Yemen has entered complete isolation from its Arab and Islamic surroundings; since Imam Yahya Hamid al-Din assumed the throne of power in 1918, and the country entered with him in a very dark period. And all efforts and attempts will fail to open a glimmer of light; to save the country and try to make it join to the world around it.

The isolation was prolonged within a strict policy, especially after fully stabilizing the power for him with the departure of the Turks from Yemen. And here, the country will enter into internal and external wars, and Yemen will lose a lot at all levels.

All attempts to persuade the Imam to abandon his illusory project based on ignorance and superstition have failed. And after decades of dialogues and debates and the exhaustion of all the means of reform and persuasion taken by the liberals, it was necessary to change the regime even by force, the result was the revolution of 1948 (1), it is the point that will reveal the primary role of the pioneers of the Islamic movement, sticking together with other national efforts of Yemeni political organizations and forces.

Major figures played a pivotal role in a series of events that paved the way for the revolution, which had a significant impact on the political and social situation. The martyrs Muhammad Mahmoud al-Zubairi and Ahmad Muhammad al-Nu'man had a clear role in this context since the 1940s.

Means of change in the thought of the Yemeni Reform Movement

The Yemeni Reform Movement has relied on clear concepts in invitation and education, saying what is best, dealing with the rulers with kindness and tenderness and not provoking them or engaging in wars and open confrontations with them. The purpose was not to jump to power and change by force and violence, as it was to achieve a decent living for the people and provide a revel of economic and social stability, which enables them to live in peace and make them in the position of the ability to build the land and to achieve the appointment of a successors in its real sense.

And here, the Yemenis tried in various ways and means to open a glimmer of light and break the isolation imposed on the country. The travel of a number of students for studying in a number of Arab countries such as Egypt and Iraq has had a great impact in discovering the reality between the life lived by their country and the other countries that have made progress and worked to civilize their people. However, Yemen had lived alone there in the south of the Arabian Peninsula without any intellectual or cultural movement and suffered of deadly diseases such as poverty, ignorance and disease.

The purpose of the liberals' position and their struggle in the revolution of 1948 was to reformulate the relationship between the ruler and his citizens, a relationship that limits the arbitrariness imposed on the people over four decades within a backward theocratic system. Many sources and history books mention a number of facts, events and attempts that have been done in various ways with Imam Yahya in order to reverse this backward path that is not appropriate for a people like Yemen, but all attempts were unsuccessful.

In all political stages, the Yemeni Islamic Reform Movement was only an expression of the conscience of the society and its collective mind, and a reflection of its political reality, its religious and values, its intellectual fabric and its social sequence. These characteristics were reflected on the nature and trends of participation. The reform pioneers of the Islamic Movement were automatically engaged in a kind of participation based on co-existence with the regime, authority and politics in the north of Yemen in particular, where the relationship of co-existence was positive and its justifications were based on the identity of the community that the Islamists were trying to fix it and not to be a substitute for it (2).

Abu al-Ahrar Muhammad Mahmoud Al-Zubairi

Muhammad al-Zubairi (1910-1965) is considered one of the most prominent men of the Yemeni Liberal Movement, which confronted the Imamate. He represented the enlightened Islamic line in its brightest manifestations, because he is a poet, revolutionary and politician with a high level of culture and awareness. After his return from Egypt to Yemen in 1941 directly was imprisoned for his first sermon in which he criticized the regime of Imam Yahya and was released only in 1942. Immediately afterwards, al-Zubairi traveled to Taiz, then to Aden and founded a party known as the (Liberal Party) in 1944. Two years later, the party was renamed to be known as (The Greater Yemen Assembly) (1944-1948). Zubairi was the chairman of the Yemeni Union Organization (1953-1962).

Al-Zubairi lived a critical period of the history of Yemen, the period of the Yemeni Mutawakkilite Kingdom (1918-1962), which was known for its many conflicts and revolutions. When the revolution of constitution in 1948 culminated in Yemen, he returned from Aden to Sana'a as a Minister of Knowledge. And when the revolution failed and he became chased by the imam and the Arab countries refused to host him on their lands, he had to travel to Pakistan. When the revolution of September 26 culminated in Yemen in 1962, he again returned as a Minister of Education in the capital Sana'a.

As soon as the revolution of September 26, 1962, which overthrew the rule of Imam Ahmed, the revolutionary officers summoned Zubairi; because of their knowledge that his coming and his participation in the government gave the needed legitimacy to the government, especially the revolution did not dispose of its royal opponents who had many supporters due to the religious and intellectual nature on which it rests.

During his return and cordial reception he received, immediately after that, Zubairi was appointed as a Minister of Knowledge in the Government of the Revolution, and then as a Deputy Prime Minister and a member of the Revolutionary Council until he resigned in 1964CC Once foreign intervention deepened and pushed Yemen towards civil war, Zubairi rushed to conciliation between tribes, and participated in a conciliation conference between the Yemenis in Karash and Amran, in addition to he was appointed the presidency of the Arkuit Conference in Sudan in 1964.

Zubairi came out with some of his companions, including Abdul Malik al-Tayeb, author of the book "History Speaks", who wrote with scientific honesty the history of that period, and Sheikh Abdul Majeed al-Zindani (who was summoned by al-Zubairi from Cairo) and Muhammad al-Fusayil, calling to establishing a party (Hizb Allah), which aimed at finding an awakening to correct the misconceptions created by both the monarchy and the revolution; He said: "Yemen will only regain its dignity on a day when there are at least dozens of strugglers who accept hungry to death, prison to the end of life, the destruction of homes and move to national action based on a victory or death."

Footnotes:

1 - There is controversy about the naming of this event between revolution, uprising and coup, because the three definitions apply to the name of that event (the murder of the smile, Hamid Shahra, p. 15).

2 - Movements of political Islam in the Arab world: reality and future p. 162.

3 - The Party of Yemeni Liberals (Free Encyclopedia).