Yemen: Difference between revisions
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===Major Cities=== | ===Major Cities=== | ||
Yemen has historical and important cities, the most important ones of which are: | Yemen has historical and important cities, the most important ones of which are: | ||
• Sana'a: It is the center of a province with the same name. It is among the oldest capital cities of the world. This city is the political and economic capital of the Republic of Yemen. This city has been known with this name since the time of Jesus (a). | • Sana'a: It is the center of a province with the same name. It is among the oldest capital cities of the world. This city is the political and economic capital of the Republic of Yemen. This city has been known with this name since the time of Jesus (a). | ||
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• Catholic: Apostolic Vicariate of Southern Arabia is an apostolic vicariate for the region including Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen and it is estimated that it has 600 thousand Catholics. | • Catholic: Apostolic Vicariate of Southern Arabia is an apostolic vicariate for the region including Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen and it is estimated that it has 600 thousand Catholics. | ||
• Anglican: Under the Episcopal Church in Jerusalem al-Quds and the Middle East, Yemen is part of the Anglican Diocese of Cyprus and the Persian Gulf. This community is in Aden and Sana'a and its followers are foreign immigrants. The Bishop in Cyprus and the Gulf resides in Cyprus while the parish priest and chaplan of St Thomas Al Ain resides in the United Arab Emirates. | • Anglican: Under the Episcopal Church in Jerusalem al-Quds and the Middle East, Yemen is part of the Anglican Diocese of Cyprus and the Persian Gulf. This community is in Aden and Sana'a and its followers are foreign immigrants. The Bishop in Cyprus and the Gulf resides in Cyprus while the parish priest and chaplan of St Thomas Al Ain resides in the United Arab Emirates. | ||
===Hinduism === | ===Hinduism === | ||
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|He was disposed of power after a coup and it ends the government of Zaidis in Yemen. He fought the government of Yemen for eight years, but he failed and finally, he died near London. | |He was disposed of power after a coup and it ends the government of Zaidis in Yemen. He fought the government of Yemen for eight years, but he failed and finally, he died near London. | ||
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==Shia in the Contemporary Time== | |||
===Twelver Shia=== | |||
Although in the past, Twelver Shia existed in Yemen in a limited way, but after the Islamic revolution of Iran and its influences on other Islamic countries, gradually Twelver Shia was expanded in Yemen; and Isma'ili and Zaidi scholars and students got more familiar with Twelver Shia and were attracted to them. | |||
However, the presence of al-'Allama Badr al-Din al-Houthi, among great Zaidi scholars of Sa'dah in Iran during civil wars of 1990s in Yemen, had an undeniable effect on the inclination towards Twelver Shia among Yemeni youths. Twelver Shia has good relationship with Zaidi Shia and the Shia unity organization of peninsula in Yemen organizes Zaidi and Twelver Shia activities. | |||
Their activities are supervised by an organization called Rabita al-Shia Jafariyya fi l-Yaman. The population of Twelver Shia of Yemen is estimated as 2 to 8 percent of the whole population of Yemen. | |||
Scholars Some of the major Twelver Shi'a scholars in Yemen are as follows: | |||
• Al-Shaykh Ahmad 'Abd Allah al-Za'idi; the founder of al-Rabita al-Shia al-Jafariyya fi l-Yaman. | |||
• Al-Shaykh Ahmad Ali al-Marqab | |||
• Al-Shaykh 'Ali Ahmad al-Akwa' | |||
• Al-Shaykh 'Abd al-Wali Yahya al-'Akimi | |||
• 'Abd Allah 'Ali al-Jibli | |||
• 'Arif Muhammad Anis | |||
• Muhammad 'Abd al-Rahman al-Saqqaf | |||
• Al-Shaykh Muhammad Ahmad al-Radmani | |||
The people named above are the members of the board of trustees of al-Rabita al-Shia al-Jafariyya fi l-Yaman. | |||
• 'Ali b. Ali al-Fari'; He was the head of al-Rabita al-Shia al-Jafariyya, who was martyred by al-Qa'ida in 2013. | |||
• Mabkhut Hadi al-Karshan; He was the head of al-Rabita al-Shia al-Jafariyya in Jawf region. Some unofficial sources have claimed that the government of Yemen has arrested him in the airport of Yemen in 2010. | |||
• Yahya Talib al-Sharif; He is originally from Jawf of Yemen living in Qom, Iran. He was arrested by the government of Yemen in 2010. His position towards Husayn al-Houthi was followed by some objections by the Union of Yemeni Students living in Qom. | |||
