to carve out small agricultural communities. The residue of these ancient Yemeni civilizations remains deep-rooted in the collective conscience of their descendants and is often manifest in the modern-day constructions of Yemeni homes, whether they are mountain village dwellings that hang precariously off the rocky ridges, the urban settlements of regional and provincial cities, or the Manhattan-like multi-storey tower blocks of Shibām in Wādī Ḥaḍramawt. Beyond the unique architecture of the Yemen, which pays homage to past civilizational glory, are the ancient tribal customs (˓urf) that encapsulate moral and ethical codes of mutual coexistence and run parallel to the religious codes of the Islamic sharī˓ah and the modern secular legislation of a burgeoning democratic nation-state. Never too far behind the modern tropes and trappings of contemporary Yemen are the ancient reminders of a civilization with a unique and ancient past.
In the pre-Islamic period the Yemeni people are considered to be the ‘original’ Arabs, al-˓arab al-˓āribah, or what Ismail Raji al-Faruqi translates as ‘the Arabizing Arabs’, in contrast to al-˓arab al-musta˓ribah, or, the ‘Arabized Arabs’.9 Paul Dresch refers to an Islamic Prophetic tradition, which declares the Yemenis to be the original Arabs, is often used to substantiate this genealogical and civilizational claim.10 The topography of the Yemen has largely contributed to the social, cultural and political development of the country and there are three principle geopolitical regions that have had a determining effect on the different socio-political groupings and historical worldviews of the peoples of Yemen.11 The western and northern mountain highlands have always been virtually impervious to invasion or outside domination, rendering it autonomous of any imposed and centralized form of national government. The southern uplands have provided a relatively stable and suitable environment for the establishment of more urban and organized societies conducive to structured forms of government or state building. Tihāmah occupies the precarious location between the mountains and the sea, leaving its people open to historic invasions from both directions. This geographical vulnerability has hindered the establishment of any local rule and Tihāmah has historically been the political battleground of foreign and Yemeni ruling powers.12 Tribal bonds and allegiances have also often stunted the development of any central authority or unifying government. Most Yemenis belong to a tribe, clan or lineage and tribes inhabit defined regions and territories each ruled by a tribal elder, or shaykh. These regions are governed by a combination of their own ˓urf (local tribal customs) and sharī˓ah (Islamic law) according to its specific theological tradition.13 Furthermore, each tribe and region preserves inherited genealogies and distinct historical narratives. Yet despite the apparent hindrance of tribalism, there have been several forms of government in the 5000 yearold history of the Yemen. However, few rulers managed to exercise total rule over all regions of the Yemen and even fewer could claim absolute allegiance to their rule.14
The modern country of Yemen geographically occupies the southwestern tip of the Arabian Peninsula, Jazīrat al-˓Arab, bordered on the west by the Red Sea and to the north and the east by Saudi Arabia and Oman respectively. The land mass covers an area of 74,000 square miles with a coastal mountain range and a central plateau that rises to over 12,000 feet above sea level.15 The land between the mountain highlands and the Red Sea is extremely fertile and is often described as the ‘Garden of Arabia’. It is also the most densely populated region and the place where the capital city, Sana’a, is located. Sana’a is surrounded by many remote highland settlements and mountain villages with isolated rural communities living in harsh and rugged terrain.16 The average settlement size is less than 90 people. The three main geographical regions of the Yemen are Bāb al-Mandab, Tihāmah and Ḥaḍramawt. Bāb al-Mandab is the strait running from the southern tip along the Red Sea to Saudi Arabia. Tihāmah, is a largely barren, desert plain south of the central plateau and, apart from the developing city of Hodeidah and a few traditional trading ports like Zabīd and Bayt al-Faqīh, it is relatively uninhabited. Tihāmah’s expanse leads to the eastern craggy peaks of the central Yemen. Towards the central mountain area lies the city of Ta˓izz and further north other historical and religious centres include, Kawkabān, Ḥajjah, Ṣa˓dah and Shahārah. In the south lie Dhamar, Ibb, Jiblā and Radā’. The eastern escarpment peters away into the great vacuous expanse of Ḥaḍramawt and the Empty Quarter, a vast desert and ancient home to the people of Saba’ and Ma˓īn. Many towns in the far eastern part of the Yemen are reminders of a great civilization long pre-dating Islam – Barāqish, Ma’rib17 and Ẓafar, a region now only inhabited by Bedouins. The current population of the Yemen is estimated to be around 18 million, four times what is was in 1900. With a growth rate of approximately 3.7% annually, it would appear that the population has almost doubled every 20 years.18 The region is home to a civilization with both an ancient biblical past and a turbulent modern history.
