Islamic schools in Yemen and their relation to terrorism

Islamic schools in Yemen and their relation to terrorism

By Abdulwhed AL-sumae

Introduction

More than four decades have passed since the arrival of hundreds of foreign Salafis to Yemen to study and seek the forensic science and learn Arabic in Salafist sheikhs in a number of Islamic centers located in more than one Yemeni province, most notably the Damaj district in the northern Yemeni province of Saada Which was founded by the late Sheikh Muqbil bin Hadi al-Wadai in 1979.

Dozens of convoys of Salafist students from Arab, Western and Eastern countries arrived in a formal way to seek knowledge at Sheikh Muqbil bin Hadi al-Wada'i's center, and then moved to other centers in the central Yemen crossing area, the southern city of Lahj and other Islamic centers in Marib and Sana'a.

Yemen has received thousands of foreigners, including Westerners, to learn Arabic or the principles of Islam at universities or religious schools, sometimes out of control of the authorities and could contribute to the graduation of militants

Despite political and security unrest, Yemen is becoming a favorite destination for foreign students seeking to study Islam.

Foreign students seeking religious studies are spread all over Yemen in centers as Dar al-Hadeeth in the northern province of Sa’ada, which is run by Salafis, or Imam University in the capital Sanaa. However, Hadramaut in southern Yemen is taking the lion’s shares of overseas students, especially those coming from the Far East.

There are many Dar Al Hadith spread throughout Yemen, but here we will mention some of them

Dar Al Hadith in Damaj

in the city of Qashan Dar al-Hadeeth

Dar al-Hadeeth in Fuish from Lahj Governorate

Dar al-Hadeeth al-Gharq in Wadi Behan from Shabwa Governorate

Dar al-Hadeeth in the city of Maber

Founder of Salafist Islamic schools in Yemen

Muqbil bin Hadi bin Muqbil bin Qa’idah al-Hamdani al-Wadi’i al-Khallali (1933–2001) was an Islamic scholar and considered to be the reviver of Salafism in Yemen. He was the founder of a Madrasa in Dammaj which was known as a center for Salafist ideology and its multi-national student population.

Dar Al Hadith in Damaj

Dammaj is a small town in the Sa'dah Governorate of north-western Yemen, southeast by road from Sa'dah in a valley of the same name.

Muqbil bin Hadi al-Wadi'i established the Madrasah Dar al-Hadith in Dammaj in 1979 an important center of learning for followers of the Salafi sect. It would become one of the most important and influential educational institutions of Salafism in the world, teaching tens of thousands of students ranging from the Arab world to Africa to Southeast Asia to even the Western world.

In 2014, Wadi'i's institute, Dar al-Hadeeth would be shut down after a long Siege of Dammaj by Houthi rebels. The manager of the institute, Yahya al-Hajuri, as well as thousands of foreign students were forced to relocate to Al Hudaydah Governorate.

Dar al-Hadeeth in Fayush from Lahj Governorate

The al-Fayush center, the largest Salafist center in southern Yemen, and dozens of them are located in different areas.

It is noteworthy that the center of religious fuish is one of the religious centers of the Salafis, which was established similar to the center of Damaj in the province of Saada, the far north of the country.

The center is run by Salafist cleric Abdul Rahman al- Adani

Dar al-Hadeeth in the city of Qashan

Moreover, the latest information from the skilled indicates that Saudi Arabia is working to establish a center for the Salafis (like the Damaj center in Saada) in Qashan, the third largest city in the province. According to the information, Yahya bin Ali al-Hajuri, a Salafist sheikh in Yemen who previously managed Dar al-Hadeeth in Saada, succeeds Sheikh Muqbel al-Wadai, is responsible for overseeing the establishment of the center. Sources in the city of Qashan say that people, including foreigners, who are caught in the bosom of the displaced, are buying land with imaginary amounts that do not correspond to their value, pointing out that suspicions are circulating around those who are widely believed to be Salafis who fought in Saada before the last war And in the front spot on the Saudi border during the war.

Foreign students and their relationships with terrorism

The Yemeni government's opinion

The Yemeni authorities demanded that foreign students at the Al-Fayush Salafi Center in the southern province of Lahj leave the country as soon as possible, while taking full costs and expenses for their travel home. Any possible confrontations with the Huthis, or the infiltration of a number of them to join militant groups.

