Abu Hashim al-Hasan

Abu Hashim al-Hasan (died 1040) was an imam of the Zaidi state in Yemen who ruled part of the Yemeni highlands between 1031 and 1040.

Abu Hashim al-Hasan was a fifth-generation descendant of al-Qasim al-Rassi (d. 860), one of the founders of the theological traditions of the Zaydi branch of Shi'a Islam.[1] In 1031, the year after the violent death of the former imam al-Mu’id li-Din Illah, Abu Hashim claimed the imamate.[2] He was able to seize San'a. One of the local grandees, Ibn Abi Hashid, fled, while another one, Nunsur bin Abi'l-Futuh, submitted.

Abu Hashim's authority in San'a lasted until 1037, when he was expelled by the tribesmen of Hamdan. The Hamdanites later invited Ja'far, brother of the old imam al-Mahdi al-Husayn, to rule the city as emir. The following years were filled with contests over San'a, and Abu Hashim was able to regain control over the commercially important city for a brief term. After he had lost the city for good, he withdrew to Sa'dah in the north, which was the old stronghold of the Zaydiyyah.[3] The hard pressed Abu Hashim died in 1040.

A new pretender, Abu'l-Fath an-Nasir ad-Dailami, arrived from Persia, possibly before Abu Hashim's death.[4] Having proclaimed his da'wa (call for the imamate), he proceeded to seize Sa'dah and San'a some years later, in 1046.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ The filiation was: al-Qasim ar-Rassi - al-Husayn - Abdallah - Yahya - Abd ar-Rahman - Abu Hashim al-Hasan.
  2. ^ The beginning of his imamate is sometimes dated in 1027 or 1035.
  3. ^ Cesare Ansaldi, Il Yemen nella storia e nella leggenda. Roma 1933, p. 134.
  4. ^ H.C. Kay, Yaman; Its Early Medieval History. London 1892, p. 229.
Preceded by Zaydi Imam of Yemen
1031-1040
Succeeded by