The following piece was written by Tina Zorman from
Eternal Yemen Tours, exclusively for Yemen Today, October 2012
As you head
south of Sana'a, the winding road takes you over the high mountain passes and
descends into verdant valleys, which guide you to the green and fertile Ibb
Governorate. Trying to find your way in
the chaotic traffic of the suburbs of Ibb you will feel that it must truly be
one of the most densely populated areas in Yemen. As you turn right of the main road it’s a
relief when you exit the city and leave the millions of blaring horns behind. Our
destination is Jibla, which lies 9km away from Ibb, nestled between the two
wadis and fertile fields of sorghum and other cereals. Jibla is a small town today, almost unknown
because of its much bigger neighbor, Ibb. On the contrary, in 11th century,
Jibla was the capital of Sulayhi dynasty, that gave Yemen one of the most peaceful
and prosperous periods in its history.
A view over Jibla
Once you negotiate
the traffic of new Jibla, you will have a view over the old houses leaning on
the hillside. Your approach to the town will be via the ancient, stone paved
road, taking you over an elegant, small, stone bridge into to the picturesque town,
where your driver can rest under the shaddow of the old ficus tree. The local
youngsters will meet and greet you and offer to be your guides. However, discovering
Jiblah with Eternal Yemen can be a great experience, as our guide Reima, a local
girl in her early twenties, speaks several foreign languages and invites you to
her home. Reima, her father, and her numerous brothers and sisters are our old
friends and as she always says »your friends are my friends«, so our clients
are always warmly welcomed in her home.
HISTORY:
Jibla supposedly
already existed at the beginning of our era, during the time of the Himyarite Kingdom,
as some remains from that time have been found on Jabal Takar, a mountain located
behind Jibla. However, the town was small and insignificant until the moment
when Sayyida bint Ahmed, known also as Queen Arwa settled there in 11th
century.
Queen Arwa was a
Queen of the Sulayhi dynasty who followed the Fatimid branch of Ismaili Islam
(basically they were Shi'a who recognized the Caliphs who were descendant of
Prophet Mohammed's daughter Fatima). At the beginning of 11th century Ali al
Sulayhi, the founder of Sulayhi dynasty started to spread this ideology deep in
the Haraz Mountains, near Jabal Masar, due to oppression by the Zaydis and
Sunnis in the cities. After 20 years of proselytizing his religion, he accumulated
enough followers to proclaim the faith he followed as the right one. He proceeded
to conquer Sana'a, and become a king and his family ruled from Sana'a as vassals
of the Egyptian Fatimids.
After the death
of her parents, King Ali as Sulayhi and his wife Queen Asma adopted their niece
Sayyida bint Ahmed (later Queen Arwa: 1048 - 1138). She was a tall, white skinned,
bright girl of a good health and a honest, pure-heart personality. She was a keen
student and was raised and taught in their palace in what is today's old Sana'a
city, with Queen Asma being her most influential teacher. She didn’t neglect to
teach Sayyida that the wife of a king is not intended to sit passively next to
her husband, but expected to actively help him in his duties as a ruler. Sayyida
loved reading, poetry and history and later in her life also became a writer. Once
Sayyida revealed her dreams to her aunt and said that she dreamt that she was
cleaning the palace, Queen Asma recognized in her niece the future leader and
said that she will be the one to cleanse the palace of corruption.
Sayyida bint Ahmed
married her cousin, Mukarram, the son of Queen Asma and King Ali. It is reputed
that her dowry was the yearly amount of revenue of the port city of Aden. They
had 4 children, 2 boys and 2 girls. The boys passed away at an early age, and
the girls followed a while later. When King Ali was murdered by the Najahids,
the rival dynasty that ruled from Zabid, his son Mukarram assumed rulership. It
is said that he was not a strong ruler and many times he turned for advice to
his mother Asma. Queen Asma knew that her daughter in law, Sayyida Bint Ahmed
had a much stronger personality and said prior to her death Sayyida should be
the ruler of the kingdom. Some speculate that after the death of his mother,
Mukarram started to drink heavily and passed on the reigns to his wife (according
to some theories his face also was paralyzed). This was a unique event, as
there were not many female rulers in the Islamic world.
