The Yemeni Hashed tribe, one of the most politically and militarily influential tribes since the fall of the Imamate and the proclamation of the republican regime in the north of the country in 1962. Since the outbreak of the war in Yemen in March 2015 between the Houthi group and the Yemeni government supported by the Saudi-led coalition, the tribe has been present strongly, as it constitutes Its men are the largest force on both sides of the war.

Then the Yemeni Hashed tribe returned to the fore again with the departure of its sheikh, Sadiq al-Ahmar, on January 6, 2023, who inherited the leadership of the tribe after the pledge of allegiance was held in 2008 in the city of Khamer in Amran Governorate, north of Sana’a, to succeed his father Abdullah bin Hussein al-Ahmar, the deceased. The end of 2007, who was also one of the most prominent tribal and Yemeni figures who influenced the political scene.

History

The Hashid tribes - along with the Bakil Batni tribes - constitute the Hamedan tribes that descend from ancient times. Omran.

According to the sources, the historical role of the tribe began since it supported the Zaidi call that came with Imam al-Hadi at the end of the third century AH, and it was a land for making the history of successive imams by supporting or fighting them.

The tribe also had a supportive role for the imams who led the successive revolutions against the Ottomans, but the relationship with them became strained after their marginalization of the tribes following the "Da'an" peace treaty between Imam Yahya Hamid al-Din and the Ottoman administration in 1911.

The two sides clashed in a war that ended with the imam subjugating the tribe to his influence, but the conflict between its leaders did not end, as the tribe responded with a prominent role in the 1962 revolution that ended the rule of the imama in Yemen, after nearly a thousand years of rule.

habitat

The Hashid tribe extends from the Sanhan district, south of the capital, Sana'a, to the south of Saada Governorate in northern Yemen, and from Al-Jawf Governorate in the east to Tihama in the west.

The province of Amran constitutes the historical stronghold of the tribe, and the Bani Sarim tribe is considered the largest clan of the Hashid tribes, in addition to the Kharif, Al-Aseemat and Athr tribes. Under these tribes, several tribes branch out, in addition to other Yemeni tribes that united with them.

After the establishment of the Republic, most of the men of the tribe moved to live in the capital, Sana'a.

population

The men of the tribe are keen to uphold their tribal heritage and rules, which they are proud of among the Yemenis, including their carrying of arms.

There is no clear data on the number of the tribe's population, who are classified as young, and most of them belong to the Zaidi sect. However, the decline in interest in education among the tribe prompted most of them to join the army, security, and militias.

The state of army for the members of the tribe opened an easy door for its sons, who were trained to fight, since its active participation during the war between the royalists and the republicans after the 1962 revolution, and it was present and active in the wars, except for a small percentage of it that went to trade or to enroll in education and public office.

Recently, the Houthi group employed the tribesmen decisively in its control of the capital, Sana'a, since September 2014, and after that the war that continues to this day.

Fighters loyal to the military commander Hashem Abdullah al-Ahmar from the Hashid tribe (French)

Leaders and symbols

During the modern era, the Al-Ahmar family emerged strongly by confronting the rulers of the Imamate, and some of its members were subjected to execution, and others were forced to leave the country, before the most prominent face in the family, Abdullah bin Hussein Al-Ahmar (born in 1932), returned and led the tribe to actively participate in the 1962 revolution and the ensuing war. between monarchists and republicans.

After the Republicans won the battle, Sheikh Abdullah emerged as one of the most influential men in the Yemeni political scene and clashed a lot with the leaders of Yemen, but he remained strong and present at the head of his tribe alongside the other historical leaders of the Bakil tribe.

During that period, Al-Ahmar held the position of a member of the Presidency Council, Minister of Interior 3 times, Chairman of the National Council that drafted the Yemeni constitution, Speaker of the Shura Council from 1971 to 1975, Speaker of the House of Representatives since 1993 and Chairman of the Supreme Committee of the Islah Party from its founding in 1990 until his death.

