Yemen

POPULATION 18,078,000
SUNNI MUSLIM 65 percent
ZAYDI SHIA MUSLIM 34 percent
ISMAILI SHIA MUSLIM LESS THAN 1 percent
JEWISH LESS THAN 1 percent
CHRISTIAN LESS THAN 1 percent
HINDU LESS THAN 1 percent

Country Overview

INTRODUCTION

The Republic of Yemen is located in the southwestern corner of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the north, the Red Sea and the Strait of Bab al-Mandab to the west, the Gulf of Aden to the south, and Oman to the east. Islam has been the dominating religion of the area since the seventh century c.e.

The British arrived in the port city of Aden in 1839 and established a protectorate over a large part of the hinterland. By 1873 Yemen had been formally divided into two internationally recognized territories—North Yemen, which had again become part of the Ottoman Empire, and British-controlled South Yemen. After World War I North Yemen gained international recognition as an independent nation-state ruled by the Zaydi imam Yahya Hamid al-Din. Growing demands for reforms (such as a constitutional government) and the fall of the Egyptian and Iraqi monarchies foreshadowed the imamate's decline, however. In 1962 the last imam was ousted in an Egyptian-sponsored coup d'état, and North Yemen was renamed the Yemen Arab Republic (YAR). The new government accused the former ruling elite of sanctioning a hierarchical sociopolitical order and abolished social divisions based on heredity and religious denomination.

Having gained its independence from Britain in 1967, South Yemen became the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen (PDRY), the only Marxist state in the Middle East. Its constitution declared Islam to be the state religion and, as was also done in the YAR, guaranteed non-Muslims freedom of religion. Most members of the religious elite lost their power, and religious endowments (awqaf), which had been previously managed by the mosques, came under the control of the state.

The unification of the PDRY and YAR in 1990 introduced an unprecedented level of press freedom and party pluralism, with parliamentary elections taking place for the first time in 1993. A year later, however, the fragile power-sharing agreement between the leaders of the two former states ended in armed struggle and the defeat of the southerners, who had proclaimed a breakaway state in the former South Yemen. President Ali Abdullah Salih, who had ruled the YAR since 1978, asserted supremacy over the whole country and in 1999 won the first direct presidential elections.

RELIGIOUS TOLERANCE

The constitution of the Republic of Yemen declares that Islam is the religion of the state and that the Shariah, the divinely revealed law of Islam, is the source of all legislation. Therefore religious tolerance, as it exists in the west as a legal principle, does not exist.

Major Religion

ISLAM

DATE OF ORIGIN 632–34 c.e.
NUMBER OF FOLLOWERS More than 17 million

HISTORY

The earliest kingdom in what is now Yemen was that of Saba, whose capital, Marib, was the largest town of ancient South Arabia. Marib, known for its ancient dam and irrigation system, was also an important trading center on the caravan route that carried frankincense from the southern coastal areas of the peninsula to the Mediterranean. The first caravan on this route is mentioned in the Old Testament (1 Kings 10), which refers to the visit of the queen of Saba, or Sheba, to King Solomon of Israel in the tenth century b.c.e.

In the sixth century c.e. Yemen became a province of the Persian Sassanid Empire, and in 628 the last Persian governor converted to Islam. Yemenis accepted Islam during the rule of Muhammad's first successor, the caliph Abu Bakr (573–634). During the early Islamic period the towns of Sanaa and al-Janad became centers of Muslim traditionalist science, exposing the country to ideas from other parts of the Muslim world. The Sanaa school gained fame after the arrival from Basra of the Koran exegete Ma'mar ibn Abd al-Razzaq (died in 770). Following the rise of the local Ziyadid Dynasty in 819, a judge called Abu Qurra Musa ibn Tariq founded a traditionalist school in their capital, Zabid, which became a major center of Sunni learning. Sunni Islam was challenged early by other Islamic groups, however, including the Kharijites, who had opposed the claims of both 'Ali and his rival, Muawiyah, to the caliphate and who captured parts of the Arabian peninsula, including Yemen and Hadramawt, in the late seventh century. Opposition also came from the Mutazilite school, which attempted to establish a rational basis for Islamic belief.

