In this article we investigate the political relations between the Emir of Mecca, Al-Sharif Zaid bin Mohsen, and the Imams of Yemen: Al-Mu'ayyad Muhammad bin Al-Qasim and Al-Mutawakkil Ismail bin Al-Qasim (1077-10421 AH / 1666-1632 AD). To this end, more attention is particularly paid to the political relations between the Sharifs of Mecca and the Imams of Yemen before Al-Sharif Zaid was on the throne of the Mecca Emirate. Against all the odds and scarce literature, the current article highlights the hitherto fact that the relation between the Sharifs of Mecca and the Imams of Yemen was well established given the feasible rationale for this relation to come into existence.

We then explore the relationship between Al-Sharif Zaid and Imam Al-Mu'ayyad Muhammad before Al-Sharif Zaid took over the Emirate of Mecca, and the role of the Imam in supporting him in that early stage of his political career, focusing on the relations between the two men after Al-Sharif Zaid claimed the Emirate of Mecca in 1042 AH/1632 AD, and the reasons explicating why a relation of  such a magnitude went unnoticed in the relevant historical sources, most notably the Ottoman presence in Hijaz and Yemen.

The two men feared the Ottoman Empire, which at the time had regained much of its prestige and power, and worked to strengthen its influence in Hijaz. The relations between the two men eventually ceased due to the attempt of Imam Al-Muayyad to call for himself on the pulpits (manabir) of Mecca, a state of affairs which is evaded by Al-Sharif Zaid.

We also discuss in this study the relationship between Al-Sharif Zaid and Imam Al-Mutawakkil Ismail, and how the tension between the Sharif and the state employees in Mecca helped the relationship between the two men to grow. One of the most prominent features of this flourishing relationship was Al-Sharif Zaid’s exaggeration in celebrating the symbols of Zaidi’s authority figures when they performed Hajj, and the abundance of letters exchanged between them. This was linked to the weakness of the Ottoman state, which made it turn away from caring about the Hijaz, affecting negatively the relationship between him and Al-Sharif Zaid, thereby weakening it significantly. The Ottoman state’s restoration of some of its prestige in the late reign of Al-Sharif Zaid and its interest in Hijaz played a major role in this. One of the most prominent features of the decline in the relationship between the two men was Al-Sharif Zaid’s cessation of celebrating the symbols of Zaidi’s authority figures when performing Hajj.