Al-Hadi Izz ad-din

Who was Al-Hadi Izz ad-din?

Al-Hadi Izz ad-Din was an imam of the Zaidi state in Yemen, who held the imamate in 1474-1495 in rivalry with other claimants.

Izz ad-Din bin al-Hasan bin Ali was a grandson of the counter-imam al-Hadi Ali and a seventh-generation descendant of imam al-Hadi Yahya. He proclaimed his da'wa in 1474, after the death of the former imam al-Mutawakkil al-Mutahhar. He was considered a forceful leader who revived some of the power of the Zaydiyyah imamate. He was also a man of learning. Among his works were a text about how to prepare for afterlife, and a treatise on manumission of slaves as compensation for received injuries. Nevertheless, he had to contend with a number of other rivals for the title: an-Nasir Muhammad, al-Mansur Muhammad and al-Mu’ayyad Muhammad. At his death, he was buried in Rughafa. He sired eight sons, called an-Nasir al-Hasan, al-Husayn, Ahmad, al-Mahdi, Abdallah, Salah, Abdallah Junior, and Salah Junior. Of these, an-Nasir al-Hasan then claimed the imamate.