Organizations | |||
• Rabita al-Shia al-Jafariyya fi l-Yaman: This is the most important Twelver Shia community in Yemen which was established by al-Shaykh Ahmad 'Abd Allah al-Za'idi, but he did not accept its leadership and left it to Muhammad Nasir Qa'id al-Bakhiti. However, in 2006 this community introduced a board of trustees for itself comprised of nine members. This community was formed to defend the rights of Twelver Shia and is still active. | |||
• Majma' al-Islami al-Yamani al-Shi'i: This center was established in Taiz province by some Yemeni converts in 2012 and has mostly focused on cultural activities. | |||
• Mu'assisa Dar al-Zahra (s) li-l-A'lam al-Thaqafi | |||
• Schools of al-Ja'fariyya in 'Adan | |||
• Dar Ihbab Ahl al-Bayt (a) in Taiz | |||
• Naba' Charity Institute | |||
• The Community of 'Abd Allah al-Radi': This center has been established to celebrate the position of 'Ali al-Asghar (a). | |||
===Zaidis=== | |||
Regarding the long history of Zaidi government in Yemen, many of Yemeni Shia are Zaidis who make 35% of the population of Yemen. Provinces of Sa'dah, Taiz, Al Jawf, Sana'a, and then, Ibb, Dhamar, 'Amran, Marib, Hajjah, Al Mahwit and Al Hudaydah are centers of Zaidi population. The two large tribes of Yemen called Hashid and Bakil are Zaidi. Hashid and Bakil tribes have had important roles in political changes of Yemen in the years after the establishment of the republic in Yemen. | |||
Scholars | |||
Al-Skaykh Hamud 'Abbas al-Mu'ayyid a famous Zaidi scholar | |||
• Al-Sayyid Hamud Abbas al-Mu'ayyid (b. 1336/1917-18): He is now the Zaidi religious authority and the imam of al-Nahrayn grand mosque. | |||
• Al-Sayyid Muhammad b. Muhammad b. al-Mansur (b. 1333/1915): He has had several positions in the government. | |||
• Al-Sayyid 'Ali b. Ahmad al-Shihari | |||
• Al-Sayyid 'Abd Allah b. Yahya al-Daylami | |||
• Muhammad b. 'Abd Allah al-Hidar | |||
• Abbas Ahmad Muhammad al-Khatib | |||
• 'Abd al-Rahman Husayn al-Shayim | |||
• Majd al-Din al-Mu'ayyidi | |||
Al-Shaykh Badr al-Din al-Houthi | |||
• Badr al-Din al-Houthi: He was among great scholars of Sa'dah. His separation from other Zaidi scholars happened when a group of Zaidi scholars of Yemen and most importantly Majd al-Din al-Mu'ayyidi issued a fatwa that imamate does not require having a Hashemite lineage and even though this has been a requirement, but it has been because of historical condition and it is no more a requirement and people can choose anyone who is competent for government even though not being from descendants of Imam al-Hasan (a) and Imam Al-Husayn (a). Badr al-Din al-Houthi seriously opposed this fatwa and defended Twelver Shia openly so much that he wrote a book titled al-Zaidiyya fi l-Yemen, in which he explained similarities between Zaidis and Twelver Shia. In 1990s, he came to Iran and lived in Tehran for a few years and then returned to Yemen and took the leadership of the Houthi movement after his son Husayn al-Houthi was martyred. He passed away in 2010. Even though he was Zaidi, he had an influential role in promoting Twelver Shia in Yemen and especially in Sa'dah. | |||
Zaidi Organizations | |||
• Badr Scientific and Cultural Institute | |||
• Al-Risaliyya Institute | |||
• Mu'assisat al-Imam Zaid b. Ali al-Thaqafiyya | |||
• Rabita 'Ulama al-Yaman | |||
• Mu'assisat al-Bayyinat al-Ijtima'iyya al-Thaqafiyya | |||
• Hizb al-Haqq | |||
• Ittihad al-Qawiyy al-Sha'biyya | |||
• Tanzim al-Shabab al-Mu'min | |||
• Tanzim al-Khiyar al-Thawri | |||
• Hizb al-'Idala wa l-Hurriyya | |||
• Multaqi l-Tasawwuf al-Islami | |||
===Isma'ilites=== | |||
Main article: Isma'ilites | |||
One of the branches of Isma'ilites is Musta'liya Tayyibi which was divided after the death of its 26th da'i, Dawud b. 'Ajabshah in 999/1590-91. The reason of its division was that after his death, a person called Dawud b. Burhan al-Din took his place and this was reported to Yemen. On the other hand, another person called Sulayman b. al-Hasan claimed that Dawud b. 'Ajabshah had declared him as the absolute da'i after himself. Since then, each of these da'is had followers, most of whom are living in India and Pakistan and some of them are living in Yemen. Today, followers of Dawud b. Burhan al-Din are called Dawudiyya or Buhra and the followers of Sulayman b. Hasan are called Sulaymaniyya or Makarima. | |||
Makarima are living in the east of Haraz and their religious center is in Najran. Their leader is now al-Shaykh Abd Allah b. Muhammad al-Makrimi who lives in Saudi Arabia. Previously, al-Shaykh Husayn Isma'il al-Makrimi was their leader who was in the prisons of Saudi Arabia and Yemen for a long time and died in 1426/2005. | |||
