The Rassids: Yemen's First Zaidi Imams and the Birth of a Dynasty

Before the Qasimi imams and the modern republican era, Yemen's Zaidi community was forged by a single family: the Rassids. This episode traces the rise of al-Hadi ila'l-Haqq Yahya ibn al-Husayn, the founder of the Zaidi imamate in Yemen, who arrived from Medina in 893 CE at the invitation of warring tribes in Saada. Lucas and Luna explore how al-Hadi established the first Zaidi state, codified Zaydi legal thought, and set the template for imams as both spiritual and military leaders. They discuss the early Rassid imams' struggles against the Yu'firid dynasty and the Ismaili Sulayhids, the theological disputes that shaped early Zaydism, and the legacy of al-Hadi's writings — including his legal manual that remained authoritative for centuries. This is a story of a religious movement becoming a political institution in the highlands of northern Yemen, with echoes that resonate into Yemen's modern conflicts.

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