The remains of "The First Palace"
Sayyida bint Ahmed,
now a queen, was tired of intrigues and militaristic behavior of the Sanaani
people and the growing pressure of Zaydis from the north, so she moved to
Jibla, a tiny town situated in the midst of fields. She found herself much more
at ease among the peasants of Jibla and started her new life as a Queen there.
She was an intelligent, wise and modest ruler, widely popular among her people during
her time right up until now. She was
also the first and the last woman in history of Ismailism to obtain the high
rank of hujja, the leader of religious community (dawa) in particular
region, in the Ismaili hierarchy. The Fatimid Caliph at that time had put Queen
Arwa in charge of the affairs in the Ismaili dawa in western India and she has played a crucial role in spreading
Ismailism in the Indian subcontinent. As a result, a new Ismaili community
was established in Gujarat, India, in 1067-1068 and this played an important
role in future economic relation between India and Yemen. In addition, under
her rule, most of the Ismaili texts from the Fatimid Ismailism were preserved. During
the same period, the Ismaili world was split by two schisms and eventually the
Ismaili community from Yemen and Gujarat in India were known as Tayyibi
Ismailis. The last spiritual ruler of this community is Dr. Mohammed
Burhanuddin who renewed the connections between the community in Yemen and
India. These days many Indian pilgrims come to Yemen, on the occasions being the last days of Shabaan, the month before
the Holy month of Ramadan.
When she moved
to Jibla, she transformed the existing palace into the mosque and then built a new
palace which was called Dar al Izz al Auwal, or »The First Palace". Today one
can have a great view over the remains of this palace from the Great mosque (many
times called also Queen Arwa’s mosque), but nobody is sure whether these are the
remains of the original palace or some later palace, erected on the same
location.
When she moved to Jibla, she
transformed the existing palace into the mosque and then built a new palace which
was called Dar al Izz al Auwal, or »The First Palace.
She believed in
equality of the sexes and it was during the time of her rule that several
schools and mosques for the girls were established in Jibla. She took care of agriculture
and ordered the construction of terraces. In the time of her rule, several aqueducts
were built that brought water to Jibla, the surrounding villages, and also to
the Islamic center Yifrus, which lies 50 km south of Jibla. Water and water
distribution were important tasks for her and she also wrote 2 books, one on
irrigation and one on aquatic plants. As a result she got a nick name Arwa,
which means a quencher of water, which later became her historical name. Being
educated and a poet herself, she was also a supporter of the arts.
People admired their Queen, as she spent the wealth of the country on the well-being
of the people. She was always among them, and when you walk along the tiny
streets near Queen Arwa's mosque, Reima will show you where the Queen was supposed
to have greeted her people in the market.
Of course she
had to contend with problems as well, such as the constant battles with
Najahids, the rulers of hot Tihama. She has used her wit and wisdom, to
eliminate one of the Najahid rulers and thus managed to avenge the death of her
uncle, King Ali. After the death of her husband, one of her generals tried to
marry her, but she repeatedly refused. He attempted to use deceit and
entrapment to force her into marriage, but his acts only worsened the situation.
He never won her heart and her constant public refusals humiliated him so much
that he finally gave up. The Sulayhi dynasty ended in 1038 with the death of
Queen Arwa, it’s most remarkable leader.
Yemenis are
really proud of this extraordinary woman and sometimes they call her little
Bilquis, as she was the second female ruler in Yemen's written history. It is
not a coincidence that so many girls in Jibla are named Arwa and that several
educational institutions and support groups across Yemen adopted the name of
this great queen.
HOUSES: Jibla’s houses are 800-900 years old, built from the local
greyish, brown stone and tightly packed on a hillside. Most of the houses have 3
floors, occasionally some are higher, but they always host only one family. At
the lowest floor, the families keep their agricultural tools and their goats
and sheep. The first floor is usually the diwan, a living room, where
they host visitors or chew qat in the afternoon. In higher floors there are
rooms for men and rooms for women and usually near the top of the house there
is a kitchen that allows the smoke to rise out of the house and into the air. Most of Jibla’s inhabitants live a simple
life and Reima’s family is no exception. Her family certainly differs from the
others, as they are less conservative and they don’t mind to host groups of
mixed sexes of foreign visitors in their living room. If you will visit the
family in the afternoon, you will always meet Reima’s father in their small, cozy
living room, chewing his daily bunch of qat and smoking tobacco from a madda,
a Yemeni waterpipe. You will be offered delicious, sweet tea, infused with cardamom
and cinnamon. Maybe you will be invited to the upper floors where the rooms are
much simpler, with only plastic covering the muddy floors. Reima is always
ready for a chat and you
Jibla’s houses are 800-900 years old,
built from the local greyish, brown stone and tightly packed on a hillside.
