Ad-Da'i Ahmad bin Ali al-Fathi (died 1349) was a claimant to 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 posed as
imam in 1329–1349, in rivalry with other figures.
Ad-Da'i (Missionary) Ahmad bin Ali al-Fathi was a seventh-generation descendant of Imam
Abu'l-Fath an-Nasir ad-Dailami Abu'l-Fath an-Nasir ad-Dailami (died 1053) was an imam of the Zaidi state in Yemen who ruled from c. 1038 to 1053.
Genealogy
# Imam Ali al-Murtada
# Imam Hasan al-Mujtaba
# Zayd
# al-Hasan
# Ali
# Abdullah
# Ahmad
# Abdullah
# Muhammad
# Is ...
(d. 1053). He originated from the village Wakash in the Bani Matar area west of
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 ...
. After the death of Imam
al-Mahdi Muhammad bin al-Mutahhar Al-Mahdi Muhammad bin al-Mutahhar (1275 - October 28, 1328) was an imam of the Zaidi state in Yemen who ruled from 1301 to 1328.
Zaidi victory over the Rasulids
His father was the imam al-Mutawakkil al-Mutahhar bin Yahya who held the imamate in ...
in 1328, several pretenders surfaced. Ahmad bin Ali al-Fathi 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) in 1329, from his base in the Sufian area. He is sometimes known by the title ad-Da'i (the one who practices da'wa). However, he had to contend with three other claimants called
al-Mu'ayyad Yahya (d. 1346),
an-Nasir Ali bin Salah (d. 1329), and
al-Wathiq al-Mutahhar (d. 1379–80). The competition was fierce and many people died. Al-Mu'ayyad Yahya soon triumphed, and stood out as the main political force in the Zaidi territory until his death in 1346. The career of Ahmad bin Ali al-Fathi after c. 1330 is obscure. He died in Rughafa, close to
Sa'dah
Saada ( ar, صَعْدَة, translit=Ṣaʿda), a city and ancient capital in the northwest of Yemen, is the capital and largest city of the province of the same name, and the county seat of the county of the same name. The city is located in the ...
, in 1349.
[Zaidi biographies, in http://www.al-aalam.com/personinfo.asp?pid=2262 (in Arabic).]
See also
*
Imams 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 ...
*
Rassids
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 endured ...
References
{{authority control
Zaydi imams of Yemen
1349 deaths
Year of birth unknown
14th-century Arabs