Yemenis have traditionally been travellers and, long before the Islamization of the Yemen, early migrations to central Arabia and Mesopotamia are traced through ancient tribal histories and genealogies.19 A Qur’ānic reference to the collapse of the Ma’rib Dam, that had provided essential water irrigation for the ancient Yemenis, is cited as a major catastrophe, which resulted in a massive population displacement through the migration of the ancient inhabitants.20 The tradition of migration continued after the Yemenis accepted Islam and Dresch notes wryly, ‘Yemen, like Scotland or Ireland, has often exported population, and in Islam’s first centuries Yemeni names spread through most of the known world.’21 In the first Islamic citadel of Madīnat al-Nabawiyyah,22 formerly known as Yathrib, the two leading tribes of ˓Aws and Khazraj had originally migrated from the Yemen.23 Both tribes were instrumental in accommodating the migration and asylum of the Prophet Muhammad and his early followers from persecution in Makkah into a city, Madīnah, that soon became the political and cultural centre of Islam. Later, as part of the regional diplomatic missions to the city, a delegation of Byzantine-ruled Christians from the Najrān region of the historical Yemen visited the Prophet. Their discussions lead to a ratification and formalization of a previously-agreed allegiance and tribute, with the Christians retaining their religion and a Muslim emissary, Abū ˓Ubaydah ˓Āmir ibn al-Jarrāḥ, appointed as a judicial authority over their affairs.24 Most of the Yemen came under the fold of Islam within the Prophet’s lifetime and he is reported to have said of them, ‘Here come the people of the Yemen, tender of heart and good intention. Īmān (faith) is Yemeni and ḥikmah (wisdom) is Yemeni.’25 Furthermore, when the Yemeni tribe of Daws converted en masse to Islam with al-Ṭufayl, they also made a mass migration from their homeland to the Prophet’s city.26
1.2 – A postcard of the picturesque Bāb al-Yaman, the entrance to Sana’a al-Qadīmah or ‘old Sana’a’, circa 1970s.
In the Malaysian Archipelago, Yemeni traders and merchants, like the Omanis, contributed to the introduction of Islam in China, Malaysia and Indonesia long before other Muslim settlers from India and Persia. Arabs had long established an ancient sea trade route to China but, as more accurate forms of navigation were developed in the early medieval period by Muslim sailors, trade and travel to the Far East from the Arabian Peninsula intensified. As a result, N. A. Balouch has commented: ‘within the first two centuries of the Hijrah this old sea route developed into an Ocean Highway for international trade and commerce.’27 Yemenis, particularly the Sayyids, the bloodline decendents of the Prophet Muhammad, presented themselves as formidable economic opponents to frustrated Dutch merchants in eighteenth-century Malaysia.28 It would appear that the historical trading links between the Yemen and the Malaysian Archipelago, which pre-dated Islam, were used to extend trade and to proselytize Islam peacefully and mutually rather than by force or conquest.29 South Asia was well known in pre-Islamic Arabia as Hind and the Yemenis had historically traded in spices from the Subcontinent.30 The name ‘Hind’ was a popular female name amongst pagan Arabs and in his eight-volume work titled, Kitāb al-Tabaqāt al-Kabīr, Abū ˓Abdullāh Muhammad ibn