Established in March 2012, it was officially recognized by the National Unity Government on 24 July 2012 under the patronage of the Gulf Cooperation Council and in the framework of the agreement between President Ali Abdullah Saleh and the opposition.
[3] According to Abd al Wahhab al-Humayqani, then secretary general of the preparatory committee and later secretary-general of the party, al-Rashad would “contribute to the nation's awakening in line with developments being witnessed by Yemen and Arab region in light of the Arab Spring.”[4] In fact, the revolutionary uprising of March 2011 in Yemen and the brutal repression of the peaceful demonstrations by Saleh's government triggered significant changes in the country's political field, and motivated many Salafis to dismiss their traditional quietist and apolitical stance and to embrace a more participatory role.
[1] Al-Rashad's members decision to enter the political arena was framed in terms of a religious duty in response to the oppressive reaction of Saleh to the popular uprisings.
[1] In a press interview, Mohammed Musa al-Amri, al-Rashad's current president, argued that Saleh no longer qualified as the “Imam of the Muslims”[1] as he had failed to act upon his obligation to “promote virtue and prevent vice,” and had therefore lost the right to be unquestionably obeyed by the people.
The leader mentioned the necessity to provide a peaceful alternative to violence and to establish a solid democracy, as well as to give space to the quest for a new political project by the Salafi youth.
[7] On that occasion, the Rashad Union members publicly declared their commitment to “bring about justice and shoura (consultation) in a united and stable Yemen”[3] and to establish the Shari’ah law in the country.
[12] Nonetheless, as David Andrew Weinberg remarks, the U.S. allegations reflect poorly not only on Hadi's exiled administration and on al-Rashad, but on al-Humayqani's Qatari “patron” as well.
[14] In particular, according to Marib Press, most of Qatari funding to the mosque was arrogated by Qatar's Ministry of Islamic Affairs and Endowments and supervised by the Qatar-based Eid bin Mohammed Al Thani Charitable Association.