Al-Hadi Izz al-Din

Al-Hadi Izz ad-Din (1441 - April 18, 1495) was an imam of the Zaidi state in Yemen, who held the imamate in 1474–1495 in rivalry with other claimants.

Izz ad-Din bin al-Hasan bin Ali was a grandson of the counter-imam al-Hadi Ali (d. 1432) and a seventh-generation descendant of imam al-Hadi Yahya (d. 1239).^[1] He proclaimed his da'wa (call for the imamate) in 1474, after the death of the former imam al-Mutawakkil al-Mutahhar. He was considered a forceful leader who revived some of the power of the Zaydiyyah imamate. He was also a man of learning.^[2] Among his works were a text about how to prepare for afterlife, and a treatise on manumission of slaves as compensation for received injuries.^[3] Nevertheless, he had to contend with a number of other rivals for the title: an-Nasir Muhammad (d. 1488), al-Mansur Muhammad (d. 1505) and al-Mu’ayyad Muhammad (d. 1503). At his death, he was buried in Rughafa. He sired eight sons, called an-Nasir al-Hasan, al-Husayn, Ahmad, al-Mahdi, Abdallah, Salah, Abdallah Junior, and Salah Junior.^[4] Of these, an-Nasir al-Hasan then claimed the imamate.

See also

• Imams of Yemen
• Rassids

References

1. The filiation was: al-Hadi Yahya - Ali - Muhammad - Jibril - al-Mu'ayyad - al-Hadi Ali - al-Hasan - al-Hadi Izz ad-Din.
2. Encyclopaedia of Islam, Vol. VII, Leiden 1993, p. 996.
3. Carl Brockelmann, Geschichte der arabischen Litteratur, Vol. I. Leiden 1943, p. 240.
4. Imam Zaid bin Ali Cultural Foundation, http://www.izbacf.org/page_display.php?book_id=37&page_num=52 Archived 2011-07-26 at the Wayback Machine (in Arabic).

Preceded by al-Mutawakkil al-Mutahhar	Zaydi Imam of Yemen 1474–1495	Succeeded by an-Nasir al-Hasan