Al-Mu’id li-Din Illah

Who is Al-Mu’id li-Din Illah?

Al-Mu'id li-Din Illah was an imam of the Zaidi state in Yemen who reigned in the period 1027-1030.

After 1002, the Zaidi imamate in highland Yemen was contested between various claimants. A Caspian Zaidi leader in Persia, Abu Talib Yahya, is sometimes formally counted as imam in the period 1020-1033 in Zaydiyyah historiography. Meanwhile, the brother of the old imam al-Mahdi al-Husayn, Ja'far, ruled the Zaidi centre Sa'dah as emir for periods. In 1027 a new pretender of obscure origins appeared and claimed the immate. He proclaimed himself under the title al-Mu'id li-Din Illah. He actually managed to establish his authority in the important city San'a. Nevertheless, he was killed by opponents already in 1030.