VARIETIES OF ISLAMISM IN YEMEN: THE LOGIC

OF INTEGRATION UNDER PRESSURE

Laurent Bonnefoy

To cite this version:

Laurent Bonnefoy. VARIETIES OF ISLAMISM IN YEMEN: THE LOGIC OF INTEGRATION
UNDER PRESSURE. Middle East Review of International Affairs, 2009, 13 (1), pp.11. �halshs-
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 VARIETIES OF ISLAMISM IN YEMEN: THE LOGIC OF INTEGRATION UNDER
PRESSURE1
Laurent Bonnefoy*

One of the most remarkable features of the contemporary Yemeni political formula has been its
capacity to deal with the various Islamist ideal-types through integration and cooptation rather than
repression. Muslim Brothers, Salafists, violent “jihadi” fringes, Sufis, and Zaydi revivalists have all
at some point collaborated with the state to a certain extent. Since the 1970s, such an equilibrium
has proved rather functional, as it has reduced the level of political violence, allowed the
participation of most, and maintained government stability. Yet due to internal developments and
external pressures after September 11, this system has increasingly been placed in jeopardy with still
unknown consequences.

In the spring of 2005 in a remote corner of former South Yemen, the driver of an old Toyota Land
Cruiser displayed two seemingly opposite pictures on his windshield. The first showed Ali Abdallah
Salih, the president of Yemen since July 1978 and a new ally of the United States in the “War on
Terror,” while the second depicted Usama bin Ladin, the world-famous embodiment of transnational
terrorism. This reveals much about Yemeni society and its political system; nevertheless it can be
framed and interpreted in different ways.
First, the relative tolerance of local authorities (who were necessarily aware of the truck driving
through the villages) toward such a display of double allegiance can be seen as yet another symbol of
the infiltration of the government by violent Islamist groups and of tolerance toward so-called
“jihadi” movements.
In Yemen, these groups have been given much attention since the investigation into the bombing
of the USS Cole in October 2000 by a cell linked to al-Qa’ida in Aden. In this framework, Yemeni
authorities are frequently accused of paying only minimum lip-service to the American anti-terrorist
agenda, while many inside the government directly support violence or turn a blind eye toward those
who grant active support to militants.2
The Land Cruiser anecdote (while not necessarily common) could consequently be understood as
an illustration of the ambivalent relationship between the state and the Islamists. It may also
symbolize a manifestation of state and government plurality. The integration of various Islamist
groups into the state apparatus should actually be considered a stabilizing factor. It is a means of
minimizing violence through social and political integration rather than encouraging it through
stigmatization and repression.
Since the beginnings of Islam, religion has been closely associated with political power in the
Yemeni highlands and coastal areas. After having ruled for over a millennium, it was only in 1962
that the fall of the Zaydi imam’s monarchy gave way to a more direct separation between politics
and religion in the country. This occurred through the establishment of the republican regime, once
inspired by Gamal Abdel Nasser’s model in Egypt. The modernization of the state and society in
North Yemen and in Marxist South Yemen (a former British colony that became independent in
1967 and remained the only socialist Arab state until its fall in 1990) did not really undermine the
influence of the religious political actors. The same can be said of the May 1990 unification of North
and South Yemen.
Historically, Yemeni society has been divided along two main religious identities. Zaydis are
constituents of a Shi’a sect often described as moderate in its jurisprudence, distinct from the
Twelver Shi’as found in Iran, and close to Sunnism in many aspects.3 Shafi’is are Sunni. Yet
throughout the twentieth century, the divide eroded considerably, and consequently it does not
appear to be as important as in the past, when Zaydi imams ruled North Yemen. No accurate and
reliable statistics exist, but Shafi’is are usually considered to be the significant majority among a
population of 24 million in Yemen, while Zaydis represent around 35 percent of the population, with
their bastions in the North.
Owing to recent changes--particularly internal and external migrations, individualization and
marketization of religious identities, as well as the improvement of education levels--most Yemenis
now consider the divide as merely symbolic. Recent difficulties due to a brutal conflict in the North
of the country opposing the army and an armed Zaydi revivalist group called the Believing Youth do
not seem to have had a significant effect on the structure of the convergence of religious identities.
Indeed, despite episodes of violent stigmatization orchestrated by certain radical groups, the vast
majority of the population is at times indirectly (and most of the time passively) involved in the
convergence. For instance, the president is himself of Zaydi origin but never refers to his primary
identity. At the grassroots level, many Sunnis do not mind praying in Zaydi mosques and vice versa.
Consequently, the religious divide only marginally structures political affiliations and adherence to
specific Islamist groups.4

YEMENI ISLAMIST IDEAL-TYPES

In the Yemeni context, the plurality of Islamism is expressed through five distinct Islamist ideal-
types: the Muslim Brothers, violent “jihadi” fringes, Salafists, Sufis, and Zaydi revivalists. All five
are rooted in the country’s complex, rich, and ancient history, but are also products of contemporary
international and transnational dynamics. Groups may also overlap and situations change quickly due
to shifting alliances. Nevertheless, each of these groups is structured in a specific way and
distinguishes itself from the others through a number of key issues: participation in party politics,
loyalty to the ruler, significant episodes of confrontation with the state, and overt stigmatization of
other religious and political identities.

