Muhammad bin Yahya Hamid ad-Din
Encyclopedia
Muhammad bin Yahya Hamid ad-Din (San'a 1839 - Qaflat Idhar 4 June 1904) was an Imam
Imam
An imam is an Islamic leadership position, often the worship leader of a mosque and the Muslim community. Similar to spiritual leaders, the imam is the one who leads Islamic worship services. More often, the community turns to the mosque imam if they have a religious question...

 of Yemen
Yemen
The Republic of Yemen , commonly known as Yemen , is a country located in the Middle East, occupying the southwestern to southern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the north, the Red Sea to the west, and Oman to the east....

 who led the resistance against the Ottoman
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...

 occupation in 1890-1904.

Outbreak of rebellion

Muhammad bin Yahya Hamid ad-Din was a descendant of the founder of the Zaidi
Zaidiyyah
Zaidiyya, or Zaidism is a Shi'a Muslim school of thought named after Zayd ibn ʻAlī, the grandson of Husayn ibn ʻAlī. Followers of the Zaydi Islamic jurisprudence are called Zaydi Shi'a...

 state in Yemen, Imam al-Mansur al-Qasim
Al-Mansur al-Qasim
Al-Mansur al-Qasim , with the cognomen al-Kabir , was an Imam of Yemen, who commenced the struggle to liberate Yemen from the Ottoman occupiers...

 (d. 1620). As a middle-aged scholar, he experienced the Ottoman occupation of highland Yemen in 1872. In 1876, Muhammad and other religious leaders of San'a were arrested by the Turks due to a dispute with the Ottoman authorities. They were brought to Hudaydah where they were kept under surveillance for two years. Muhammad survived the exile and returned to San'a. Meanwhile, Zaidi resistance was kept alive by local groups including the followers of imams al-Mutawakkil al-Muhsin
Al-Mutawakkil al-Muhsin
Al-Mutawakkil al-Muhsin was an Imam who claimed the Zaidi state of Yemen in 1855-1878, in rivalry with several other contenders and with the invading Turks...

 (d. 1878) and al-Hadi Sharaf ad-Din
Al-Hadi Sharaf ad-Din
Al-Hadi Sharaf ad-Din was a claimant for the Zaidi imamate of Yemen in the years 1878-1890, acting in opposition to the Ottoman occupiers of the country...

 (d. 1890). These were unable to threaten Turkish rule in San'a and the coastland, although large parts of the highlands could not be controlled by Ottoman administration.

After the death of al-Hadi Sharaf ad-Din, the Zaidi ulema
Ulema
Ulama , also spelt ulema, refers to the educated class of Muslim legal scholars engaged in the several fields of Islamic studies. They are best known as the arbiters of shari‘a law...

 agreed to choose his brother-in-law Muhammad bin Yahya Hamid ad-Din, for lack of more suitable candidates. On being summoned, Muhammad left San'a for Sa'dah
Sa'dah
Sa`dah is the capital city of Saada Governorate in north-western Yemen. It is located at , at an elevation of about 1,800 meters. Known in antiquity as Karna, its population in 2004 was estimated at 51,870.- External links :*...

 further to the north, where resistance was based. His full title as imam was al-Mansur billah Ahmad ad-Din Muhammad. This occurred in July 1890 (or, in another version, May 1891).
Muhammad had access to the treasury of his predecessor, which facilitated his leadership. He allotted stipends of grain and money to the ulema, and circulated letters among the tribesmen. He was able to stir up most of the northern tribes against the Turkish officials and troops. A number of towns and forts around San'a, such as Hajjah
Hajjah
Hajjah is the capital city of Hajjah Governorate in northwestern Yemen. It is located 127 kilometres northwest of Sana'a, at an elevation of about 1800 metres. As of 2003, the Hajjah City District had a population of 53,887 inhabitants....

, Yarim
Yarim
-Geography:It lies in the heart of the Yemen Highlands, on an upland plateau dominated by the massif of nearby Mount Sumarah, which rises to about 10,000 feet above sea level.-History:...

 and Dhamar
Dhamar, Yemen
Dhamar is a city in southwestern Yemen. It is located at , at an elevation of around 2400 metres.-Overview:Dhamar is situated 100 km to the south of Sana'a, north of Ibb, and west of Al-Beidha, 2700 m above sea level. Its name “Dhamar” goes back to the king of Sheba and Dou-Reddan at 15-35 AD...

