Ad-Da'i Yusuf
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Yusuf bin Yahya was a son of the imam al-Mansur Yahya who died in 976. In the following year, Yusuf was proclaimed with the regnal name ad-Da'i Yusuf. His early years were filled with struggles against the Yu'firid Dynasty that ruled much of the Yemeni highland.[1] The important city San'a at this time was subjected to the overlordship of the Sunni Ziyadid dynasty which ruled the Tihamah from its base in Zabid. Ad-Da'i Yusuf managed to gain recognition as prince in San'a and the surrounding province in 978, reciting the khutbah in his own name. Nevertheless, the Ziyadid governor Ibn ad-Dahhak soon fought back.[2] The last effective Yu'firid ruler Abdallah managed to win back the city and increase his power by invading the Ziyadid domains and seizing Zabid. After Abdallah's death in 997, Yu'firid rule collapsed.