Direct and
Significant Participation
overt Automatic
Main leaders episodes of in inter-
participation loyalty to the
or violent religious
in party republican
organizations confrontation violence and
politics and ruler
with the state stigmatization
democracy
Muslim
Brotherhoo Al-Islah Party Yes No No Yes
d
Violent
Al-Qa’ida
“Jihadi” No No Yes Yes
affiliates
Fringes
Muqbil al-
Salafists Wadi’i (died No Yes No Yes
in 2001)
Dar al-
Sufis No Yes No No
Mustafa
Hizb al-Haqq;
Zaydi Husayn al-
Yes No Yes Yes
Revivalists Huthi (died in
2004)
Figure 1: Outline of the strategies of the diverse Islamist ideal-types in contemporary Yemen.

2
Muslim Brothers
Those groups inspired by the teachings of the Muslim Brotherhood are the most prevalent in the
wide spectrum of Yemeni Islamism. As early as the 1940s, the reformist and revolutionary
movements opposed to the Zaydi monarchy were closely associated with Islamist intellectuals.
While studying in Cairo, many reformists--including Muhammad Ahmad Nu’man (of Shafi’i origin)
and Muhammad Mahmud al-Zubayri (of Zaydi origin)--became acquainted with the ideas of Hasan
al-Banna, although it seems that most of them were never formally Muslim Brothers. Both the failed
1948 revolution against the Zaydi imam, Yahya, and the successful 1962 revolution against his
grandson, Imam Muhammad al-Badr (a few days after his accession to power), were at least in part
inspired by the teachings of the Muslim Brothers.
During the September 26, 1962 revolution, as nationalists, Nasserists, Muslim Brothers, and
modernists united to overthrow the Zaydi imamate and to establish a republic, disagreements quickly
emerged among the new leaders. Through the creation of the Hizballah (Party of God) in 1964,
Zubayri, who felt that the new Egyptian-backed regime lacked legitimacy, intended to draw together
different segments of society, the intellectuals (many of whom could be labeled as Islamist) and the
tribal elements in particular.5 While Zubayri was assassinated in 1965, his project of reconciliation
and integration of all parties became a founding principle of the republic. In that framework, Muslim
Brothers were brought into various institutions, especially the education system and the security
forces.
This association appears to have been successful and still lives on through the al-Islah (Reform)
party, generally described as the Yemeni branch of the Muslim Brotherhood. This party was created
in September 1990, bringing together Islamist figures, tribal leaders, and businessmen.6 From its
foundation until late 2007, it was headed by Shaykh Abdallah al-Ahmar, chief of the most prominent
tribal confederation (the Hashid, of which Ali Abdallah Salih’s tribe, Sanhan, itself is a member) and
speaker of parliament.7 More than a year after Shaykh Abdallah al-Ahmar’s death on December 29,
2007, the tribal and political consequences are still unclear.
The party loosely brings together individuals with different agendas and strategies and has proven
its ability to adapt to the changing internal, and international, context.8 The party has taken part in the
democratization process since its inception, competing in free elections and participating in the
parliament. While debate over whether the democratic system holds religious legitimacy may exist
inside the party, al-Islah overtly accepts the multiparty system and has never supported direct armed
confrontation with the government. It collaborates with the regime and could even be considered an
integral part of it. In 1994, during the secession war opposing Southern elites to the North, militias
supported by al-Islah assisted the government in defeating the socialist-led secessionists.9 Today, al-
Islah is well-implanted in numerous regions of the country (including in the former Marxist South,
where anti-socialist reaction is strong and favors Islamist candidates and platforms). Nationally, it
won an average of 18 percent of the vote during the 1993, 1997, and 2003 parliamentary elections
(though the elections’ lack of transparency reduces the significance of this data).10
With the turn of the new millennium, a new strategy of alliance and collaboration with other
opposition movements--particularly with its former enemy, the Yemeni Socialist Party (YSP), which
headed South Yemen--emerged among the party’s leadership.11 Although not necessarily popular
among all activists,12 a common platform was composed, and Faysal bin Shamlan (a former oil
minister) was designated as the main opposition candidate against Salih in the September 2006
presidential election.13 Shamlan won 22 percent of the votes. His relative success (considering the
means monopolized by the president to ensure his reelection) has opened new horizons for the
opposition and for the Islamists. The April 2009 parliamentary elections will be an important test for
the party’s strategy of frontal opposition and alliance rather than of cooptation as in the 1990s but the
opposition threatens to boycott the ballot as it considers that it lacks transparency.
Aside from its deceased leader Abdallah al-Ahmar and his sons (including Hamid, a successful
businessman), the most prominent figures of al-Islah include Yahya Lutfi al-Fusayl, Muhammad
Qahtan, Muhammad al-Yadumi (who took over the leadership after the death of al-Ahmar), and Abd
al-Majid al-Zindani. Al-Zindani is likely the most famous of all and is said to embody the radical
component of al-Islah. This former comrade of Zubayri, heads the al-Iman religious university in
San’a and spent many years in Saudi Arabia. In the 1980s, he organized for Yemeni fighters to be
sent to Afghanistan and thereby gained stature. In the post-September 11 context, Zindani has
frequently been described by the American administration as a close partner of bin Ladin. His
historical role has protected him from direct government repression.14 He plays an ambiguous role,
acting both as a mainstream popular figure (his criticism of American foreign policy is commonly
accepted by Yemenis) and a marginal one, as he represents a bridge to a type of violent militancy
that does not appeal to many.

