Al-Hasan bin Wahhas (d. February, 1285) was an imam of the Zaidi state in

Yemen Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, north and ...

who ruled in 1258–1260. The previous imam al-Mahdi Ahmad bin al-Husayn made a number of enemies among the Zaidi elite during his lifetime, which eventually resulted in his violent death in the Battle of Shuwaba in 1258. One of the claimants for the imamate was Abu Muhammad al-Hasan bin Wahhas, who belonged to the Hamzite Sharifs, descendants of imam

al-Muhtasib al-Mujahid Hamzah Al-Muhtasib al-Mujahid Hamzah (died 2 November 1067) was an imam of the Zaidi state in Yemen who ruled from 1060 to 1067. Hamzah was the son of the imam Abu Hashim al-Hasan, and assisted his father when he proclaimed his da'wa (call for the imam ...

(d. 1066). He was acknowledged as imam by part of the Zaidis. Personally, he was described as dashing in warfare and an excellent horseman. Another claimant was Shams ad-Din Ahmad who formally submitted to the suzerainty of the

Rasulid The Rasulids ( ar, بنو رسول, Banū Rasūl) were a Sunni Muslim dynasty who ruled Yemen from 1229 to 1454. History Origin of the Rasulids The Rasulids took their name from al-Amin's nickname "Rasul". The Zaidi Shi'i Imams of Yemen we ...

sultan, the main power in Yemen at this time. The two would-be imams shared the properties and fortresses of the Zaidi lands between them. In the same year, Shams ad-Din and two of his brothers succumbed to an

epidemic An epidemic (from Greek ἐπί ''epi'' "upon or above" and δῆμος ''demos'' "people") is the rapid spread of disease to a large number of patients among a given population within an area in a short period of time. Epidemics of infectious ...

, leaving al-Hasan bin Wahhas as the holder of the imamate. However, he soon fell out with Shams ad-Din's brother Sarim ad-Din Da'ud (d. 1290). Sarim ad-Din colluded with the Rasulid prince Asad ad-Din Muhammad and met al-Hasan bin Wahhas in battle at Asafir in 1260. While the imam's forces fled, al-Hasan remained fighting on the battlefield until taken prisoner. Sarim ad-Din kept the imam imprisoned until 1269. Much later, in 1284, Sarim ad-Din tried unsuccessfully to enlist the support of al-Hasan to fight the Rasulids. The ex-imam died shortly afterwards, in February 1285.El-Khazreji, 1907, p. 208.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hasan Zaydi imams of Yemen 1285 deaths Year of birth unknown 13th century in Yemen 13th-century Arabs

See also

References