10 Facts About Ali al-Sulayhi

Ali bin Muhammad bin Ali al-Sulayhi was the founder and sultan of the Sulayhid dynasty in Yemen.

Ali al-Sulayhi established his kingdom in 1047 and by 1063, the Sulayhids controlled had unified the entire country of Yemen as well as the Muslim holy city of Mecca under his leadership.

Ali al-Sulayhi was the son of Muhammad bin Ali al-Sulayhi, the chief qadi of Jabal Haraz.

Ali al-Sulayhi married his cousin Asma bint Shihab in the 1030s.

Ali al-Sulayhi continued in this capacity for 15 years, lecturing groups of pilgrims, including regional Muslim leaders of various ranks, on Ismaili thought on behalf of the Fatimid caliphs.

Historian Ibn Khalikan states al-Sulayhi sent a female slave to the Najahid leader Abu Said Najah as a peace offering with the real intent of killing him.

Also in 1062, Ali al-Sulayhi sent Lamak ibn Malik to Cairo to serve as an embassy and representative there.

In late 1063 Ali al-Sulayhi led his forces into the Hejaz and challenged the Abbasids by conquering Mecca by 1064 and installing a client king there.

In 1066 al-Sulayhi made the hajj pilgrimage to Mecca with a large caravan that included Asma and the entourage of her court, all of the emirs of the Sulayhid principalities in Yemen, and 5,000 Ethiopian soldiers.

Ibn Khaldun wrote that Ali al-Sulayhi was notified by his brother-in-law As'ad ibn Shihab Ali al-Sulayhi who ruled Zabid that al-Ahwal and his brother Jayyash ibn Najaj had emerged from their hiding and planned to attack the caravan.