An-Nasir Abdallah (1811 – April 1840) was an Imam of

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 1837–1840. He was a member of the

Qasimid The Imams of Yemen and later also the Kings of Yemen were religiously consecrated leaders belonging to the Zaidiyyah branch of Shia Islam. They established a blend of religious and political rule in parts of Yemen from 897. Their imamate endure ...

family, descendants of

Muhammad Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the mo ...

, which dominated the Zaidi imamate of Yemen from 1597 to 1962.

Seizure of power

Abdallah bin Muhammad bin al-Qasim bin Abbas was a great-grandson of Imam

al-Mahdi Abbas Al-Mahdi Abbas (1719 – 4 September 1775) was an Imam of Yemen who ruled in 1748–1775. He belonged to the Qasimid family, descended from the Islamic prophet Muhammad, which dominated the Zaidiyyah, Zaidi imamate of Yemen in 1597–1962. Ascensio ...

(d. 1775). He was originally an imam of the prayer at the Qubbat Mahdi Abbas in

San'a Sanaa ( ar, صَنْعَاء, ' , Yemeni Arabic: ; Old South Arabian: 𐩮𐩬𐩲𐩥 ''Ṣnʿw''), also spelled Sana'a or Sana, is the capital and largest city in Yemen and the centre of Sanaa Governorate. The city is not part of the Govern ...

. In February 1837, the unqualified incumbent al-Mansur Ali II was deposed by the soldiery of San'a, since their salary was in arrears. Abdallah successfully made his

da'wa Dawah ( ar, دعوة, lit=invitation, ) is the act of inviting or calling people to embrace Islam. The plural is ''da‘wāt'' (دَعْوات) or ''da‘awāt'' (دَعَوات). Etymology The English term ''Dawah'' derives from the Arabic ...

(call for the imamate) with the help of his partisans among religious students. The deposed imam and his uncle

Sayyid ''Sayyid'' (, ; ar, سيد ; ; meaning 'sir', 'Lord', 'Master'; Arabic plural: ; feminine: ; ) is a surname of people descending from the Islamic prophet Muhammad through his grandsons, Hasan ibn Ali and Husayn ibn Ali, sons of Muhamma ...

Muhammad were kept prisoners by the new ruler, who took the name an-Nasir Abdallah. He took over at a time when the Yemeni lowlands or

Tihamah Tihamah or Tihama ( ar, تِهَامَةُ ') refers to the Red Sea coastal plain of the Arabian Peninsula from the Gulf of Aqaba to the Bab el Mandeb. Etymology Tihāmat is the Proto-Semitic language's term for ' sea'. Tiamat (or Tehom, in m ...

were occupied by

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

ian troops. The viceroy of Egypt,

Muhammad Ali Pasha Muhammad Ali Pasha al-Mas'ud ibn Agha, also known as Muhammad Ali of Egypt and the Sudan ( sq, Mehmet Ali Pasha, ar, محمد علي باشا, ; ota, محمد علی پاشا المسعود بن آغا; ; 4 March 1769 – 2 August 1849), was ...

, sent an envoy to an-Nasir Abdallah and summoned him to surrender

to the

Porte Porte may refer to: *Sublime Porte, the central government of the Ottoman empire *Porte, Piedmont, a municipality in the Piedmont region of Italy *John Cyril Porte, British/Irish aviator *Richie Porte, Australian professional cyclist who competes ...

. This was politely refused.

Religious and legislative policy

An-Nasir Abdallah represented the traditional Zaydiyya interests, as opposed to the Sunni-influenced judiciary previously built up by the scholar

Muhammad ash-Shawkani Muḥammad al-Shawkānī (1759–1834) was a prominent Yemeni Sunni Islamic scholar, jurist, theologian and reformer. Shawkani was one of the most influential proponents of Athari theology and is revered as one of their canonical scholars by Sala ...

. After his accession he strove to deconstruct the legacy of ash-Shawkani. He introduced a strict legislation where the movements of women were restricted, as well as the use of musical instruments. The

Taiyabi Tayyibi Isma'ilism is the only surviving sect of the Musta'li branch of Isma'ilism, the other being the extinct Hafizi branch. Followers of Tayyibi Isma'ilism are found in various Bohra communities: Dawoodi, Sulaymani, and Alavi. The Tayyibi ...

Ismailis living west of Sana'a were oppressed through his policies. Enraged

Ismailis eventually drove the imam's men out of the region of Haraz. In 1840, an-Nasir Abdallah was murdered by his own servants in his country house. According to another version, the assassins were Taiyabi Ismailis from the Hamdan tribe. In his stead,

Muhammad was released from prison and raised to the imamate, under the name

al-Hadi Muhammad Al-Hadi Muhammad (Arabic language, Arabic: الهادي محمد)(died January 10, 1844) was an Imam of Yemen who ruled in 1840–1844. He was a member of the Qasimid family, descendants of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, which dominated the Zaidiyyah ...

.R.L. Playfair, ''A History of Arabia Felix or Yemen''. Bombay 1859, p. 146.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nasir Abdallah 1811 births 1840 deaths Zaydi imams of Yemen 19th-century Arabs

Seizure of power

Religious and legislative policy

See also

References