Violent “Jihadi” Fringes

Although small in number, the fringes labeled as jihadi have played an important role in Yemen’s
recent history, often putting the country on the map of international terrorism. Since the 1990s, they
have become increasingly visible in the media, a fact that often obscures other versions of
Islamism.15 The participation of Yemenis in the Afghan War in the 1980s and the subsequent
“jihads” in Bosnia, Chechnya, and Iraq have affected internal politics. In 1994, during the war
against the socialist-led secessionists in the South, militias (some comprised of former “Afghan
Arabs”) assisted the national army, murdered socialists, and sacked Aden. Some were integrated into
the security forces or local tribal institutions.16 An example is Tariq al-Fadli, heir of the sultan of
Abyan and leader of the mujahidin (fighters) in Afghanistan, who later was appointed by the
president to the Majlis al-Shura, the upper house of the parliament.
Others create cells with transnational links (such as the Aden-Abyan Islamic Army or other
groups affiliated with al-Qa’ida that eventually turned against government interests and explicitly
targeted Westerners). These took part in the 1998 kidnapping of tourists; in the bombing of the USS
Cole in 2000; and since September 2001 in various assassinations or (often failed) bombing plots
throughout the country, including against infrastructure.17 In November 2002, a missile shot by an
American drone in the central desert of Yemen near the city of Marib killed Abu Ali al-Harithi,
alleged to be the leader of al-Qa’ida in Yemen. Some other activists were arrested and tried by the
authorities. Nevertheless, the level of security controls has been considered insufficient by the new
U.S. ally. In February 2006, the escape of 23 al-Qa’ida militants, including a leading operative,
Jamal al-Badawi, from a high-security prison raised questions about infiltration into the state
apparatus. In 2008, after a campaign of low level (and often unsuccessful) attacks on state and
Western interests, including in the capital and the bombing of the American embassy on September
17--in which a total of 19 people died--symbolized a new strategic phase. In July of the same year,
the attack in Say’un (east of the country) against the buildings of security services and the
subsequent claim by the attackers showed that the Yemeni regime was becoming a target of jihadi
groups more than ever.
Repression of militants, new anti-terrorist policies by the government, imprisonment, and torture
were surely radicalizing the strategies of jihadi groups. Beyond such a trend, some continued to
highlight the links between these movements and the state, claiming upsurges in violence were not
entirely alien to competition and struggles inside the wide state apparatus.
Jihadi groups are generally popular in isolated, underdeveloped regions (such as Marib, Shabwa,
al-Jawf, and Abyan) and among peripheral and marginal tribal groups who do not benefit from state
investments and infrastructure. It is these specific regions that international donors are targeting in
order to undermine violence and support for radical groups through the establishment of
development programs.18

Salafists
The third ideal-type, the Yemeni version of Salafists (sometimes labeled “Wahhabis” by their

