction of Islam in about 630. Est ...

which ruled the

Tihamah Tihamah or Tihama ( ') is the Red Sea coastal plain of the Arabian Peninsula from the Gulf of Aqaba to the Bab el Mandeb. Etymology Tihāmat is the Proto-Semitic language's term for 'sea'. Tiamat (or Tehom, in masculine form) was the ancient M ...

from its base in

Zabid Zabid () (also spelled Zabīd, Zabeed and Zebid) is a town with an urban population of around 52,590 people, located on Yemen's western coastal plain. It is one of the oldest towns in Yemen, and has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1993. Ho ...

. Ad-Da'i Yusuf managed to gain recognition as prince in San'a and the surrounding province in 978, reciting the

khutbah ''Khutbah'' (, ''khuṭbah''; , ''khotbeh''; ) serves as the primary formal occasion for public sermon, preaching in the Islamic tradition. Such sermons occur regularly, as prescribed by the teachings of all legal schools. The Islamic traditio ...

in his own name. Nevertheless, the Ziyadid governor Ibn ad-Dahhak soon fought back. The last effective Yu'firid ruler Abdallah managed to win back the city and increase his power by invading the Ziyadid domains and seizing

. After Abdallah's death in 997, Yu'firid rule collapsed.

Contested leadership

For ad-Da'i Yusuf, this was but a brief respite. A rival for the

imamate The term imamate or ''imamah'' (, ''imāmah'') means "leadership" and refers to the office of an ''imam'' or a Muslim theocratic state ruled by an ''imam''. Theology *Imamate in Shia doctrine, the doctrine of the leadership of the Muslim commu ...

, al-Mansur al-Qasim al-Iyyani appeared in 999. With the assistance of the Hamdan tribesmen, ad-Da'i Yusuf was expelled from

Sa'dah 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 o ...

, the traditional seat of the imams. A Zaidi

Sharif Sharīf or Sherif (, 'noble', 'highborn'), also spelled shareef, feminine sharīfa (), plural ashrāf (), shurafāʾ (), or (in the Maghreb) shurfāʾ, is a title used to designate a person descended, or claiming to be descended, from the fami ...

, al-Qasim bin al-Husayn, was dispatched to San'a by the new imam, and the

Zaydiyyah 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 ...

communities submitted to him. After some years, al-Qasim bin al-Husayn changed his allegiance to ad-Da'i Yusuf again. Al-Mansur al-Qasim al-Iyyani retired from power in 1002, and ad-Da'i Yusuf ruled for a second term. However, his time was filled with petty fighting over San'a, where the tribesmen of Hamdan and

Khawlan Khawlan (, ) is an ancient Tribes of Yemen#Himyar, Himyarite Arab tribe that archeologists view as one of the old tribes of Yemen that were contemporary to the kingdoms of Sabaeans, Saba and Minaeans, Ma'in. There are two tribes in Yemen with the ...

played a major role.H.C. Kay, 1892, p. 228. He also had to fight al-Mansur's son who posed as imam under the name al-Mahdi al-Husayn. This uneasy situation persisted until the death of ad-Da'i Yusuf in 1012, after an extremely turbulent reign.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dai Yusuf Zaydi imams of Yemen 1012 deaths Year of birth unknown 10th century in Yemen 11th century in Yemen 10th-century Arab people 11th-century Arab people Rassid dynasty 10th-century Zaydis 11th-century Zaydis

Struggles against Yu'firids and Ziyadids

Contested leadership

See also

References