Al-Islah (Yemen)

The Yemeni Congregation for Reform, frequently called al-Islah (pronounced; Arabic: التجمع اليمني للإصلاح, romanized: at-Tajammu’u al-Yamanī lil-Iṣlāḥ), is a YemeniIslamist movement established in 1990 by Abdullah ibn Husayn al-Ahmar, Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar, Abdul Majeed al-Zindani, with Ali Saleh's blessing. Islah is more of a loose coalition of tribal and religious elements than a political party. Its origins are in the Islamic Front, a Muslim Brotherhood affiliated militia supported by Saudi Arabia to combat the MarxistNational Democratic Front during the Cold War.

The Islamic Front regrouped after the unification of Yemen in 1990 under the banner of the Islah Party with considerable financial backing from Saudi Arabia. It has been identified as a client of Saudi Arabia, and since the civil war in Yemen, Saudi Arabia has forged even closer relations with the group.

The Joint Meeting Parties came into existence in 2003 when Islah and the Socialist Party joined three other smaller parties to establish a joint opposition to the ruling General People's Congress. At the last legislativeelections on 27 April 2003, the party won 22.6% of the popular vote and 46 out of 301 seats.

While Islah was nominally affiliated with Muslim Brotherhood network, in practice, it was ideologically dominated by the pro-Saudi Wahhabi trend. Islah has also denied any formal affiliation with the Muslim Brotherhood.