4
opponents due to their real or supposed links to Saudi Arabia), is often inaccurately associated with
the jihadi groups. Although connections may exist between groups, significant differences exist. The
Salafi movement emerged in Yemen in the early 1980s around the figure of Muqbil al-Wadi’i.19 Al-
Wadi’i was educated in Saudi Arabia in the 1960s and 1970s and maintained ambiguous links with
that country’s rulers and religious elites until his death in 2001.20 The Salafists’ principals include a
claim of complete loyalty to the ruler, even if he is corrupt and unjust, as well as a will to transcend
local and national contexts by delivering a universal message. Salafists, then, aim to preserve all
Muslims from chaos (fitna) by not engaging in any kind of politics and not participating in elections,
demonstrations, or revolutions. Instead, they believe they can play a role in orienting state policies
through secret advice given to the ruler. They usually condemn violence and have long been critical
of terrorist operations targeting civilians. In fact, the Salafi leader al-Wadi’i remained very critical of
the jihadists’ strategy at the global level as well as inside Yemen from the early 1990s onward. At
the time, he accused Usama bin Ladin--who, following Afghanistan, was trying to launch new wars--
of preferring to invest in weapons rather than in mosques. He even botched some of his plans for
jihad against the socialist elites of South Yemen.21
In the post September 11 period (and after al-Wadi’i’s death), condemnation of violence became a
way for the Salafi movement to legitimize its position in a precarious context. Abu al-Hasan al-
Maribi supported the Yemeni president during the 2006 presidential election, while his opponent
Muhammad al-Imam, now probably the most charismatic tenant of Muqbilian Salafism in Yemen,
delivered a conference in 2003 condemning jihad in Iraq against the U.S.-led occupation.22 He
claimed that in order to be legitimate, jihad had to be endorsed by the Yemeni government, which as
a new ally of the United States in the “Global War on Terror” it would obviously never dare to do. In
such a context, Yemenis leaving for Iraq were considered illegitimate fighters. Such positions
undoubtedly transformed the Salafists into new allies of the Yemeni government in a matter that was
reminiscent of the Saudi religious authority’s capacity to endorse its state’s policies and decisions in
all circumstances.
At the same time, the Salafists have supported operations against Zaydi individuals and Sufi
shrines.23 They are also famous for stigmatizing all other religious and political groups--particularly
the Muslim Brothers--as dividing Muslims and being morally corrupt.
In contemporary Yemeni society, the development of the Salafi movement is rendered particularly
visible by a number of distinctive practices, clothing, and social and linguistic habits. Salafists
clearly express their will to stay out of a “corrupt” society as much as possible by refusing to
participate in prominent social events such as religious celebrations, traditional music festivals,
elections, or qat (a mild narcotic plant whose leaves are chewed daily by the majority of the Yemeni
population) consumption.
The “apolitical” Salafists play a very political role and have received indirect assistance and
benevolent tolerance from the government. Their doctrine is convenient, as it helps undermine
support for more political Islamist groups such as the Muslim Brothers and the Zaydi revivalists, as
well as to socialists in former South Yemen. The mainstream Salafi doctrine indeed helps keep
certain segments of the population out of politics and considers all opposition to the ruler to be
illegitimate. Consequently, abstention during local or national elections favors candidates of the
ruling party. The division of its opponents has long been a strategy of Ali Abdallah Salih’s the
regime, and it appears to have been rather successful.

Sufis
Sufis constitute the fourth Islamist ideal-type in contemporary Yemen. Like the Salafists, their
most outspoken opponents, they advocate an apolitical doctrine but nevertheless end up playing an
important role in Yemeni politics. Popular in former South Yemen and especially in the eastern
province of Hadhramawt, they suffered from intense repression under the socialist regime, and many
clerics then found refuge in Saudi Arabia and North Yemen. After unification, the support by some
of their leaders for the Southern secessionist movement in 1994 (essentially due to their links to
Saudi businessmen) continued to undermine their position. After the war and the defeat of the
secessionists, the government even turned a blind eye toward the destruction of their shrines in Aden
and Hadhramawt by the Salafists and some radical Muslim Brothers.
From the late 1990s, the Sufi movement has experienced a significant revival, symbolized by the
Dar al-Mustafa institute in Tarim.24 Headed by two internationally renowned figures, al-Habib Umar
bin Hafidh and al-Habib Ali al-Jiffri (the son of Abd al-Rahman al-Jiffri, a prominent leader of the
1994 secession), this religious teaching institute has received much attention and support from the
government. In return, local candidates of the ruling Congress party were granted support during the
2003 parliamentary elections against candidates of al-Islah. While Sufis have been described by
many analysts as a group threatened on all sides by government policies and by other Islamist
groups, this is no longer entirely the case. Despite his small following, in 2003, al-Habib Umar was
appointed to be the national television anchorman for religious programs during Ramadan. As a sign
of the new link between this Islamist group and the state, President Ali Abdallah Salih has also paid
numerous visits to Dar al-Mustafa, benefiting from the groups historic transnational connections.25
Like that of the Salafists, Sufi doctrine appears to be politically useful. It does indeed help weaken
government support for other Islamist groups while broadcasting a supposedly more tolerant,
peaceful, and moderate version of Islam. Indeed, the Sufi doctrine taught in their various institutions
apparently tends to focus more on individual spirituality and personal development than on politics.
Furthermore, the doctrine does not appear to clash with liberal economics and entrepreneurship and
is therefore appealing to the upper and middle classes. The revival of this movement is part of the
wider process of individualization of the faith that is being experienced in all Muslim societies and
that is best embodied by Egyptian figure Amr Khalid and by Tariq al-Suwaydan from Kuwait.26

