Researched and Written by Nancy Jamal

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Houthism; A marriage of convenience

In Part one of this study, under the title 'The rise of Houthism in the Happy

Yemen',1 the birth of Houthism was discussed and its history was presented

through the different stages of its initial growth.

The paper indicated that Houthism first came to life in 1990 when an eminent

Zaidi scholar in Saa'da named Sayed Badruddin bin Ameeruddin Al-Houthi

accentuated the importance of a sideline religious principle known as 'Al-

Istifa'.2

From there, the Houthi phenomenon was realized by his eldest son Sayed

Hussain3 who encouraged the purchase and training of weapons and artillery

through his creation of the core ideological code of Houthism; "God is Great,

God is Great, Death unto America, Death unto Israel, Cursed are the Jews,

Triumph be to Islam"4 basing it on the unforgettable 'wisdom' of Ayatollah

Khomeini, the founding father of cloak-clad Iran.5

At a later stage, Houthism became a political movement that fought the

previous Yemeni government's military in six separate wars to date and Sayed

Badruddin's younger, underachieving, son Sayed Abdulmalik, born in 1979,6

inherited the reign of power from his deceased elder brother, through no

endeavor of his own other than his advantage of being within the blood line of

succession.7

1 https://www.academia.edu/10425966/The_Rise_of_Houthism_in_the_Happy_Yemen_ viewed on

January 25, 2015 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yX6cTJPcHSk viewed on January 23, 2015

3 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVNogjsw468 viewed on March 3, 2015

4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M2xVvTNZDB8 viewed on January 22, 2015

5 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phAqDUAHsoA viewed on March 3, 2015

6 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFfTVrn_6po viewed on March 3, 2015

7 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phAqDUAHsoA viewed on March 3, 2015

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In due course, Sayed Abdulmalik assumed a more aggressive approach to

expansion by adopting the character and temperament of Hezbollah's leader

Hassan Nasrallah.8

In line with his role model, he refused to acknowledge many of the

government's laws, including those that protected the country's Jewish minority

and boldly announced his intentions to annihilate Yemen's Mizrahi and

Sephardic Jews,910

who had lived there since the beginning of time11

but who

were forced into exodus, of which only four hundred remain living in scattered

towns on the outskirts of Sa'daa and Omran.1213

He also heavily invested in

reassembling the movement in the form of a militia based cult that today

threatens the security and stability of the entire region and beyond.1415

In understanding Houthism as it stands today, history, geography and dogma

are but factors of many. The study has yet to explain external, regional and

international, pressures, interceptions, affiliations and performers that

independently, collaboratively or simultaneously, played a role in certain

adaptations, or adoptions, even, in some cases.

There is much controversy regarding Houthism, the beliefs, the structure, the

aspirations, the methods of conduct, of leadership, of alignment and, very

importantly, power components.

Throughout the second part of the study of this cult, more and more

information keeps unraveling that makes it difficult to draw lines to specify

what happened exactly and at what point.

In their reference, many definitions have been used concurrently. Some refer to

them as Houthis. Others refer to them as Imamites. Some call them

8 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnM1ubtEVJg viewed on January 24, 2015

9 http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/vjw/Yemen.html viewed on March 3, 2015

10 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6yt9nQdSgU viewed on January 26, 2015

11 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HC6r5lydyY8 viewed on March 3, 2015

12 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEIi2YvlhIw viewed on March 3, 2015

13 http://www.the-jewish-story.org/yemen.html viewed on March 3, 2015

14 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=reOkdRlpwiY viewed on February 5, 2015

15 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M2xVvTNZDB8 viewed on January 22, 2015

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Ansarullahs, Mehdis, Alshabab Al-Mo'men, which makes their exact

description rather intricate.16

Noticeably, when listening to interviews with religious intellectuals,

knowledgeable socio-politico scholars, local academic experts and even

recognized Houthi preachers, the corresponding terms are; Shia'izm

(Altashayu'), Shia'ization (Altashyee'); Iran and Twelverism.

This leads us to believe that there exists a form of clandestine understanding

between Houthi leadership and Iran with its expansionist ideals through the use

of Shia dogma. This couldn't have just sprouted out of the ground from

nowhere. There must have been interest parties, power struggles and long-term

deliberations that need to be deciphered.17

Hence, the purpose of this second part of the study will focus on Iranian

engagement alone.

