Al-Mahdi Ibrahim (died June/July 1284) 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 ...

whose imamate lasted from 1272 to 1276.

Proclamation of the imamate

The late 13th century was the high tide of the rule of the

Rasulid Dynasty 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 wer ...

in Yemen. In the northern highland, Zaidi nobles tried to maintain a position as imams, with varying success. In July 1272, Ibrahim bin Ahmad Taj ad-Din bin Badr ad-Din, a nephew of the former imam

al-Mansur al-Hasan Al-Mansur al-Hasan (1199–1271) was an imam of the Zaidi state of Yemen who ruled in 1262–1271. Al-Hasan bin Badr ad-Din came from the same family as imam al-Hadi Yahya (d. 1239). When the former imam Yahya bin Muhammad as-Siraji was blinded b ...

, proclaimed his bid for the imamate as al-Mahdi Ibrahim. His call was heeded by the population in

Hadur Sanaa ( ar, صَنْعَاء '), also spelled San'a or Sana, is a governorate of Yemen. Its capital is Sanaa, which is also the national capital. However, the city of Sanaa is not part of the governorate but instead forms the separate governorat ...

, Banu'r-Ra'i, Banu Shihab, and other places. He entered Banu'r-Ra'i and Banu Shihab with seven followers and then led the Friday prayer among 7,000 people. Warfare soon flared up between the Zaidis and the Rasulid authorities. The able Rasulid commander 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 ...

, Alam ad-Din Sinjar al-Sha'bi, defeated the Zaidis in 1273, and in the following year, al-Mahdi Ibrahim made peace with Sultan al-Muzaffar Yusuf.

Abortive seizure of San'a

However, in August 1275, a corps of rebellious slave soldiers seized San'a, and invited the imam and the Zaidi strongman Sarim ad-Din Da'ud to reside in the city. Al-Mahdi Ibrahim accepted and was led to the Cathedral Mosque of San'a. The Zaidi leaders drew up plans of advancing further to Dhamar. Nevertheless, al-Muzaffar Yusuf reacted quickly and moved against San'a with an army. Sarim ad-Din Da'ud took a position on a summit, but his troops were heavily defeated, and he barely slipped away. The imam was besieged in a fortress. Eventually, he was captured after many of his followers were killed. The Rasulid sultan treated his prisoner with great courtesy and gave him a house to live in

Ta'izz Taiz ( ar, تَعِزّ, Taʿizz) is a city in southwestern Yemen. It is located in the Yemeni Highlands, near the port city of Mocha on the Red Sea, at an elevation of about above sea level. It is the capital of Taiz Governorate. With a populat ...

. He stayed there until his death in 1284. Personally, although generally unsuccessful in his political affairs, al-Mahdi Ibrahim was acclaimed as a brave warrior, famous horseman, and a good poet.El-Khazreji, 1906, pp. 182-8, 210.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mahdi Ibrahim Zaydi imams of Yemen 1284 deaths Year of birth unknown 13th century in Yemen 13th-century Arabs Rassid dynasty

Proclamation of the imamate

Abortive seizure of San'a

See also

References