In the tenth century the Sunnis adhered to the doctrines of Abu Hanifa (699–767), Malik ibn Anas (died in 795), and Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn al-Mundir alNaysaburi (died in 922). A Shafiite, Naysaburi developed legal ideas independently from those held by the founder of the school, Muhammad ibn Idris al-Shafii (767–820). Naysaburi was popular in the region between Ibb and the southern coast that later became the base of the Shafiite school. Another scholar, al-Qasim al-Jumahi al-Qurashi (died in 1045 or 1046), was instrumental in promoting Shafiite doctrine in the south. His disciples spread the doctrine in the areas around Sanaa, al-Janad, Lahj, and Aden. In the twelfth century, when the Shafiite school became more firmly established, the leading scholar Yahya al-Imrani (died in 1163) taught in Dhu Ashraq and Dhu al-Sifal. He popularized the school of Abu Ishaq al-Shirazi (died in 1083), a teacher in Basra and the author of the Kitab al-Bayan, a compendium of law that became essential reading for students of the Shafiite school. From the thirteenth century onward Yemeni Shafiites adhered to the Ashari theological school.

The influence of Shiism was minimal in Yemen until the arrival of the Zaydi Shias. Zaydi doctrine focuses on the personal qualities of the imam, who must be a descendant of the Prophet through Ali and Fatima, have excellent knowledge of the Islamic sciences, and be able to use the sword if necessary. In the tenth century Yahya ibn al-Husayn al-Hadi ila l-Haqq, a Zaydi scholar from Medina, became the leader of the first Zaydi imamate (the spiritual and political leadership of an Islamic community) in Yemen. Zaydi doctrine became fully known in Yemen through al-Hadi's writings. He extended his rule from the town of Sada to Najran in the north and, temporarily, to Sanaa in the south. He laid the doctrinal, legal, and military foundations for the imamate, which consolidated itself to a considerable degree by the late twelfth century. Most Zaydi scholars embraced Mutazilite rationalism. Sufism was rejected by the majority of Zaydi imams, not only because of its incompatibility with the Zaydi "rationalist" doctrine and its anti-Shia orientation but also because the imams perceived the Sufi masters and saints as rivals. A Zaydi school of Sufism was founded, however, by a disciple of the Kurdish Sufi Shaykh al-Kurani, 'Ali ibn 'Abdullah ibn Abi 'l-Khayr. From the fourteenth century onward, Sufi orders took hold in Zabid and Taizz.

Another group of Muslims, the Ismaili Shias, were linked to the Fatimid Dynasty of North Africa and Egypt, which brought large areas of Yemen under its control in the ninth century. The Fatimids headed a movement whose followers awaited the appearance of a Mahdi, or messiah, descended from the Prophet through his daughter Fatima and 'Ali in the line of Ismail, son of the imam Jafar al-Sadiq (died in 765). In Yemen the Fatimids found supporters among the Ismaili Sulayhids of Sanaa, whose dynasty controlled much of Yemen from 1038 to 1139. Before they were conquered by the Ayyubids in the twelfth century, Ismaili dynasties had extended their rule to several areas in the south. The Ayyubids and their successors, the Rasulids (1229–1454), strengthened Sunni control of the south.

The Ottomans occupied Yemen from 1539 to 1635, when they were defeated by the forces of the Zaydi imam al-Mansur billah al-Qasim. Thereafter, most of the Sunni areas of the country were governed continuously—except during the second Ottoman occupation (1872–1918)—by Zaydi imams.

In the nineteenth century the Hanbali reform movement of the Wahhabis of Saudi Arabia gained support in western Yemen. Since the late twentieth century this school has attracted followers elsewhere, and it has been represented in a number of religious schools throughout the country.

EARLY AND MODERN LEADERS

There have been noteworthy religious leaders in Yemen in addition to the ones mentioned in previous sections. Until his death in 2000, for example, Ahmad ibn Muhammad Zabarah (born in 1908) served as a mujtahid, someone who is entitled to form an independent judgment in doctrinal matters and who, as a mufti, issues nonbinding opinions (fatawa). During the imamate Zabarah was the tutor of the crown prince al-Badr, the last imam, and head of the Shariah higher appeal board. He took a liberal view of religious matters and conceded that the imamate should not be confined to the Prophet's descendants as stipulated by orthodox Zaydi law.