Buhras live in Sana'a, Aden, Al Hudayda and some southern provinces. | |||
Ismailites have special mosques and educational centers in some of the cities in Yemen, such as al-Da'wa school in Manakha, Bayt al-Da'wa school in Haraz and al-Buhariyya school in Sana'a. | |||
The chief of Buhra who is known as the absolute Da'i is now Sultan al-Mufaddal Sayf al-Din who lives in India. Before him, Sultan Muhammad Burhan al-Din was the head of this sect who died in 1435/2013-14. His representative in Yemen is Salman Rashid. | |||
The population of Buhras is about 12,000 people. Among the important places of Ismailites in Yemen is the shrine of Hatam al-Hadarat in Haraz and every year, many of the followers of this sect travel to visit it from different parts of the world. | |||
The main center of Buhras is in Sana'a and it is known as Maqar al-Fayd al-Hatami. | |||
===Problems and Challenges of Shia=== | |||
• Lack of life and property security against Salafis and Wahhabis is the major problem of Shia in Yemen. This problem has been developed due to the fact that Yemen has a long border with Saudi Arabia and this makes Saudi Arabia fearful of the presence of Shia behind its borders and tries to suppress Shia in any ways possible. During the war between Shia Houthis and the central government, military forces of Saudi Arabia helped Yemeni governmental forces and even Malik Abd al-'Aziz came to war-fronts of the battle. Moreover, Wahhabi terror squads has so far assassinated many great Shia scholars including the head of Rabita al-Shi'a al-Ja'fariyya in Yemen and have threatened others such as al-'Allama 'Adnan al-Junayd to be assassinated. | |||
• Widely arrest of Shia by the government | |||
• Issuing execution and exile sentences for Shia because of their protest against policies of the government | |||
• Demolition of Shia regions; some part of this demolition has been performed by hired Jordanian forces. | |||
• Ignoring Shia regions by the central government and keeping them poor | |||
==New Yemen== | |||
Until 1962, Yemen was ruled by Zaidis and it had an integrated structure, but in that year, military officers of Yemen made a coup against Imam Muhammad al-Badr and made the Republic of Yemen. This led to civil wars in Yemen in which one side was the republicans and the other side was the royalists. These struggles finally led to division of the Northern Yemen from Southern Yemen and the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen was formed in November 30, 1967 in the Southern Yemen. This division lasted until the dialogues for unity of the two Yemen were made in the 1980s and as the result, the Republic of Yemen was made of the unity of the Arabic Republic of Yemen (Northern Yemen) and the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen (Southern Yemen) in May 22, 1990. | |||
The president of the unified Yemen was Ali Abdullah Saleh since 1978. His government was very long and was finally overthrown during the Islamic awakening. | |||
After removal of Ali Abd Allah Salih, the government of Yemen tried to satisfy people of Yemen, but it did not happen and the people of Yemen protested again. These protests which were backed by Houthis of Yemen reached their climax in the summer of 2014. People had three requests: dismissal of the corrupted government, cancellation of the order of freeing fuel and implementation the outcomes of National Dialogue Conference. Finally, Houthis could draw the government to dialogue after taking important parts of Sana'a, the capital of Yemen. | |||
The final agreement for solving the recent crisis in Yemen between the president and leader of Ansar Allah was made on September 20, 2014 under supervision of Jamal Binomar, the United Nations Special Adviser. According to this agreement, government of Basindawa was dismissed and by taking the political power by Ansar Allah, a new government was established the prime minister of which was Khalid Bahah. However, events went on so that Khalid Bahah resigned and Mansur Hadi went to Sana'a from Aden which was followed by reaction of Houthis and finally Mansur Hadi escaped to Saudi Arabia and they attacked Yemen in the morning of March 25, 2015 under the pretext of supporting the resigned president of Yemen. | |||
===Saudi Arabia's Attack=== | |||
Main article: Saudi Arabia's Attack to Yemen | |||
Following the resignation of the president of Yemen in 2015 and escaping to Saudi Arabia, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and nine other countries launched airstrike in Yemen in support of him. | |||
==Notes== | |||