# The Moslem World/Volume 2/Number 1/The Arab Rebellion in the Yemen

THE ARAB REBELLION IN THE YEMEN
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When anyone attempts to speak of the Arab insurrection, it is well for him to premise his statement with a definition of such terms and names as Imam, Idrese, Mahdi, and Mullah. For even well-informed journals and largely -circulated newspapers often confuse the local use of these terms, and in so doing spread false information; e.g., some time ago I read an article in a London newspaper, headed "Fresh trouble with the Mullah", but on reading further on it was evident that it was the Imam who was meant.
Every person knows that the orthodox behevers in Islam look upon the Caliph as Heaven's vice-gerent and the earthly head of the Moslem world, and as the star and crescent, which surmount the domes of great men's tombs and are printed on the flags of every mosque, signify, the Sultan of Turkey not only claims to be the earthty head, but the vast majority of Sunni Moslems readily support him in his claim. In the Yemen, however, it has always been held that since Mohammed was an Arab and Islam was not only born but cradled in Arabia, the vice-gerent of Heaven should also be an Arab and speak the same pure language that the prophet did. That, moreover, he ought to be a lineal descendent of God's apostle and use the title of Imam to substantiate his claim. In accordance with this idea the people of the Yemen threw off the Karamite sultan's yoke in the year A.D. 932, and with Asad bin Yafur, a lineal descendent of Mohammed, who assumed the style and title of Imam, as their leader, became independent and gradually extended their borders till in A.D. 1325, under Abdal Hassan Ali, the then Imam of the Yemen, they seized Aden and the surrounding territory which they kept possession of till A.D. 1454, when a future Imam took it by storm. It was not, however, till the year A.D. ​1538 that this portion of Arabia passed from their hands into those of the Turkish people under Suleiman the Magnificent. In A.D. 1630 the Imam once more got possession of the whole of South Arabia, including Aden and the Hadramaut, and retained possession for a considerable number of years, as in the beginning of the eighteenth century a French traveller tells us that Aden was in the hands of Imam al Mahdi. After that, however, the Imam's territory became more and more circumscribed till at last, in A.D. 1872, the Turks got possession of Sana, the capital of the Yemen, and drove the Imam into exile.
Making Sa'adah his headquarters, Yahyeli Hamed ed-Deen, whose ancestors, as I have shown, were once rulers of the greater part of South Arabia, raised the standard of revolt against the Turks, and because he belonged to the Koraish tribe (of whom Mohammed is reported to have said that the Imam was always to come so long as there were two persons belonging to it in the world, one to rule and the other to serve) thousands flocked to his standard, calling him the real Imam and Amir ul Mumineen. At once he marched on Sana and taking the place by storm, proclaimed himself the Imam and struck coinage bearing this title, and sent messengers to the surrounding tribes warning them to obey his rule. Soon, however, the Turks drafted a large army into the Yemen and re-taking Sana once more, drove the Imam northwards, scattering his followers and forcing him to come to terms. But though subdued, the Imam has never owned the Turkish sway; and as his followers believe that it is their duty to listen to and approve of all the Imam's orders, whether they like them or not, and declare that if in any way they cause dissent to spring up in their midst, they will die like the heathen, and on the day of judgment will appear before God without proof of their faith; he can always bring an army into the field when he sends out word that he intends to do so, and this all the more readily because it is well-known that no Imam will taste the sweets of heaven, nor enjoy the perfumes of its gardens who does not make his people's good the first care of every day. ​Consequently, we have what may be called an annual insurrection in or near Sana.
It was not, however, at the hands of the Imam that the Turks suffered their big defeat in the early part of June of last year. The victor at that time was Mohammed bin Ali Idrese, whose headquarters are within thirty miles of Hodeidah. Something like a dozen years ago the Idrese was one of the most loyal supporters that the Turkish Government had in the Yemen. His grandfather had come over from Africa and settled in a small town called Sabya, about twenty-five miles from Hodeidah, and there before long he acquired the reputation of being a saint, which gave him considerable influence over the people. That influence descended from the father to the son and then to the grandson, who augmented it very considerably by spending several years at Al Azhar University in Cairo. While there he seems to have greedily imbibed the teaching of the famous Koranic School, and consequently on his return to Sabya he began a reform movement for the purpose of reviving the ancient customs of Arabia, and promulgating those laws both civil and religious which Mohammed gave to Arabia. His zeal, too, in propagating his faith led him to remember Africa, and it is said that he has sent back some of his slaves to Africa to tell the story of Islam and win the tribes to the allegiance of God and His prophet. Naturally, those doctrines imbibed at Al Azhar were not acceptable to the more enlightened Turkish Governors who came to rule the Yemen, but a little diplomacy on their part might have smoothed matters over and have won for their empire one who is now its formidable foe.
I was in Hodeidah at the time when the rupture took place between Mohammed Ali Idrese and the Turkish Government. At that time the town was swarming with time-expired men waiting for a steamer to take them back to their homes. News, however, was brought in that the Idrese was marching to attack Hodeidah, and these poor soldiers, despite their protestations that their time for soldiering was over, were quickly armed and sent out to stop his advance. They managed to do this, ​but it was at a terrible cost. Many a poor fellow who went out never returned, In fact, when the roll was called after the battle was over, it was an open secret that a very large proportion of the men had lost their mess number in the fray. Twelve hours after the battle was over, from the British Consulate several of us watched the Sambooks coming in with the wounded and depositing them like bales of goods on the dirty Hodeidan shore, whence they were conveyed in a conservancy cart to the hospital, and one can more readily imagine than describe the state of their wounds when they got the length of the surgeon. Less than a week later, the tribesmen attacked Al Kufl and put its garrison of five hundred Turkish soldiers to death. Now the Idrese has again taken the field and has not only beaten the Turks in open battle, but so out-generalled them that he managed to get the Turkish gun-boats to fire on their own men and kill far more Turkish soldiers than even the Idrese's men did.
The Idrese' s object is to reform Islam, but of the movement itself I would say in the language of Arnold, "Its heart, its heart is stone, and so it cannot thrive." The tribesmen are, to a large extent, influenced by their love of gain and hatred of the Turks rather than by the Senussi-like doctrines of this Al Azhar disciple. Consequently there is lack of cohesion in his force which, unlike that of the Imam, will probably never recover from a really serious defeat.
When one speaks of the "Mullah" out here, one always means the Somali, who was at one time an interpreter on board a British man-of-war and afterwards led his countrymen against the Abyssinian, the British and the Italian troops in Somaliland. He, too, is a reformer, but as the scene of his operations is entirely confined to the Horn of Africa, he has nothing to do with Arabia.
The term "Mahdi" has, however, occasionally been applied to the "Imam"; and as there is a tradition to the effect that the Mahdi, after becoming master of Arabia, is to fill the earth with equity and to reign for seven years over a contented people before God calls him to eat the fruits of paradise, it is natural that this title ​should be given when the Imam has scored a victory; but of late years it is falling into abeyance and will probably never again be seriously applied even to the Imam, although he should once more temporarily gain possession of Sana.
From all accounts, the Turkish Government is trying to open up the Yemen and civilize its people, but up till the present it has been unsuccessful, and as it still keeps those bars on the doors to the Yemen that must ultimately open to the Gospel, it is hindering rather than helping the advance of civilisation.
Aden. J. C. Young.