One of Zabarah's contemporaries, Abd al-Qadir ibn Abdullah Abd al-Qadir (born in 1908), studied at the famous legal academy, the Madrasa alilmiyya, and later was chairman of the Majlis al-niyabi, a legal council that answers questions from the public on behalf of the imam. After the revolution he became chairman of the first National Council (Majlis al-watani) and president of the High Court. In the 1980s he played a leading role in codifying the Shariah.

Younger Zaydi leaders include Muhammad Izzan and al-Murtada al-Mahatwari. Izzan has sought to revitalize Zaydi Islam and to defend it against the Wahhabi movement. Al-Mahatwari runs a Zaydi center in Sanaa called Markaz al-Badr. One of the most influential and outspoken leaders associated with radical trends within Sunni Islam is 'Abd al-Majid al-Zindani, who cofounded the Reform Party (Islah) and who has promoted new religious schools (al-mahid al-ilmiyya) that propagate a form of Sunni Islam that insists on a literal understanding of the Koran and the sunna.

MAJOR THEOLOGIANS AND AUTHORS

Qasim ibn Ibrahim al-Rassi (785 [or 786]–860) is credited with having systematized Zaydi teachings. Among his writings are the Kitab al-radd alal-rawafid min ashab al-ghuluw, which rejects the hereditary imamate central to Imami-Shia teachings, and the Kitab al-dalil al-saghir (The Book of Small Evidence), which stresses that the difference between God and his creation is one of God's fundamental characteristics. Zaydi doctrine became widely known in Yemen through al-Qasim's grandson Yahya ibn al-Husayn (859–911), the ancestor of the vast majority of Yemeni imams. He wrote Kitab al-Ahkam fi al-halalawa-l-haram (The Book of Edicts Concerning What Is Forbidden and Allowed) and al-Muntakhab fil-fiqh (Selected Writings on Jurisprudence), as well as influential works on the unity of God (tawhid) and the fundamental principles of religion (usul al-din).

Ibrahim ibn Muhammad al-Wazir (died in 1436), one of the few influential heterodox scholars, considered the canonical hadith collections (compilation of the sayings and deeds of the Prophet) to be much more authoritative than did his more orthodox Zaydi counterparts, dismissed the practice of following one legal school, and rejected the rational sciences associated with the Mutazila. His main book, Al-Falak al-dawwar, argues that the Zaydis were never opposed to referring to hadith in elaborating their legal rulings.

Muhammad al-Shawkani (1759–1839) is famous for having attempted to create a jurisprudential conjunction between the Shafiite and Zaydi schools. In contradiction to Zaydi doctrine he argued that it was not mandatory for the supreme leader to be capable of practicing ijtihad (a scholar's independent judgment) or to be a descendant of the Prophet. His ideas were favored by those imams of his time who were not mujtahids and whose support of dynastic succession violated Zaydi principles, and they also found approval later among republican leaders. Among al-Shawkani's major works are Al-Badr al-tali bi-mahasin min bad al-qarn al-sabi, an appraisal of scholarly accomplishments since the seventh century, and Nayl al-awtar, which deals with hadith.

Muhammad ibn Muhammad Zabarah (died in 1960), one of the most renowned historians and men of letters of his time, compiled biographical dictionaries of prominent Yemenis (Nuzhat al-Nadhar fi rijal al-qarn alrabi ashar [1979]) and wrote about the Yemeni imams (Aimmat al-Yaman bi-l-qarn al-rabi ashar li-l-hijrah [1956]).

Ismail ibn Ali al-Akwa is the founder and director of the General Organization for Antiquities and Libraries in Sanaa, which is directly attached to the prime minister's office. Al-Akwa has published works on Islamic history and science. Among his writings is a comprehensive study of Yemeni teaching institutions (alMadaris al-islamiyyah fi-l-yaman [1980]) and a five-volume study of the Yemeni hijras (protected enclaves for religious leaders; Hijar al-ilm wa maaqiluh fi-l-yaman [1995]). He has also written about the Yemeni poet Nashwan ibn Said al-Himyari (died in 1117), who was scathing in his treatment of the Zaydi imams and their prerogative to political authority.