To begin with, the Arabs, as a civilization, are known for their fondness of

poetry. From the beginning of time, they used it, and still do, for all purposes of

life, be it to describe emotion or to display positions towards a tribal elder, a

lover or an enemy. They use it to reveal truth, to teach, to tell stories and to

publicize their achievements, their conquests and their desires.

Thus, it was important to search for prominent poems of the nineties to draw an

appropriate sketch for the Yemen.1819202122

Consequently, a three verse sonnet was revealed that is used to this day, in

different forms, at many a public speech23

:

"Inform Fahad and the Spinster Palaces that we are valiant gallant Sayeds,

16

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Z5bAv7yN8Q viewed on February 21, 2015 17

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58nkbwAZrZI viewed on February 23, 2015 18

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TuLjBSqZaE8 viewed on February 2, 2015 19

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGZfmexkn1g viewed on February 16, 2015 20

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPUQ_Nobt9Q viewed on February 16, 2015 21

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxq12p0w4nQ viewed on February 16, 2015 22

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_I3AGMTBao viewed on February 16, 2015 23

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TuLjBSqZaE8 viewed on February 2, 2015

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We shall return to dominion adorned in a prophet's cloak or that of Marx,

And if the Hijaz lets down the Najd, for we have noble brethren in Persia"24

To evaluate this sonnet and to recover its authenticity in explaining the

situation in the Yemen and how it is relevant to the rise of Houthism, one must

delve back into history. And so the story beginnings…

After years of struggle over supremacy, geographic borders and natural

resources, the unification of the Yemen officially took place on May 22, 1990

under the leadership of President Ali Abdullah Saleh and Vice President Ali

Salim Al-Beeth.

The People's Democratic Republic of Yemen and the less enlightened, less

endowed, Yemen Arab Republic that both shared northern borders with the

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia had now become the Republic of Yemen.25

But the then Vice President, Ali Salim Al-Beeth, who currently resides in the

Sultanate of Oman, wanted more than just a secondary role in governance. He

wanted to become a ruler and the unification process was still very young and

could easily be attacked. To fight for division once again would make his

wishes come true, but he needed to find strong local and regional allies to

support his aspirations, in addition to a means of gaining power. Finding such a

rhetoric that would be viable to a complicated population, which had already

divorced Marxism, was a far stretch. But as history shows, religion has always

been one of the best controllers of the masses.

So at the hype of it all, Sayed Badruddin bin Ameeruddin Al-Houthi sided with

Ali Salim Al-Beeth, who 'let it be known' was a Sayed himself, making them

cousins somewhere across the sacrosanct tree of holy lineage.

Sayed Badruddin used the 'Al-Istifa' concept to promote Al-Beeth as a

competent ruler for an independent country in the south.2627

Needless to say that

24

http://vb.khutabaa.com/printthread.php?t=3396&pp=40&page=3 viewed on February 2, 2015 25

Whitaker, Brian, http://www.al-bab.com/yemen/birthofmodernyemen/bmy2.htm viewed on February 5, 2015

Researched and Written by Nancy Jamal

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the 'Al-Istifa' concept and the new Republic had both come to life, surprisingly

months apart.

The official spokesperson for the Houthi 'political' movement, Mohammed Al-

Bakhaiti said that the Houthi movement emphasized the need for grassroots

transformation that would impact public opinion to ensure the sustainability of

unification28

. He quoted "Our ideological idiom stresses the importance of

unity for the entire Islamic nation; hence we cannot support division in the

Yemen. Nevertheless, we believe that unification cannot be sustained through

force and it should happen willingly.29

Evidently, there was a marriage between a Socialist driven Al-Beeth and the

Houthis to create a leftist bloc to jointly infiltrate government.

It started with the socialists running the show and the Houthis following suite,

but today, more than twenty years down the line "We find that the Socialists

have taken an inferior role and the Imamites of the Houthi movement are in the

lead" quoted a Saa'da based political researcher, Ghaeb Hawas.30

Still the bloc needed a regional power, one with an abundance of wealth and

resources that would be willing to support and finance their mission and help

them realize their dream to 'Divide and conquer'.