Zaydi Revivalists
The fifth Islamist ideal-type can be classified as Zaydi revivalist. Of all five groups, it is the only
one that is specifically Yemeni but nevertheless has created transnational links. It finds its roots in an
intellectually based reaction to the fall of the Zaydi imamate in 1962. Most of its supporters can be
found among a specific segment of the population: the sayyids, descendants of Muhammad.27 With
their loss of the civil war after the 1962 revolution, the demise of their leadership, and the end of
what constituted a central element of their religious doctrine, Zaydis have had to find new ways to
legitimize their position and existence. Some have felt the republic is in essence anti-Zaydi and has
favored the Muslim Brothers, Salafists, and Saudi-backed “Wahhabis”--all their long-time enemies--
in order to eradicate Zaydi heritage.
In that context, Zaydi revivalists have begun to react and to organize themselves. In the 1980s
especially, a small minority turned toward Iranian Shi’ism, abandoning much of the Zaydi dogma
and admiring the 1979 Iranian Revolution. Others are eager to portray Zaydism as a modernist
religious doctrine with potential for reform and enlightenment, as liberal intellectuals who present
the most severe critiques of the government.28 Another group--which remains loyal to the Zaydi
doctrine--creates religious institutions, publishes many books, and in 1990 even established a
political party, the Party of Truth (Hizb al-Haqq). In 1993, two of its leaders were elected to
parliament, and in 1997, the secretary general of al-Haqq was chosen to head the Ministry of
Religious Affairs.
A split in this party in the mid-1990s led to the creation of a more radical fringe called the
Believing Youth (al-Shabab al-Mu’min), headed by Husayn Badr al-Din al-Huthi, a former al-Haqq
member of parliament. The objective of this group, backed by intellectuals in the region of Sa’da,
was to oppose the rise of the Salafi movement which they perceive as the cradle of Zaydism. At first,
they received support from the government, but in the post-September 11 context, tensions began to
rise. Huthi and his supporters were very critical of the regime’s new strategy and its cooperation in
the War on Terror. In June 2004, the government sought to arrest Husayn al-Huthi, who was accused

6
of receiving aid from Iran and from the Lebanese Hizballah and of wanting to restore the Zaydi
imamate (which he denied). He and his supporters resisted. What started as a police operation
quickly turned into a full-scale war that left thousands dead or injured. In May 2005, the prime
minister admitted on television that 525 soldiers of the Yemeni army had perished in the operations,
but he never provided estimates of civilian or rebel casualties.29
Although the Believing Youth has little in common with al-Qa’ida, the Yemeni government,
pressured by the United States, has been eager to show its own involvement in anti-terrorist
operations. Zaydi revivalists emerged as alternative targets in the “Global War on Terror”, as
opponents who would not directly affect the existing relations between some groups in power and
other Islamist movements. Despite Husayn al-Huthi’s death in September 2004, the dispute remains
unsettled, and in 2007, new violent clashes erupted episodically. The violence continued until July
2008, when President Salih announced a unilateral truce. As of the writing of this article, the
situation remains fragile and has led to new discrimination against the Zaydis and sayyids. During
the war, Zaydi revivalists managed to find support outside the original group among tribal segments
tired of government repression and lack of investment in the Northern regions. Despite the massive
violence--this war, which by all means cannot be considered a legitimate operation of the War on
Terror--drew little criticism from Western powers and scarce media attention. It is nevertheless likely
to destabilize a political and sectarian equilibrium that had until recently proved effective.

THE LOGIC OF INTEGRATION

While many analysts and journalists have long portrayed Yemen as on the brink of collapse, it has
in fact remained surprisingly stable. Despite strong internal opposition (by political and tribal actors)
and frequent hostility from neighbors, especially Saudi Arabia, the republican regime and Ali
Abdallah Salih’s rule have resisted and managed to overcome numerous periods of crisis: wars
between antagonistic Yemeni regimes, clashes with Saudi Arabia and Eritrea, the unification of the
two Yemens, the Gulf War and the subsequent eviction of around 800,000 Yemeni workers from
Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, as well as the post-September 11 crisis.
Overall, the price paid by the population for such institutional stability has been relatively low
when compared to other regimes of the Arab world. If Yemen is by no means a democracy and
suffers from endemic corruption and underdevelopment as well as upsurges of brutality, it has not
experienced comparable levels of state-sponsored violence--as in Saddam Hussein’s Iraq--or
deprivation of political liberties--as in the Saudi monarchy. It has not been confronted with massive
bloodshed or repression like Algeria in the 1990s or Egypt in the 1970s, whether from the state, the
army, or rebels. Even during the 1994 war between the Northern army and the Southern
secessionists, civilian casualties remained scarce, and many leaders of the secession were later
reintegrated into the state apparatus, some becoming close advisors of the president. For this reason
at least, the hundred thousand or so internally displaced persons and the bombing of villages during
the war in Sa’da since June 2004 are to be considered a significant rupture.