HOUSES OF WORSHIP AND HOLY PLACES

By the eleventh century Sanaa was home to more than one hundred mosques. At least four of these still exist—the famous Great Mosque, the mosque at Suq al-Halaqah that is associated with Ali ibn Abi Talib, and two mosques (the Jabbanah and Farwah) that were built before the tenth century. Until the late 1950s most people in Sanaa attended Friday prayers at the Great Mosque or the Hanzal mosque. Other well-known mosques in Sanaa are the Tawus; al-Jala, which was originally a synagogue; al-Madrasah; and al-Filayhi. A famous mosque south of Sanaa is the Masjid al-Sayyida Arwa bint Ahmad in Jibla, which was built during the period of Ismaili supremacy in the eleventh century. There are more than 300 mosques in Tarim in Hadramawt, but many of these are now closed. The Sayyid Abdullah al-Aydarus mosque of Aden dates from the fourteenth century.

Yemeni tribes long ago set aside protected enclaves for religious leaders and their families as an expression of respect for the leader's descent and the revealed knowledge they represented. In southern Yemen these enclaves were called hawta s. At one time the sultans guaranteed the inviolability of the hawtas as well as their exemption from customs duties and other taxes. In northern Yemen such enclaves later served as the prototype for Zaydi hijras, which became the central loci of worship, ritual purification, and ascetic practices. Several imams emerged from the hijras, and sons of learned families often spent several years in one or two of the reputable enclaves, such as Kawkaban or Shaharah, which produced a number of famous scholars and poets. Since the deposition of the last imam, most of the hijras have become moribund.

WHAT IS SACRED?

There are no objects regarded as sacred in a strict sense, but sanctity is attributed to certain places—mosques and hijras, for example—and to women. Yemenis also speak of the sanctity of religious knowledge, religious scholars (ulama), and death.

HOLIDAYS AND FESTIVALS

Like Muslims elsewhere Yemenis celebrate two major religious festivals: the Id al-Fitr, which marks the end of the fasting month of Ramadan, and the Id al-Adha (Feast of the Sacrifices). Both are dedicated to visits to the mosques and family gatherings, during which the meat of the sacrificial animal is consumed. During the Id al-Adha men express their respect for, and reaffirm their enduring responsibility toward, their female relatives, whom they visit and bestow with gifts, usually money, that are referred to as al-asb.

MODE OF DRESS

Historically a number of dress styles were considered "Islamic" in different parts of Yemen. At times men were required to wear clothes that accorded with their occupational status, which served to distinguish those dedicated to religious knowledge from those in the service sector. These regulations were apparently not formal, however—unlike those pertaining to non-Muslims, who were required to wear clothing that distinguished them from Muslims.

Zaydi jurisprudence prohibits women from wearing male dress, or vice versa. Women are required to cover their whole bodies in the presence of all men except their husbands and male relatives who are within the prohibited degrees. Nowadays only some women in the cities and the hijras adhere strictly to this dress code.

DIETARY PRACTICES

Common Muslim dietary practices, such as the avoidance of pork, are observed in Yemen. Zaydi law forbids the consumption of shellfish, and rabbit and coconut are held to be undesirable foods, yet few Zaydis abide by these principles.

RITUALS

Zaydi law and ritual does not differ more from Sunni Islam than the major schools do among themselves. Unlike the Sunnis, Zaydis pray with arms outstretched rather than folded, but it is not uncommon to find Zaydis and Sunnis praying beside one other. The Zaydi call to prayer includes the Shia pronouncement "Rise to perform the best of works," and "Allah akbar" ("God is most great") must be spoken five times at funerals.

By virtue of the strong Mutazilite component in their religion, the Zaydis have always placed less emphasis on ritual than either the Twelver Shias or the Shafiites. For example, Ashura, the day dedicated to the memory of the life of Imam al-Husayn and one that is linked prominently with the defense of the rights of the House of the Prophet, does not have its own ritual, though some people fast on this day. The ritual on the occasion of Ghadir Khumm, which commemorates the Prophet's designation of Ali as his successor, was introduced in Yemen by Imam al-Mutawakkil Ismail ibn al-Qasim in the seventeenth century and was abolished in 1963. Since the late 1980s it has been revived, particularly in the provinces of Sada and al-Jawf. The Prophet's birthday ('id milad al-nabi) is celebrated mainly by women in their homes, while men's ritual activities focus on the birthday of Imam Zayd ibn Ali.

