Al-Hadi ila'l-Haqq Yahya
| Al-Hadi ila'l-Haqq Yahya | |
|---|---|
| Imam of Yemen | |
| Reign | 897 – August 19, 911 |
| Successor | Al-Murtada Muhammad |
| Born | 859 Medina, Hejaz |
| Died | August 19, 911 Sa'dah, Yemen |
| Issue |
Al-Murtada Muhammad an-Nasir Ahmad |
| House | Rassids |
| Father | al-Husayn bin al-Qasim ar-Rassi |
Al-Hadi ila’l-Haqq Yahya (859 – August 19, 911) was a religious and political leader on the Arabian Peninsula. He was the first Zaydiyya imam who ruled over portions of Yemen, in 897-911, and is the ancestor of the Rassid Dynasty which held intermittent power in Yemen until 1962. The Hadawiyya school of Islamic law, the only authoritarian one for the Zaydiyya, stems from him.
Yahya bin al-Husayn bin al-Qasim ar-Rassi was born in Medina, being a Sayyid who traced his ancestry from Hasan, son of Ali (and also grandson of Muhammad). His grandfather al-Qasim ar-Rassi (d. 860), who unsuccessfully tried to reach political leadership, owned a property close to Mecca, ar-Rass. This is the origin of the name of the dynasty founded by Yahya, the Rassids. Al-Qasim ar-Rassi was a major organizer of the theology and jurisprudence of the Zaydiyya division of the Shi’ites, which also had a following in Persia. The Zaydiyya hailed from Zaid (d. 740), second son of the fourth Shi'a imam Zayn al-Abidin. Yahya developed a theology based on his grandfather's teachings but gave it a more pronounced Shia profile. His positions were close to the contemporary Mu'tazila school in Iraq which emphasized reason and rational thinking. In 893 Yahya entered Yemen from the Hijaz, trying to build up a Zaydiyya power base in the area. His ambition was to rid the land from bad religious practices and bring the benefits of his own version of Islam. At this time the Tihamah lowland was ruled by the Ziyadid Dynasty (819-1018), originally governors of the Abbasid caliphs. In the interior, San'a was dominated by the indigenous Yu’firid Dynasty since 847.
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