Yemen

A somewhat similar anomaly is presented by Yemen (the Yemen Arab Republic, to be distinguished from the modem People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen to the south). In the ninth century, the country came under the control of the Zaydi sect of Shi'ism, whose imams ruled the region from the northern highlands.

Although Yemen came under the technical suzerainty of the Ottomans in 1520, the Zaydi imams were left in effective control of the country between 1630 and the 1840s, when an expedition sent to expel Wahhabis from the region reimposed the authority of Istanbul, leaving the imams with a much restricted sway over their traditional centres in the north. In 1904, a new ruler, Yahya ibn Muhammad, succeeded to the imamate. It was his vision to restore the full vigour of theocratic rule, and in 1906 he demanded that the Ottomans reintroduce the Shari’a law-code in place of the secular systems of Turkish and customary law. The final collapse of Ottoman power in the First World War allowed Yahya to take control in 1919, whereupon he embarked upon a campaign to make the authority of the Shari¹ a absolute throughout the country. He attempted to replace traditional legal experts with religiously-trained jurisprudents, but failed to eradicate customary practice completely. By the 1930s, a compromise was effected whereby the administration of law was divided between judges from both the customary and religious traditions.

Increasing opposition from progressive elements led to Yahya’s assassination in 1948, but his son Ahmad rapidly regained control and continued to impose reactionary policies on the country. As a gesture towards lessening the tensions between the Sunni majority and the ruling Zaydi minority, Ahmad appointed Shafi’is to positions in the administration; but neither this nor his willingness to enter into alliances with other Arab states sufficed to detract the political opposition from the widespread repres­sion encouraged by his rule. Ahmad’s death in 1962 and the succession of his son Muhammad al-Badr (who attempted to introduce reforms in the face of criticism from the religious leadership) failed to prevent the outbreak of a protracted civil war between royalist and republican forces that lasted until 1970. The establishment of a republic has left the way open for the introduc­tion of modern techniques and commodities, but the long-term effects of this change have yet to be assessed.

The modern Yemeni experience is interesting for several reasons. Although the YAR continues to acknowledge the Shari’a as the source of all law and remains an Islamic state, the link between theocratic rule and political, social and economic repression (or just plain obscurantism) has left its mark. With the advent of modern communications, the conserva­tive Zaydi interior of the country, like the strictly Ibadi hinterland of Oman, is being brought increasingly under central control, with little chance of reversion to traditional patterns. Zaydi fundamentalism is ultimately less of a threat to the republic than the Marxism of the PDRY to the south. Whereas Twelver Shi’ism became a revolutionary force in Iran because of its identification with the oppressed masses, Zaydism is still identified with reactionary rule and is only likely to be able to generate a revolutionary appeal by turning to earlier models of Zaydi political action within a context of extreme social dislocation brought about by modernisation.