In southern Yemen there are about 20 major shrines that were built for a Sufi known for his miracles as well as for exceptionally pious men of noble descent. Individuals seeking remedy for such misfortunes as infertility visit the tombs of these men, and celebrations of their birthdays last for several days. The festivities center on such towns as Say'un, Qaydun, and Shihr, the site of Salim Umar al-Attas's tomb. Pilgrimages are also made to Ghayl Ba Wazir and to the tomb of Hud (one of the Arab prophets mentioned in the Koran), which is located in the district of Sif, east of Tarim. In the cities women also participate in these rituals.

RITES OF PASSAGE

Rites of passage are carried out in Yemen in accordance with Islamic principles but vary considerably from place to place. Mawlids, recitals of stories of the Prophet's life, are commonly performed at weddings, postpartum rituals, and funerals. Since women's personal status derives mainly from mother-hood, birth is a highly ritualized event. In Sanaa a new mother receives visits from other women for 40 days. When a death occurs, condolences are conveyed to male and female relatives in separate rooms for about 40 days. Celebrations on behalf of children who have finished reading or memorizing the Koran are rarely performed nowadays.

MEMBERSHIP

All Muslim doctrinal schools are eager to increase membership through teaching, which now can reach a wider audience via broadcast media, Internet sites, and the distribution of audiocassettes.

SOCIAL JUSTICE

The issue of social justice has been debated over the centuries in Yemen by scholars of the different Islamic legal schools. For Zaydi Shias the debate has had a specifically political dimension, focusing as it has on the imam's obligation to implement justice in accordance with the principles of the Shariah. A vast body of legal judgments relates to such matters as the principles of equivalence in marriage, a woman's entitlement to divorce, and a woman's right to maintenance in the event of her husband's prolonged absence.

SOCIAL ASPECTS

Heterosexual marriage is considered the basis of society in Yemen. In accordance with the interpretation of Islamic law by the state, the Family Law of 1992 prohibits marriage by minors under the age of 15 and enforces the mandatory registration of marriages. If a man is absent for more than a year and fails to support his wife, she can ask for a divorce, make use of his property, or take a loan in his name. A man wishing to take a second wife is obliged to inform both women of their personal circumstances. Zaydi-Hadawi law prohibits marriage with non-Muslims, but in practice few follow this rule.

POLITICAL IMPACT

Since the 1970s Sunni-affiliated Islamists have become ever more internationalized and politicized. The overthrow of the imamate left a religious vacuum that was filled by followers of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, Islamic Jihad, and the Sudanese Brothers, under the leadership of Hasan al-Turabi. The Islah party, founded in 1990, has incorporated many Islamist groups into the political system. The party runs several charities; its activities on behalf of the poor include the sponsorship of weddings in which several couples are married at the same time. The Ittihad al-Quwa al-shabiyya al-yamaniyya (Union of Yemeni Popular Forces) is led by Ibrahim al-Wazir, a liberal thinker who seeks to establish a democratic system in Yemen based on Islamic values. The Hizb al-Haqq (Party of Truth) is affiliated with old, learned Zaydi families and professes to fight oppression and the Wahhabi movement. Also on Yemen's political spectrum are radical, militant religious groups who operate outside the democratic system.

The Sunni reform movement in Yemen is prominently linked with Abd al-Majid al-Zindani, the founder of al-Iman (Faith) University, a religious college dedicated to Salafi-style teaching. (The Salafis advocate a return to the "uncorrupted" Islam of the Prophet and his Companions and insist on a literal adaptation of religious sources. They stress the inseparability of religion and politics and disavow what they describe as "innovations"—visits to the graves of parents or ancestors, for example—and mysticism, as well as democracy, laicism, and gender equality.) In the 1980s the leader of the Salafi movement, Muqbil al-Wadii (died in 2001), established a Salafi teaching center, the Madrasat Dar alHadith al-Khayriyya, which attracts students from the Arab world, Southeast Asia, the United States, and the United Kingdom. In 2003 the Hizb al-tahrir al-islami fil wilayat al-yaman (Islamic Liberation Party) was founded. It aims to "liberate the Muslims through the removal of oppressive Arab regimes" and to establish a "just caliphate."

