Al-Rashad Union

The Al-Rashad Union (الاتحاد الرشاد) is the first Salafi political party founded in Yemen. Established in March 2012, it was officially recognized by the National Unity Government on 24 July 2012 under the patronage of the Gulf Cooperation Council and in the framework of the agreement between President Ali Abdullah Saleh and the opposition.

The party aims to express a conservative Islamic voice in the country and seeks the establishment of the Shariah. Al-Rashad is also committed to democracy and to the protection of the Yemeni citizens’ rights.

Currently, Abd al Wahhab al Ḥumayqani is the party’s secretary general, and Muhammad Musa al-Amri is its president.

The descent of a group of Yemeni Salafis in the political arena was officially announced in a three-day conference in March 2012. According to Abd al Wahhab al-Humayqani, then secretary general of the preparatory committee and later secretary-general of the party, al-Rashad would “contribute to the nation's awakening in line with developments being witnessed by Yemen and Arab region in light of the Arab Spring.”

In fact, the revolutionary uprising of March 2011 in Yemen and the brutal repression of the peaceful demonstrations by Saleh’s government triggered significant changes in the country’s political field, and motivated many Salafis to dismiss their traditional quietist and apolitical stance and to embrace a more participatory role.

Al-Rashad’s members decision to enter the political arena was framed in terms of a religious duty in response to the oppressive reaction of Saleh to the popular uprisings. In a press interview, Mohammed Musa al-Amri, al-Rashad’s current president, argued that Saleh no longer qualified as the “Imam of the Muslims” as he had failed to act upon his obligation to “promote virtue and prevent vice,” and had therefore lost the right to be unquestionably obeyed by the people. Al-Homaiqani further stated in an interview that Salafis are not against political action, and took a firm stance against secularism and the abstention from involvement in the country’s politics, involvement which is allegedly regulated by the Shariah.

Nonetheless, the announcement of the party’s foundation raised criticism from a number of Salafi voices in the country. Some moderate Salafis claimed that the movement should refrain from political engagement and remain personal and religious only. Other criticized al-Rashad for its initial availability to work out a compromise with the Houthis despite the traditional Salafi perception of Shi'ites as heretic. More radically, Salafis from the Sa’ada province entirely condemned al-Rashad members’ partisan political affiliation.

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Wikipedia