Given that Houthism with its focus on the superiority of the Prophet's lineage

had much in common with Shia theology that was at the heart of Khomeini's

revival, it was only natural for the Leftist bloc to enter into a polygamous three-

way marriage with Iran.313233

26

https://www.academia.edu/10425966/The_Rise_of_Houthism_in_the_Happy_Yemen_ viewed on February 5, 2015 27

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TuLjBSqZaE8 viewed on February 5, 2015 28

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7I_fl1lqC4 viewed on February 9, 2015 29

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TuLjBSqZaE8 viewed on February 5, 2015 30

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TuLjBSqZaE8 viewed on February 5, 2015 31

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Z5bAv7yN8Q viewed on February 21, 2015 32

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7I_fl1lqC4 viewed on February 8, 2015 33

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TuLjBSqZaE8 viewed on February 3, 2015

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Many a tale has spread regarding the relationship between the Grand

Ayatollah's in Iran and the Yemen's Leftist Bloc in both its Socialist and Houthi

divisions.34

To clarify this, historically, "Shia'ism has had the strongest fractural power in

the world. There is no group in history that has an inherent cultural and

ideological capability to divide as do the Shia" quoted Editor in Chief of

Nashwan News, Adel Al-Ahmadi.35

There is endless footage of interviews that discuss this in detail. Some

raconteurs go to the extent of saying that Houthism isn't a third party in the

marriage but a product of it, thereby, implying that Sayed Badruddin Al-Houthi

during his extended stint in Qum,36

was employed by Iran to spread Shia'ism in

the Yemen37

, through its Zaidi minority, to promote Al-Beeth's plan and hence

serve Iran's hegemonic ambitions in the region.383940

Director of the International Terrorism program at the Italian Center for the

Study of Political Islam, Ludovico Carlino wrote that in December 2012

"Despite repeated claims that the movement was inherently religious and not

interested in the political game, Al-Malik announced his willingness to join the

political arena41

."

This statement came after the group had already declared its controversial

constitution under the name 'Alwatheeqa Alfikriya Walthaqafiya' on February

10, 2012.42

34

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=reOkdRlpwiY viewed on February 5, 2015 35

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TuLjBSqZaE8 viewed on February 5, 2015 36

https://www.academia.edu/4818151/A_Portrait_of_Tunisia_s_Ansar_al-_Shari_a_Leader_Abu_Iyad_al-Tunisi_His_Strategy_on_Jihad viewed on February 12, 2015 37

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qi9RLr2mEYg viewed on January 25, 2015 38

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qi9RLr2mEYg viewed on January 25, 2015 39

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1QNh0RDdRcE viewed on February 12, 2015 40

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXZG0kwGiW8 viewed on February 16, 2015 41

https://www.academia.edu/4818151/A_Portrait_of_Tunisia_s_Ansar_al-_Shari_a_Leader_Abu_Iyad_al-Tunisi_His_Strategy_on_Jihad viewed on February 12, 2015 42

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPUQ_Nobt9Q viewed on February 16, 2015

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It was signed by Sayed Abdulmalik Al-Houthi together with popular Zaidi

scholars of the Jaroudi branch that had previously refuted Houthi thought in its

beginnings.

According to Dr. Abdulhameed Al-Nahmi, an academic researcher in the field

of religious groups and sects, it is this very document that illustrated the

specific characteristics of Houthi creed that were until then still ambiguous.43

Dissecting the Houthi identity from this particular document showed that in

order to legitimize their call for delegitimizing the rule of a non-Sayed, they

adopted their creed from the Mu'tazilites and their beliefs on governance from

the Kharijites, their jurisprudence from the Hanafis and their particular beliefs

on the rights of Imama and Ahl'ulbait from Shia Twelverism and Jaroudi

Zaidism, said a research scholar on Zaidi thought, Zayed Jaber.4445

From Sana'a University, Dr. Ahmed Al-Dagshi acknowledges that it is due to

this incoherent system that the Houthis used to define themselves that he

changed, over time, his definition and understanding of the group, in addition

to his personal stance from its religious and political character.46

Houthi scholars later ventured into re-interpreting the Holy Quran, the basis of

Islamic thought, to feed their objectives and refused to refer to the 'sunna,'

being the life of the Prophet Muhammad PPBUH, as a means of

interpretation47

. Indeed, they considered Sunni Scholars who do use it as non-

believers 'Kafirs,' as are all other monotheistic religions.48

Albeit, they used the day of Ghadeer49505152

as the date on which the Prophet

Muhammad PPBUH, declared that the 'Imama' should only ever go to Imam

43

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPUQ_Nobt9Q viewed on February 16, 2015 44