CONTROVERSIAL ISSUES

In recent decades changes in family law have caused significant controversy in Yemen. In the late 1970s the Shariah was codified, but it retained many elements of classical jurisprudence (fiqh). Thus, in the YAR's law of 1978, marriage and divorce remained the private affairs of men. The Personal Status Act of 1992 was similar to that issued by the YAR in 1978. It was challenged by jurists of the former PDRY, which had one of the most liberal family laws in the Middle East, who argued that the distribution of rights and duties of spouses remained unequal.

Some Islamist groups dispute women's right to vote and to stand for political office. They also denounce shrine visitations, which have been a contentious issue for centuries. These visitations, which involve prayers at the grave and such other rituals as kissing the grave, were denounced as idolatrous and heretical innovations by nineteenth-century Hadrami reformers, and tombs were even destroyed by the Wahhabis. In South Yemen the socialist party considered the visitations to be incompatible with the party's political dogma, not least because they were perceived to promote the interests of the old nobility. After the 1994 war between southern and northern forces, Muslim militias that had fought alongside northern troops attacked holy shrines in various southern towns, as well as the tomb of the Ismaili leader Idris al-Hasan al-Qirshi in Shibam (Haraz).

CULTURAL IMPACT

The Great Mosque, erected by order of the Prophet Muhammad, was partly built from fragments of pre-Islamic Sabaean and Himyarite buildings. Wooden decorations with a running vine motif are reminiscent of decorations that appear on the bronze soffit of one of the doorways of the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem. Some Zaydi imams ruled that minarets must not be raised above the roofs of mosques, in order to distinguish the mosques from churches, and some were opposed to music and dancing. The white domes of the shrines built all over Hadramawt for holy men are characteristic features of this type of religious architecture.

Other Religions

Jews have resided in Yemen since the second century c.e.—five centuries before the advent of Islam. Eventually they were joined by immigrants from Babylon, Persia, Egypt, Spain, and North Africa. Under Islam the Jews lived as "protected people" who could practice their own religion, though with certain restrictions. Most Jewish men in Yemen were craftsmen and petty traders. Many were literate in Hebrew and took responsibility for the education of their sons in the Torah. Men known as mori, who were learned in religious traditions, tended to matters pertaining to the synagogues and kosher slaughtering. Yemeni Jewish writers stress that their fellow Jews knew and lived by the halakha and credit them with having preserved rabbinical Judaism. Among the most important works written by Yemeni Jews are Nathanael al-Fayumi's Garden of Knowledge, which is well known outside Yemen, and David ben Amran's Big Commentary, an exegesis of Jewish dogma. There is still a synagogue in Sanaa, but it is no longer in use. The majority of the Jews left Yemen in 1949 and 1950. Many of those who stayed behind left in the 1990s—apparently for economic rather than political reasons.

The early history of the Christian community of the southern Arabian Peninsula was marked by hostilities between Christians and Jews. The last king of the Himyarites, Dhu Nuwas, adopted Judaism in 523 and killed large numbers of Christians in Najran. The Christian Abyssinians came to their rescue and brought the Himyarite Dynasty to an end in 525. In 897 a peace treaty was arranged between Jews and Christians. According to legend the ancient church al-Qalis was erected where Jesus had once prayed in Sanaa. Remnants of the church can still be seen. Christian communities continued to flourish in Yemen for several centuries after Islam took hold there. During the period of British rule in South Yemen (1839–1967), the descendants of immigrants maintained a Catholic church in Aden that still exists.

Other minority religious groups were able to maintain houses of worship under socialist rule in Yemen. Most notable among these were the Baniyan, members of the Hindu merchant castes of India, who settled in the ports of southern Arabia during the pre-Islamic era. The Hindu quarter in Aden later caused resentment, however, among the city's Shafiite scholars, who argued that Hindus were not members of any of the three religions of the Book and therefore were undesirable residents. The Zaydi imams, however, treated the Hindus much as they treated Jews and Christians, offering them protection and imposing the poll tax (jizyah) upon them. After World War I there were still a considerable number of Baniyan in Yemen, but their numbers have since dwindled.

Gabriele vom Bruck

See Also Vol. 1: Islam, Shiism, Sunnism

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