Qualla: Saada https://qualla.com/saada en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:29 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/s/g/p/0/saada-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: Saada https://qualla.com/saada Saada: Introduction https://qualla.com/saada/ Photo credit Bernard Gagnon, CC BY-SA 3.0. In 897, a theologian from Medina named Yahya bin Hassan came to northwest Yemen to mediate tribal conflicts and ended up founding a city. The tribes of Saada and Howran had invited him. When he settled their disputes, they gave him their allegiance and the title Imam Hadi, the guiding leader. The dynasty he founded lasted from 893 to 1962, over a thousand years, the longest in Yemeni history. The city he built, Saada, is still here. Its walls are still three kilometers around and four meters thick, with 52 watchtowers and 16 gates. The Imam Hadi Mosque inside them is considered the oldest Shiite mosque on the Arabian Peninsula.

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Image: Bernard Gagnon | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Thu, 23 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/g/p/0/saada-wp/sgp0-saada-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Saada: A City at 1,800 Meters https://qualla.com/saada/ Photo credit LBM1948, CC BY-SA 4.0. Saada sits in the Serat mountains of northwest Yemen at an altitude of roughly 1,800 meters, a Horst of ancient crystalline rock lifted between desert basins on either side. The climate is dry and cool by Arabian standards. The city has been part of the map since the Ma'in Kingdo...

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Image: LBM1948 | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Thu, 23 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/g/p/0/saada-wp/sgp0-saada-a-city-at-1-800-meters.mp3 0:06 2 full Saada: Imam Hadi and the Rassid Dynasty https://qualla.com/saada/ Photo credit Dar_al_hajar.jpg: Antti Salonen derivative work: MrPanyGoff, CC BY-SA 3.0. Al-Qasim al-Rassi, a Medinan scholar from the Ras Hills (hence Rassi, 'one who lives in the Ras Hills'), was a descendant of Hasan ibn Ali and the man who formulated the theology of Zaidism. His grandson Yahya bin Hassan brought the teaching to northern Yemen. When the tribes bes...

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Image: Dar_al_hajar.jpg: Antti Salonen derivative work: MrPanyGoff | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Thu, 23 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/g/p/0/saada-wp/sgp0-saada-imam-hadi-and-the-rassid-dynasty.mp3 0:06 3 full Saada: The Rock Art Outside the Walls https://qualla.com/saada/ Photo credit Bernard Gagnon, CC BY-SA 3.0. Beyond the Yemen Gate, a cluster of large rocks carries Neolithic carvings of ibex, now-extinct wild animals, and human figures. These are Yemen's oldest rock art. Nearby sits an ancient cistern. Inside the walls, a mountain of iron-ore slag remains from ancient workshops, the mi...

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Image: Bernard Gagnon | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Thu, 23 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/g/p/0/saada-wp/sgp0-saada-the-rock-art-outside-the-walls.mp3 0:06 4 full Saada: A Jewish Community, Long Resident https://qualla.com/saada/ Photo credit 13th century artist, Public domain. For centuries, Saada was also one of the principal settlements of Yemeni Jews. At the beginning of the 19th century, about 1,000 Jews lived here, most of them merchants and silversmiths whose craft was integral to the city's economy. Yemeni Jewish silverwork was famous across the...

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Image: 13th century artist | Public domain

]]> Thu, 23 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/g/p/0/saada-wp/sgp0-saada-a-jewish-community-long-resident.mp3 0:06 5 full Saada: The Houthi Birthplace https://qualla.com/saada/ Photo credit No machine-readable author provided. Raf24~commonswiki assumed (based on copyright claims)., CC BY-SA 3.0. The Houthi movement, formally Ansar Allah, was founded here in 1992 as Youth of Belief by Hussein al-Houthi, a religious and military leader from a local Zaydi family. He argued that the Saleh government was letting Wahhabi influence from Saudi Arabia erode Zaydi life in the nort...

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Image: No machine-readable author provided. Raf24~commonswiki assumed (based on copyright claims). | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Thu, 23 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/g/p/0/saada-wp/sgp0-saada-the-houthi-birthplace.mp3 0:06 6 full Saada: Under the Airstrikes https://qualla.com/saada/ Photo credit Julien Harneis from Sana'a, Yemen, CC BY-SA 2.0. Since the Saudi-led coalition intervened in Yemen in March 2015, Saada and the surrounding governorate have been among the most heavily bombed areas of the country. The coalition at various points designated the entire governorate a military zone. The ancient Imam Hadi Mosque was...

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Image: Julien Harneis from Sana'a, Yemen | CC BY-SA 2.0

]]> Thu, 23 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/g/p/0/saada-wp/sgp0-saada-under-the-airstrikes.mp3 0:06 7 full