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ROXzmKQNeU viewed on March 3, 2015 45

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPUQ_Nobt9Q viewed on February 16, 2015 46

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPUQ_Nobt9Q viewed on February 16, 2015 47

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZC0FjO7k58s viewed on March 3, 2015 48

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtuKbIVXujc viewed on February 14, 2015 49

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y56nx8xHpBw viewed on February 14, 2015 50

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-77I1U9I9g viewed on February 14, 2015 51

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyC1NwV-kkA viewed on February 22, 2015

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Ali53

and his lineage and named it the day of Wilaya, or governance54

. This

date was marked and publicly celebrated for the first time ever in 2011 just

outside Sa'daa, closer towards Sana'a.55

This was a new chapter. Houthi leadership was calling for creating a theocratic

monarchy that would ensure that governance would remain within the Houthi

lineage from then on. Their selected ideological preacher, Sayed Mohammed,

another one of Sayed Badruddin's sons, began to advocate that authority should

continue within his father's lineage alone, as opposed to the entire sacred

bloodline of the Prophet Muhammad PPBUH. He did this by narrating

dramatic stories of what his family had gone through to bring this sect to life in

order to benefit mankind and comparing their tale to the Imam Hussein's

tragedy.56

The constitution exposed the true identity of Houthism. It stressed that it went

against the very basis of justice and equality for all57

said Lawyer Khalid Al-

Anisi that described himself as a political activist, as it affirmed in ink that

given the 'Al-Istifa' concept, governance should remain within the pedigree of

the Houthis alone and God Almighty had appointed them, and only them,

amongst all Muslims, as the chosen ones to carry the teachings of the holy

book.

The depth of Houthi rationale remained unknown, but evidence of adorning a

black turban looking crown, at this stage, was readily apparent.58

Needless to

say that the extent of the Houthis' covert operations could be depicted through

modern Iranian politics and the portrait of how present day structures were set

to make the clergy rise to power through much the same way.596061

52

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4IBkgt2K1M viewed on February 20, 2015 53

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GqlELVY373w viewed on February 22, 2015 54

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M2xVvTNZDB8 viewed on January 22, 2015 55

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPUQ_Nobt9Q viewed on March 3, 2015 56

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPUQ_Nobt9Q viewed on February 16, 2015 57

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPUQ_Nobt9Q viewed on February 16, 2015 58

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPUQ_Nobt9Q viewed on February 16, 2015 59

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Jk4a5La_mo viewed on March 3, 2015

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Despite Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah's claim in Ramadhan of 2009 that

there was no formal, nor informal relationship with the Houthi's in the Yemen

because the geographic distance made it impossible for there to ever be one,62

in 2011 Hezbollah's Almanar TV channel celebrated when the Ashoora rituals

were performed out in the open in the Zaidi capital Sa'daa, for the very first

time since the 1960's.63

Thus, making it obvious that there was more to the story than Ali Salim Al-

Beeth's intention to divide and conquer, especially when the socialist party in

Yemen nowadays stands close to non-existent. And so, the once incestuous

threesome had adopted a more customary union of two, whereby the couple

look out for each other and work in a way to promote the interests of both.

As expected, Iran's Supreme Leader's Advisor, Ali Akbar Velayati, hailed the

Houthi militia for being engaged in a “righteous fight.” He wished the Houthis

play the same role in the Yemen, as Hezbollah in Lebanon.64

Interestingly, Iranian clerics were seen at Houthi rituals, black Persian chadors

became the trend and the Farsi language was alive, specifically, during the holy

month of Ashoora; all new themes to the Yemen.65666768

So it wasn't at all

surprising that the Shia Al-Forat TV channel and Al-Alam TV channel, to

name a few, used footage of Houthi rituals to promote the group as Shia

Twelvers6970

. With time, Hezbollah's Al-Manar TV Headquarters in Lebanon

started to run the Houthis' Al-Maseera TV and Aden-Live TV Channels'.71

60

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qi9RLr2mEYg viewed on February 22, 2015 61

