Haddah ( ar, حدة ) is an affluent suburb of

Sanaa 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 Governo ...

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 ...

, located about 8 km southwest of central

Sanhan District Sanhan and Bani Bahlul District ( ar, مديرية سنحان وبني بهلول, Sanḥān and Bani Bahlul) is a district of the Sana'a Governorate, Yemen. Its seat is Sanhan. As of 2003, the district had a population of 400,399 inhabitants. Th ...

Sanaa Governorate 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 governorate ...

. It has been described as "the

Beverly Hills Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California. A notable and historic suburb of Greater Los Angeles, it is in a wealthy area immediately southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Bev ...

of Sanaa" — a first-world enclave in a third-world city, with its avenues lined by palatial mansions belonging to the country's rich and powerful. Its buildings mostly tend to emulate the architecture of

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...

and the Gulf states.

History

Since the time of

al-Hadi ila'l-Haqq Yahya Abūʾl-Ḥusayn Yaḥyā ibn al-Ḥusayn ibn al-Qāsim ibn Ibrāhīm al-Ḥasanī (al-Rass/Medina, 859 – Sa'dah, 18 August 911), better known by his honorific title of al-Hādī ilāʾl-Ḥaqq ( ar, الهادي الى الحق, , the Guide ...

, the first

Imam of Yemen The Imams of Yemen, later also titled the Kings of Yemen, were religiously consecrated leaders belonging to the Zaidiyyah branch of Shia Islam. They established a blend of religious and temporal-political rule in parts of Yemen from 897. Their i ...

, Haddah was often used as a base of operations against Sanaa. It was also frequently attacked from Sanaa. An early mention in the '' Ghayat al-amani'' of

Yahya ibn al-Husayn Yahya may refer to: * Yahya (name), a common Arabic male given name * Yahya (Zaragoza), 11th-century ruler of Zaragoza * John the Baptist in Islam, also known as Yaḥyā ibn Zakarīyā See also * Tepe Yahya Tapeh Yahya () is an archaeological ...

records that Haddah was the site of a minor battle in November or December of 901 CE ( Dhu'l-Hijjah, 288 AH). The battle was won by forces loyal to Imam al-Hadi. The following year, al-Hadi sent a force, led by his son Abu'l-Qasim Muhammad and his own brother Abdullah, to Haddah and nearby Sana' (not the same as Sanaa). They were attacked, but they were victorious and their attackers were routed. Historical texts mention that Haddah's trees were cut down as punishment on multiple occasions. One was in 1273 or 1274 CE (672 AH), when 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 were ...

sultan

al-Muzaffar Yusuf I Al-Muzaffar ( ar, المظفر, "the victorious") may refer to: * Mu'nis al-Khadim (845/6–933), a eunuch and the leading Abbasid general of the early 10th century * Abd al-Malik al-Muzaffar (975–1008), prime minister (''hajib'') of the Caliph ...

razed Haddah and Sana' and cut down their trees. Haddah still had many trees through the mid-20th century, and was described in 1962 by Husayn ibn Ali al-Waysi as a favored

picnic A picnic is a meal taken outdoors ( ''al fresco'') as part of an excursion, especially in scenic surroundings, such as a park, lakeside, or other place affording an interesting view, or else in conjunction with a public event such as preceding ...

spot for Sana'nis, but most of the trees were cut down in the 1980s as Haddah was built up into a suburb of Sanaa.

References

{{Reflist Sanaa Populated places in Sanaa Governorate