Al-Mahdi Ali

The Yemeni imamate in the highlands was often contested by rival claimants in this era. Ali bin Muhammad al-Hosni was born in the village al-Ahani in the Sa'dah area in northern Yemen.^[1] He was not closely related to the recent imams, but an 11th-generation descendant of the imam ad-Da'i Yusuf.^[2] As a young man, Ali received a good deal of instruction in the religious sciences. In 1346, the learned and powerful Imam al-Mu'ayyad Yahya died, and no politically strong figure emerged in his stead. Under these circumstances, Ali rose to power from his base in the mountain fortress Thula in 1349. In the presence of a numerous congregation of Zaidi scholars, he adopted the title al-Mahdi Ali and took possession of Sa'dah and Dhamar. At this time, San'a was dominated by two Zaidi emirs and brothers called Ibrahim bin Abdallah and Da'ud bin Abdallah. Al-Mahdi Ali laid siege to the city. However, the brothers held firm and after six months he had to lift the siege and return to Thula.^[3]