Participation of Islamists
In that framework, the relationship between the state and the various political groups, especially
Islamist ones, and their integration into public institutions (army, police, universities, and so forth)
are likely the key to understanding such stability. While it may have been maintained over the years
by the regime out of self-interest (weakening its enemies, dividing political and religious groups) or
due to its own incapacity--for better and for worse--power-sharing has long been one of the main
features of the system. The presence of a strong traditional “civil society” in the form of tribal and
religious groups, most of them armed or capable of opposing the state, has undermined the regime’s
capacity to monopolize all the levers of power and to fulfill any totalitarian dreams. Unfortunately, it
appears that internal dynamics (erosion of the regime, cult of personality, monopolization of
resources by the President’s kin) as well as external pressures have wrecked the equilibrium rather
than tried to preserve it.
Early on, the 1962 Republican revolution was supported by Nasserist Egypt, which sent troops to
Yemen for five years in order to fight the Saudi-backed royalist opposition. It was uncompromising
at first, but the new regime soon held dialogues with Islamists as well as with tribal groups, some of
which had initially opposed the Republic. From 1967 onward, the Yemeni government sought to
reintegrate the former royalists through compromise. Certain Zaydi clerics were given high positions,
including the prestigious rank of mufti of the republic. The Muslim Brothers were also a central
proponent of the system. As in other countries, they focused most of their attention on reforming the
education system to their advantage.
In 1967, one of their leaders, Abd al-Malik al-Tayyib, was named minister of education of North
Yemen. In the 1970s, Abd al-Majid al-Zindani, deemed to be a radical Muslim Brother, was in
charge of religious education; and Egyptian and Sudanese teachers educated in religious universities
such as al-Azhar were recruited. At the same time, individuals close to the Muslim Brothers also
headed a parallel school system: the scientific institutes (ma’ahid ilmiyya). These were initially
created in order to oppose socialist expansion in the regions on the border with South Yemen, and
the Saudi government continued to be their main source of funding, despite unification in 1990.
After a harsh debate, the scientific institutes, then said to have had around 600,000 pupils, only
became nationalized and reintegrated into the public education system in 2002.30
During the 1990s, this power-sharing with the Islamists became more directly political. While
unification was initially built on a partnership between the two former ruling parties of North and
South Yemen, Northern elites were eager to find new allies. In 1993, after the first multiparty general
elections, Abd al-Majid al-Zindani became part of the five-man presidential council, while Abdallah
al-Ahmar, head of al-Islah, was elected as speaker of parliament benefiting from the voices of the
ruling Congress party MPs. As tensions rose with the socialist leaders in the coalition, Ali Abdallah
Salih agreed to govern with al-Islah. The Muslim Brothers directly participated in government
between 1993 and 1997, playing an even greater role after the 1994 war and the complete demise of
the socialists. Abd al-Wahhab al-Anisi was named deputy prime minister, and al-Islah members held
important ministries (justice, education, trade, and religious affairs).
While direct governmental participation by al-Islah was interrupted in 1997, the integration of all
types of Islamist groups into the state apparatus has continued both formally and informally. Many
important positions in the army and security forces continue to be held by individuals identified with
Islamists of all streams. This is the case with one of the regime’s most controversial figures, Ali
Muhsin al-Ahmar, a relative of President Ali Abdallah Salih and the head of an army brigade based
in San’a. As a result, repression of Islamist groups has been limited. Salafists, Sufis, Zaydi
revivalists, Muslim Brothers, and even some individuals sympathetic to jihadi doctrines have had
easy access to political and tribal elites.

An Equilibrium Under Pressure

While the crisis following the September 11 attacks affected these political arrangements, it has
not yet threatened their existence. With pressure coming from both its own society and from its new
American ally, the Yemeni government has tried to show its involvement in the War on Terror while
also remaining eager to prove its independence from Western powers. In cooperation with the United
States, the government also implemented a new strategy of conciliation with the terrorists in 2002.
This strategy was put into operation by Judge Hamud al-Hitar, who became minister of awqaf
(religious endowments) in 2007, in order to show the success of dialogue as opposed to pure
repression. Fighters coming home to Yemen after having participated in “jihad” abroad are
frequently offered deals from high-ranking officials: They are given a grant to start a small business
and are guaranteed to be left alone by the authorities, provided they cease all illicit activity and
activism, at least inside Yemen. A blind eye is usually turned toward militants traveling to Iraq or

