Contesting the Zaydi Political Tradition in Early Modern Yemen: an Edition of Imam Yaḥyā Sharaf al-Dīn’s Will of 18 Ramadan 933/27 June 1527

Abstract

A unique manuscript housed in the Imam Zayd b. ʿAlī Cultural Foundation preserves the earliest known copy of a will (waṣiyya) of Imam al-Mutawakkil Yaḥyā Sharaf al-Dīn (d. 965/1557), the Zaydi imam, who ruled Yemen on the eve of the Ottoman conquest of South Arabia. The will provides unique insight into the practice of Zaydi governance and the attempts by Zaydi elites to circumvent the constraints of Zaydi political theory, particularly its rejection of dynastic succession. The article presents an analytical introduction to the document and provides an edition of the Arabic text.