, were captured by the imam's followers. In 1892 San'a itself was besieged for a while by rebel troops. The initial successes of Muhammad's followers decreased the prestige of the Turks, already unpopular through extortions and maladministration.

Religious basis of resistance

Although the Turks were able to prevail, they were never able to regain the military initiative. Reinforcements of troops could not stop the expansion of Muhammad bin Yahya Hamid ad-Din's sphere of influence. The hit-and-run tactics of the tribesmen wore out the Ottoman militaries. Sultan Abdul Hamid II
Abdul Hamid II
His Imperial Majesty, The Sultan Abdülhamid II, Emperor of the Ottomans, Caliph of the Faithful was the 34th sultan of the Ottoman Empire...

 sent messages to Muhammad in 1891 and 1896, asking him to submit and accept a stipend and an Ottoman rank. Muhammad flatly declined the offers. He replied that his aim was not political power for its own sake, but rather the implementation of the shariah law, protection of the people from rapacious officials, and the prohibition of wine consumption and prostitution
Prostitution
Prostitution is the act or practice of providing sexual services to another person in return for payment. The person who receives payment for sexual services is called a prostitute and the person who receives such services is known by a multitude of terms, including a "john". Prostitution is one of...

. The Turkish officials were alleged to act against Islamic precepts. In other words, Muhammad was able to frame his resistance in the professed protection of religion, against the secular and Western-influenced Turks.
Imamic resistance continued with new outbreaks of fighting in 1898. In the following year the imam asked the Sultan of Lahej in South Yemen to ask the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 in Aden
Aden
Aden is a seaport city in Yemen, located by the eastern approach to the Red Sea , some 170 kilometres east of Bab-el-Mandeb. Its population is approximately 800,000. Aden's ancient, natural harbour lies in the crater of an extinct volcano which now forms a peninsula, joined to the mainland by a...

 for protection. This did not lead to any results. Although his authority was not uncontested, Muhammad bin Yahya Hamid ad-Din was generally able to revive the glories of the early Qasimid imams. He put an end to customary laws in most of the northern tribal areas, organized stipends for men of religion, and alms for widows, orphans and teachers. He died in 1904, leaving a son who was accepted as his successor as imam. This person, Yahya Muhammad Hamid ed-Din
Yahya Muhammad Hamid ed-Din
Yahya Muhammad Hamidaddin became Imam of the Zaydis in 1904 and Imam of Yemen in 1918. His name in full was Amir al-Mumenin al-Mutawakkil 'Ala Allah Rab ul-Alamin Imam Yahya bin al-Mansur Bi'llah Muhammad Hamidaddin, Imam and Commander of the Faithful.Yahya Muhammad Hamidaddin was born on Friday...

, would eventually drive the Turks out of Yemen in 1918.

See also

  • Imams of Yemen
    Imams of Yemen
    The Imams of Yemen and later the Kings of Yemen were religiously consecrated leaders belonging to the Zaidiyyah branch of Shia Islam. They established a blend of religious and secular rule in parts of Yemen from 897. Their imamate endured under varying circumstances until the republican revolution...

  • History of Yemen
    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 described Yemen as Eudaimon Arabia meaning "fortunate...

  • Decline of the Ottoman Empire
    Decline of the Ottoman Empire
    The Decline of the Ottoman Empire is the period that followed after the Stagnation of the Ottoman Empire in which the empire experienced several economic and political setbacks. Directly affecting the Empire at this time was Russian imperialism...

  • Tanzimat
    Tanzimat
    The Tanzimât , meaning reorganization of the Ottoman Empire, was a period of reformation that began in 1839 and ended with the First Constitutional Era in 1876. The Tanzimât reform era was characterized by various attempts to modernize the Ottoman Empire, to secure its territorial integrity against...


Further reading

  • R.W. Stookey, Yemen; The Politics of the Yemen Arab Republic. Boulder 1983.
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