8
other places abroad for violent activities. This practice has for the most part been successful. The
regime has only been confronted with low levels of internal violence from Islamist groups.
Nevertheless, growing international pressure and criticism (including from former U.S. President
George W. Bush, who wrote a letter to his Yemeni counterpart in 2006 questioning the faithfulness
of his commitment to the War on Terror) is slowly leading to change.31 This trend is furthered by
elites inside the government in order to enhance their own power. Since 2004, repression in the form
of arrests, closure of religious institutes (including those controlled by al-Islah), army raids, torture,
and imprisonment have seemed to go in tandem with rising instability and violence from Islamists
affiliated with or inspired by al-Qa’ida rhetoric. The September 2006 bombings against oil facilities,
the July 2007 suicide bombings against Spanish tourists that left 10 dead, fighting between militants
and the army in August 2007, and the September 2008 attack on the American embassy illustrate
these tensions. In this context, it appears as if the government is actually losing touch with the
violent groups it once largely managed to control through political and economic integration.
While the split with the jihadi groups is still questionable, incomplete, and probably reversible (as
many inside the security forces are still in contact with these cells), the war in Sa’da against Huthi
and his supporters since 2004 seems to be creating a much wider gap, giving it a sectarian anti-Shi’a
dimension reminiscent of that in Iraq and elsewhere in the Middle East. Along with the radical Zaydi
revivalists, the regime targets Zaydi clerics and organizations that once were its allies. Indiscriminate
violence by the army also enhances resentment by local tribal and social groups that already feel
excluded by the state.
Finally, it appears that by attacking Zaydi revivalists, the government is actually taking less risk
than if it were to seek to satisfy all of its Western allies’ demands and repress more representative
Islamist groups, especially those identified with the Muslim Brotherhood. It would then endanger its
entire political foundation and most likely lead to further violence. Zaydis are indeed isolated and
have already been largely vanquished by historical developments. The Yemeni state’s action against
them does not pose any serious threat to the government as long as it continues its efforts to maintain
good relations with the other Islamist ideal-types.

*Laurent Bonnefoy is a CNRS/ANR post-doctoral fellow at the Institut de Recherches et d’Etudes sur
le Monde Arabe et Musulman (Université de Provence). His research interests include transnational
religious movements, Salafism, and Yemeni politics.