The government considers this decision formal security measures, to limit the transformation of these to armed elements within the organization "Al Qaeda".
In the same context, a Yemeni security source revealed to the "New Arab" that the decision to deport foreign students "came after long procedures and security control, which were subjected to these foreigners and in cooperation with the leadership of the center, which warned them and advised them." He explained that "the local authorities, represented by the province's leadership, and the military and security leadership, had informed Al-Adani of the actions of some foreigners and their relationship with armed forces and inviting many of them to fight and assist the terrorist forces, which called on the leadership of the state to take this decision and the formation of a committee to take over from Yemen "He said.

And media sources attributed the decision to deport the students to infiltrate some of them to the province of Aden near Lahj and give lectures in some mosques incite the jihad, and non-compliance with the instructions of the Center not to leave the pilgrimage to other areas.

Opinion Houthi group

For the Houthis, they see the Salafis as the antagonists since the start of the movement, as they represent the Sunni thought, which is not very compatible with the Zaydi Shiite ideology, but are considered more dangerous to the nation than other Islamic sects.

For decades, the Salafis entered Yemen legally, through passports, and moved between cities without government authorities feeling any danger of their presence in the Yemeni territories, especially as they limited their presence to seek the forensic knowledge of the Salafist sheikhs who see no exit Ruler, and criminalize al-Qaeda's actions.

But with the growth of the Houthi movement and its effective control of Saada in 2010 during the protests that toppled Ali Abdullah Saleh, the Salafists changed their position and became the "undesirable" categories in the country.

The Houthis, the largest comprehensive siege on the area of ​​"Damag" remote from the city of Saada, and violent clashes occurred in which hundreds of the parties, under the pretext of the removal of foreigners from Damaj, and ended with the departure of all Salafis from the center of Dar al-Hadith, founded by Sheikh Salafi Muqbil bin Hadi al-Wadai, After his death Sheikh Yahya al-Hajuri. Local human right activists said that dozens of French, Indonesian, Indian, British, Ethiopian, Somali, Sudanese, Algerians and other nationalities have been killed in Sa'ada sectarian battles.

The Houthis called on the government authorities to remove all foreigners studying in the Sunni centers as a threat to them. They called them al-Qa'ida and Da'ash, which happened to them, where the authorities responded to their demands and ordered the expulsion of all foreign Salafists.

The opinion of the local population

displacement of the Salafist group, known as the Al-Hajuri group from Damaj by the al-Houthi group, has sparked controversy among those committed to silence about this displacement and others who reject it and call it the heinous crime.

The issue of the possibility of transferring the members of this group to the south, specifically to the west of the city of Aden, was raised. This led to controversy as the people were divided into two currents: the current, which rejects the transfer of any religious group to the south. And their transfer to the south will strengthen the culture of extremism and extremism and the problems brought with them by religious groups wherever they are resolved and therefore oppose the transfer of this group to the south, specifically Aden, and see Aden as a global civil character and the existence of any religious groups threatening their civil diversity.

At the other end, supporters of this move stand in the Al-Hajuri group and see it as not a threat to public life or the social fabric of Aden

.Author's opinion

By studying the subject of foreign students studying in Islamic schools in Yemen and my previous knowledge with some Yemeni students who are also studying in such schools, I found out many things from them.

There are two types of schools

The first     

Moderate Islamic schools are those that teach moderate Islam and are present in Hadramout, such as Dar al-Mustafa in Tarim, Dar al-Zahra and other moderate Islamic schools

      The second

Islamic extremist schools, these schools belong to Salafi Islam and are supported by Saudi Arabia and these schools

Dar Al Hadith in Damaj

Dar Al Hadith in Fayush

Dar Al Hadith in Qashan

These schools teach radical jihadist Islam, incite students to other Islamic sects, and train students to use weapons and combat skills, All this with the support of Saudi Arabia, the first supporting terrorism in the region

There are still foreign students fighting in Yemen

Many foreign students have left Yemen because of the ongoing war in the country, but there is still precipitant foreign students fighting against the Houthi group, especially in the city of Taiz, the second largest city in the country in terms of population density.

 There are reports that dozens of foreign students of different nationalities are still taking part in the battles To the present day in the city of Taiz, most of them students who fled Dar Al Hadith in Fayush.

There are foreign fighters being brought from outside the country to the city of Qashan

There are other foreign fighters

There are many fighters of different nationalities being transported by plane to the city of Qashan to establish a Salafi center there on the Omani border with the support of Saudi Arabia and most of the fighters studied in Islamic schools in Yemen or Saudi Arabia, the center is supervised by Sheikh Yehia Al-Hajouri.