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=reOkdRlpwiY viewed on February 5, 2015 62

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DMS9NGRSMw viewed on March 3, 2015 63

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EH_xnmMLLko viewed on March 3, 2015 64

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2014-11-02/gulf-arabs-see-specter-of-iran-in-rise-of-yemen-s-shiite-rebels viewed on February 25, 2015 65

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R77cF65W3mw viewed on March 3, 2015 66

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXZG0kwGiW8 viewed on February 14, 2015 67

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3gRxj9P8AM viewed on March 3, 2015 68

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CRAZqbqnrPk viewed on March 3, 2015 69

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXZG0kwGiW8 viewed on February 14, 2015 70

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GccGUGpZtsY viewed on March 3, 2015 71

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TuLjBSqZaE8 viewed on February 5, 2015

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According to Mukhtar Al-Rahbi, a Yemeni journalist specializing in Houthism;

250 people were sponsored and trained in Lebanon on state of the art media

and universally accepted standards of journalism and human rights activism.

This could only be interpreted as a means of Iranian meddling in matters of the

Yemen, to allow the Houthi administration to execute a fully fledged

communication campaign that would promote the cults objectives and counter

available international propaganda.7273747576

Additionally, another of Sayed Badruddin's sons known as Sayed Yahya was

unofficially appointed as the Houthi's Foreign Minister. Through his years of

residence in Berlin, he was well acquainted with European values and made a

fine choice to converse with the mindset of a Western audience. He went so far

as to announce that the Houthi's, in contrast to their ideological principle,

which they marketed to the Yemeni masses, were not in a position to be

enemies of the United States of America, nor of Israel, nor any other nation.77

It was now out in the open, Iran was not merely a cash cow. Iran was in it for

the long run. This was an investment. This new equation would pave the way

for further interference in local affairs, politics, religion, society and

demographics. The face of Yemen, as we know it, would change.

Just recently, U.S. Secretary of State, John Kerry confirmed that he had no

doubt that Iranian support to the Houthi rebels had played a big part in their

expansion,78

something the Gulf Arabs had been saying for decades.79

The import of weapons and money transfers was ongoing. An Iranian ship

named 'Jihan 1' was seized in 2013 smuggling all sorts of weaponry and heavy

72

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nyMfCEFmJqc viewed on March 3, 2015 73

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtuKbIVXujc viewed on February 14, 2015 74

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58nkbwAZrZI viewed on February 23, 2015 75

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TuLjBSqZaE8 viewed on February 3, 2015 76

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVNogjsw468 viewed on March 3, 2015 77

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVNogjsw468 viewed on March 3, 2015 78

http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/iran-surprised-houthi-yemen-takeover-kerry-24591234 viewed February 25, 2015 79

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2014-11-02/gulf-arabs-see-specter-of-iran-in-rise-of-yemen-s-shiite-rebels viewed February 25, 2015

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artillery to Houthi militias.80

This has not stopped. A senior Iranian official

confirmed that the Revolutionary Guard's 'Quds Force' had sent hundreds of

military personnel to train Houthi militias.81

With all this and much more taking place, under the very nose of the

international community, it can only be concluded that through foreign

dictation, via deceptive, violent and devious political tactics, this marriage of

convenience had accomplished one religious scholar's aspirations to dominate

the southern stretch.

As strife increases in the Yemen, the narrative deepens. The Houthis have

become a power to be reckoned with, and so, wherever they stem from,

whatever their purpose and future will be, it is crucial to remain conscious that

the main principle of their existence is "God is Great, God is Great, Death unto

America, Death unto Israel, Cursed are the Jews, Triumph be to Islam".8283

- End of Part Two -

80

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/12/15/us-yemen-houthis-iran-insight-idUSKBN0JT17A20141215 viewed on February 24, 2015 81

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/12/15/us-yemen-houthis-iran-insight-idUSKBN0JT17A20141215 viewed on February 24, 2015 82

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVNogjsw468 viewed on March 3, 2015 83

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M2xVvTNZDB8 viewed on January 22, 2015