NOTES
1 A different version of this article will be published in Barry Rubin (ed.), Global Survey of
Islamism (New York: M.E. Sharpe, forthcoming).
2 Such a position is, for example, developed in journalist and activist Jane Novak’s blog, Armies of
Liberation (http://www.armiesofliberation.com). This fiercely critical (and quite often biased)
website is frequently censored in Yemen.
3 The historical role played by various scholars such as Ibn al-Amir al-San’ani or Muhammad al-
Shawkani in the reform of Zaydism since the eighteenth century has been thoroughly studied by
Bernard Haykel, Revival and Reform: The Legacy of Muhammad al-Shawkani (Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 2003).
4 Laurent Bonnefoy, “Les identités religieuses contemporaines au Yémen : convergence,
résistances et instrumentalisations,” Revue des mondes musulmans et de la Méditerranée, No. 121-
122 (2008), pp. 201-15.
5 François Burgat and Marie Camberlin, “Révolution mode d’emploi : Zubayri et les erreurs des
libres, ” Chroniques yéménites, No. 9 (2002), pp. 107-16.
6 Paul Dresch and Bernard Haykel, “Stereotypes and Political Styles: Islamists and Tribesfolk in
Yemen,” International Journal of Middle East Studies, No. 27 (1995), pp. 405-31. See also, Abd al-
Fattah al-Hakimi, al-Islamiyyin wal-Siyyasa: Al-Ikhwan al-Muslimun Namudhajan (San’a: Al-
Muntada al-Jami‘i, 2003).
7 A few weeksmonths before his death, Abdallah al-Ahmar published his long awaited memoirs.
They provided insight as to his central position in the Yemeni political system, which allowed him
to link tribes, ideologies, government, and regional powers. See Abd Allah bin Husayn al-Ahmar,
Mudhakirat (San’a: al-Afaq, 2007).
8 The different positions adopted by al-Islah leaders during the American led military campaign in
Afghanistan in 2001 are an illustration of such pluralism and capacity to adapt to changing political
contexts. See Laurent Bonnefoy and Fayçal Ibn Cheikh, “Le Rassemblement yéménite pour la
Réforme (al-Islah) face à la crise du 11 septembre et la guerre en Afghanistan,” Chroniques
yéménites, No. 9 (2002), pp. 169-76.
9 Jamal al-Suwaidi (ed.), The Yemeni War of 1994: Causes and Consequences (London: Saqi
Books, 1995).
10 Since its foundation, al-Islah has been the focus of both foreign and local scholars. See for
example, Jillian Schwedler, "The Yemeni Islah Party: Political Opportunities and Coalition
Building in a Transitional Polity," in Quintan Wiktorowicz (ed.), Islamist Activism: A Social
Movement Theory Approach (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2003), pp. 205-29. Schwedler
develops her argument and questions the link between moderation of the Islamist parties and their
integration in the political party by comparing the situations in two Arab countries. See Faith in
Moderation: Islamist Parties in Jordan and Yemen (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
2007), p. 280.
11 Michaelle Browers, "Origins and Architects of Yemen’s Joint Meeting Parties," International
Journal of Middle Eastern Studies, Vol. 39, No. 4 (2007), pp. 565-86.
12 Many consider the alliance with “atheist” socialists in itself a betrayal and have consequently
opposed it, including through violent means or assassination, such as that of YSP number two,
Jarallah Umar, in December 2002.
13 Marine Poirier, "Yémen nouveau, futur meilleur? Retour sur l’élection présidentielle de 2006, "
Chroniques yéménites, No. 15 (forthcoming).
14 Gregory Johnsen, “Profile of Sheikh Abd al-Majid al-Zindani,” Terrorism Monitor, Vol. 4, No. 7
(2006), pp. 3-5.
15 Abd al-Karim Qasim Sa’id, al-Ikhwan al-Muslimun wal-Haraka al-Usuliyya fil-Yaman (San’a:
Maktabat Murad, 1998).
16 Mustafa Badi al-Lawjri, Afghanistan: Ihtilal al-Dhakira (San’a, 2007)
17 Sa‘id Ubayd al-Jamhi, al-Qa‘ida fi al-Yaman (San’a: Maktaba al-Hadara, 2008).
18 Laurent Bonnefoy and Renaud Detalle, “The Security Paradox and Development in Unified
Yemen (1990-2005),” in Michael Lund and Necla Tschirgi (eds.), The Security/Development Nexus
(Boulder: Lynne Reiner, forthcoming).
19 Laurent Bonnefoy, Les relations religieuses transnationales contemporaines entre le Yémen et
l’Arabie Saoudite: un salafisme importé?, Ph.D. dissertation, IEP de Paris, 2007.
20 Muqbil al-Wadi‘i (ed.), Tarjamat Abi ‘Abd al-Rahman Muqbil bin Hadi al-Wadi’i (San‘a:
Maktabat al-Athariyya, 1999).
21 On al-Wadi’i’s criticism of Usama bin Ladin: Muqbil al-Wadi’i, Tuhfat al-mujib ala as’ilat al-
hadar wa al-gharib (San’a: Dar al-athar, 2005), p. 281. See also, Brynjar Lia, “‘Destructive
Doctrinarians’: Abu Musab al-Suri’s Critique of the Salafis in the Jihadi Current,” Norwegian
Defence Research Institute (2007), p. 4.
22 Muhammad al-Imam, Hay ala al-Jihad… lakin, recorded conference, 2003.
23 Alexander Knysh, “Contextualizing the Salafi-Sufi Conflict (from the Northern Caucasus to
Hadramawt),” Middle Eastern Studies, Vol. 43, No. 3 (2007), pp. 503-30.
24 Alexander Knysh, “The Tariqa on a Landcruiser: The Resurgence of Sufism in Yemen,” Middle
East Journal, Vol. 55, No. 3 (2001), pp. 399-414.
25 Engeng Ho, The Graves of Tarim: Genealogy and Mobility Across the Indian Ocean (Berkeley:
University of California Press, 2006).
26 This trend has been analyzed by Patrick Haenni, L’islam de marché: L’autre revolution
conservatrice (Paris: Le Seuil, 2005).
27 Gabriele Vom Bruck, Islam, Memory, and Morality in Yemen: Ruling Families in Transition
(New York: Palgrave, 2005).
28 Samy Dorlian, “Zaydisme et Modernisation : Émergence d’un Nouvel Universel Politique?”
Chroniques Yéménites, No. 13 (2006), pp. 93-109.
29 François Burgat, "Le Yémen après le 11 septembre 2001 : entre construction de l’Etat et
rétrécissement du champ politique," Critique internationale, No. 32 (2006) pp. 11-21.
30 Faris al-Saqqaf, Ilgha al-Ma‘ahid al-ilmiyya wa tawhid al-ta‘alom (San’a: Markaz dirasat al-
mustaqbal, 2004).
31 Ludmila du Bouchet, “The State, Political Islam and Violence: The Reconfiguration of Yemeni
Politics since 9/11,” in Amélie Blom, Laetitia Bucaille, and Luis Martinez (eds.), The Enigma of
Islamist Violence (London: Hurst, 2007), pp. 137-64. See also Robert Burrowes, “Yemen: Political
Economy and the Effort Against Terrorism,” in Robert Rotberg (ed.), Battling Terrorism in the
Horn of Africa (Cambridge: World Peace Foundation, 2005), pp. 141-72.