Al-Mansur Ali I
   HOME

TheInfoList



Click Here for Items Related To - Al-Mansur Ali I
OR:
Al-Mansur Ali I on:   [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Amazon]

Al-Mansur Ali I (1738 – 25 October 1809) 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
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 in 1775–1809. He belonged to the
Qasimid 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 ...
family, descended from the Islamic prophet,
Muhammad Muhammad (8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious and political leader and the founder of Islam. Muhammad in Islam, According to Islam, he was a prophet who was divinely inspired to preach and confirm the tawhid, monotheistic teachings of A ...
, which dominated the Zaidi
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 ...
in 1597–1962.


Early reign

Ali bin Abbas was one of about 20 sons of Imam
al-Mahdi Abbas Al-Mahdi Abbas (1719 – 4 September 1775) was an Imam of Yemen who ruled in 1748–1775. He belonged to the Qasimid family, descended from the Islamic prophet Muhammad, which dominated the Zaidi imamate of Yemen in 1597–1962. Ascension and char ...
(d. 1775). During the reign of his father he was governor of
San'a Sanaa, officially the Sanaa Municipality, is the ''de jure'' capital and largest city of Yemen. The city is the capital of the Sanaa Governorate, but is not part of the governorate, as it forms a separate administrative unit. At an elevation o ...
. He led a number of successful military expeditions against warring tribes. After his father's death he successfully claimed the imamate, taking the name al-Mansur Ali. His first twenty years in power were marked by periodical petty wars with unruly tribesmen. In particular a
Sayyid ''Sayyid'' is an honorific title of Hasanid and Husaynid lineage, recognized as descendants of the Islamic prophet Muhammad through his daughter Fatima and Ali's sons Hasan ibn Ali, Hasan and Husayn ibn Ali, Husayn. The title may also refer ...
called Ibn Ishaq (d. 1805) raised the standard of rebellion and claimed the imamate from 1781 to 1785, assisted by Arhab tribesmen. Al-Mansur Ali I managed to deal with these crises.


The Wahhabi movement

Events in other parts of
Arabia The Arabian Peninsula (, , or , , ) or Arabia, is a peninsula in West Asia, situated north-east of Africa on the Arabian plate. At , comparable in size to India, the Arabian Peninsula is the largest peninsula in the world. Geographically, the ...
led to severe losses for the Zaidi state after 1800. The religious
Wahhabi Wahhabism is an exonym for a Salafi revivalist movement within Sunni Islam named after the 18th-century Hanbali scholar Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab. It was initially established in the central Arabian region of Najd and later spread to other ...
movement expanded rapidly in the
Hijaz Hejaz is a historical region of the Arabian Peninsula that includes the majority of the western region of Saudi Arabia, covering the cities of Mecca, Medina, Jeddah, Tabuk, Yanbu, Taif and Al-Bahah. It is thus known as the "Western Province ...
. The semi-independent ruler of Abu Arish in 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 ...
, Sharif Hamud (d. 1818), was attacked in 1803 by the pro-Wahhabi chief of Upper
Asir Asir, officially the Aseer Province, is a province of Saudi Arabia in southern Arabia. It has an area of , and an estimated population of 2,024,285 (in 2022). Asir is bounded by the Mecca Province to the north and west, al-Bahah Province to the ...
, Abu Nuqta. Defeated in battle, Sharif Hamud submitted to the Wahhabis. As a vassall of the latter, he committed himself to break off relations with al-Mansur Ali I. During the next three years he conquered the Tihamah from the imam, while Abu Nuqta performed raids into the territory still loyal to the Zaidi state. Al-Mansur Ali I prepared an expedition to Tihamah in 1806, but it never got underway; the event indicates the weakness of the Zaidi imamate at this time. Sharif Hamud, however, fell out with the Wahhabi regime in 1808, and in the next year he killed Abu Nuqta in an assault.


The end of the reign

The character of al-Mansur Ali I is debated among the chroniclers. The well-known religious scholar
Muhammad ash-Shawkani Muḥammad ibn Ali ibn Muḥammad ibn Abd Allah, better known as al-Shawkānī () (1759–1834) was a prominent Yemeni Sunni Islamic scholar, jurist, theologian and reformer. Shawkani was one of the most influential proponents of Athari theology ...
, who was his grand
qadi A qadi (; ) is the magistrate or judge of a Sharia court, who also exercises extrajudicial functions such as mediation, guardianship over orphans and minors, and supervision and auditing of public works. History The term '' was in use from ...
, wrote favourably of him, while other texts assert that he left governance to his ministers and kept busy with building activities and womanizing. On the other hand, he was considered brave, generous and hospitable. By the early 19th century his faculties began to fail, and intrigues arose at court while chaos reigned in the land. The wazir Hasan al-Ulufi who kept the real powers in San'a was arrested by the old imam's son Ahmad, who took over the administration in 1808. He managed to appease the dissatisfied tribesmen who had performed raids around San'a. When al-Mansur Ali I died in the next year, his son became ruler in name, as al-Mutawakkil Ahmad.R.B. Serjean & R. Lewcock, ''San'a'; An Arabian Islamic City''. London 1983, p. 87.


See also

*
History of Yemen 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 desc ...
*
Imams of Yemen 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. T ...
*
Wahhabism Wahhabism is an exonym for a Salafi revivalist movement within Sunni Islam named after the 18th-century Hanbali scholar Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab. It was initially established in the central Arabian region of Najd and later spread to oth ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mansur Ali 01 18th-century Yemeni people 19th-century Yemeni clergy Zaydi imams of Yemen 1738 births 1809 deaths 18th-century Arab people