can actually choose
the language that you want to converse in as she is fluent in English, German,
Italian, French, Spanish and Arabic. This is a remarkable achievement as she
has learnt all these languages solely by working with tourists, with the
exception of German for which she attended a course in Sana’a. Reima is currently
studying at the University in Ibb, and she has many ambitions and doesn’t plan
to get married soon. Getting her education is her first priority as she is aware
that education will open many doors for her.
THE MOSQUE OF
QUEEN ARWA: When Queen Arwa moved to Jibla, she converted
the existing palace into the mosque in 1088 AD. Apart from being a religious
institution, the mosque has also served as a medressa, a school for
young boys and girls. Queen Arwa had a room in the southern wing, where she spent
a lot of time reading and writing her books. During the 17th
century, the public toilets and bathrooms became part of the mosque. The Great Mosque
is still active today and there is Koranic school attached to it. The mosque
has an inner courtyard with a round ablution pool, followed by a columned
covered yard, while the most northern part of the complex is the mosque itself.
Generally the mosque complex design is simple, as is often in Yemen, however it
has beautiful stucco decorations (in gypsum) with an especially impressive
decoration of mihrab, a niche in the mosque which indicates the
direction of Mecca.
The inner courtyard of Queen Arwa's mosque
Nowadays visitors
can reach the mosque from the northern side after climbing the steps that leads
to the mosque from the market area. From there you have a wonderful view over
the town, the remains of the palace Dar al Iz and over the Sheikh Yacoob’s
mosque among other things. The beautifully carved wooden doors that lead to the
mosques’s courtyard are original and are estimated to be approximately 950
years old. There are two minarets, the white one is supposed to date from the
beginning of the mosque’s existence, while the one constructed of red bricks
and gypsum decorations is around 500 years old. As many reconstructions have
been carried out on the mosque in the past few years, your local guide will
tell you from which entrance you are allowed to enter. The main attraction of
the mosque
The main attraction of the mosque is
beautifully carved tomb of Queen Arwa, decorated with Koranic inscriptions.
is beautifully
carved tomb of Queen Arwa, decorated with Koranic inscriptions. Several times
in history extremists from other religious groups tried to damage the tomb, because
they considered the Ismaili faith heretic. Usually only Muslims are allowed to
enter a mosque, while non-Muslim tourists can sometimes only have a look at the
courtyard and a brief look at the interior of the mosque from the entrance. At
Eternal Yemen we can arrange for our visitors to enter for a moment and have a
closer look at Queen Arwa’s mosque, or you can simply sit on the stairs in the
inner courtyard and enjoy the peace in the presence of local elders praying or reading
the Qura’an.
Beautifully carved mihrab in Queen Arwa's mosque
QUEEN ARWA’S
MUSEUM: This little museum hosts several items
which belonged to Queen Arwa. There are many photographs and on the second
floor there is a script which proclaims that she was such a great queen that
Kings would be ashamed to stand next to her. The upper floor has many
photographs of Baptists who worked in Jiblah hospital for past few decades.
Until today, Jiblah hospital is known to be amongst the best in the region, as
many foreign doctors work there; from the USA, the Netherlands and Russia.
There was an incident in 1995, when three American doctors in the hospital were
killed during a terrorist attack, however this is not mentioned in the museum.
All this
history, with a remarkable female ruler, has left Jibla’s inhabitants proud of
their home town and Jibla’s girls more ambitious then in many other places in
Yemen. Reima is a bright example of an ambitious, bright young girl and such
girls are the future of this country.
Reima (on the right) and me (Tina Zorman)
“Discover
Jibla with Eternal Yemen“
“Create
your eternal travel tale with us”
www.eternal –yemen.com
info@eternal-yemen.com
