Arwa al-Sulayhi
Upon the death of the twentieth Imam, al-Amir bi-Ahkam Allah (d. ), his two-year-old child at-Tayyib Abu'l-Qasim (b. ) was appointed the twenty-first Imam. As he was not in a position to run the Dawah, Queen Arwa al-Sulayhi, the Da'i al-Mutlaq, acted as his regent. The Da'i had now been given absolute authority and made independent from political activity.