Al-Ahmar pushed for the rise of the late President Ali Abdullah Saleh to power in 1987, following the assassination of Presidents Ibrahim Al-Hamdi and Ahmed Al-Ghashmi, respectively, in less than a year. During Saleh’s rule until Al-Ahmar’s death in 2007, the two men remained allies.

This relationship allowed the Hashid tribe to infiltrate state institutions.

With the death of Sheikh Abdullah in 2007, the role of the tribe declined, although most of the leaders of North and unified Yemen belonged to it, including Saleh, who pushed other tribal leaders to compete with Sadiq al-Ahmar, who held the positions of a member of Parliament and the Shura Council.

Subsequently, tribal leaders emerged competing with the Al-Ahmar family, such as Sheikh Ali Hamid Jlidan, Sheikh Adel Hammoud Atef, Sheikh Abu Halfa, and others, most of whom did not hold positions in the state.

Tribal fighters loyal to the Al-Ahmar family while guarding a street that witnessed clashes with government forces in Sana'a in late 2011 (Reuters)

The customs and laws of the tribe

Although the Houthis targeted the Hashid tribe and terrorized its men, whether by blowing up the buildings of the Al-Ahmar family or killing the sheikhs who supported Ali Abdullah Saleh in his war against the group, the group preferred to deal with the tribe according to its laws at the expense of the laws of the state.

And the laws of tribal reconciliation have returned, which is a temporary truce in which the right holder is obligated to stop any war activity against his opponent for whatever reasons, in addition to the cessation, which is for the tribe to mobilize a large force with a group of allied tribes against other tribes if something necessitates fighting, but recently it is no longer exists.

Among the tribal customs in Hashid is the “community” (meaning the individual’s commitment to the tribe financially or morally), he has what they have and he owes what they owe, good and bad, whatever the circumstances.

The tribe has other prominent customs, including “abandonment”, which is the sacrifices sacrificed to the victim as a restitution for the mistakes committed against him, and “arbitration”, which is the consent of two opposing or different parties or opponents to delegate personalities who have tribal weight and have experience in tribal rulings and customs and enjoy neutrality to resolve their differences.

As for the "justice", it is weapons or funds placed with a third party to ensure the implementation of the court's ruling, while the "guarantors" are persons who undertake the implementation of the rulings.

Among the norms is also the “blood of the tribe”, which is the dead or the slain who demands his companions to take revenge for him from the killer, and it is called the debt that must be required, and in contrast comes the “face” and it is a man who presents his face to his opponent with prevention, so the opponent becomes in the face and protection of whoever seeks revenge from him, whatever the reasons. And the reasons, such as when someone says to another, you are in my face, and he becomes under his protection.

And the “disgrace of the tribe” is the commission of the crime of murder without guilt, or the killing begins during a period of peace or a truce, and treachery of all kinds. As for “aman”, it is giving the covenant or face not to attack the seeker of safety, whether by means of reconciliation, or directly in a state of war. .

political orientations of the tribe

At the beginning of the 20th century, the struggle between the Hashid tribe and the imama was a regular feature of political life until the overthrow of the imama's rule, after which the tribe was the most important actor during the civil war, and its men had a strong influence within the new army of the republic.

Tribal leaders used tribal laws to negotiate an end to the conflict during the civil war, and 3 national reconciliation conferences were held that contributed to ending the civil war and contributed to strengthening the influence of the tribe.

The tribe, along with other tribes, formed the Supreme Council of Sheikhs, which merged with the country's legislative authority, giving tribal elders great influence in drafting the republic's constitution, which was announced in 1970 and guaranteed the tribe's influence in the state.

After the rise of Ali Abdullah Saleh - who belongs to the Hashid tribe - to power, he adopted a policy of pacification and granted more power and influence to the sheikhs of the tribe and other tribes, so that they would continue to permeate the administrative, legislative and executive structure and share power and wealth with state institutions.

But the tribal rivalry between the Congress and Islah parties, which have polarized tribesmen politically since 1990, caused a rift and division of the tribe, and the Houthi group invested in it when it took control of the tribe's geography in 2014, and strongly struck the opposition section in the tribe and ensured the loyalty of the other section, which became a human force for the group.