Al-Wathiq al-Mutahhar

Al-Wathiq al-Mutahhar (1303 - 1379/80) was an imam of the Zaidi state of Yemen, who was also a poet.

A native of As Sudah, he was the son of the powerful imam al-Mahdi Muhammad bin al-Mutahhar who died in 1328.

After the death of al-Mahdi, no less than four would-be imams tried to assert their authority over the Zaidi community.

[1] Although he was not really a mujtahid (a person sufficiently educated to make independent legal-religious interpretations), al-Wathiq briefly succeeded al-Mu'ayyad Yahya in 1349, and seized San'a.

[2] His gravestone, in the Great Mosque (al-Jami' al-Kabir) of San'a, is dated in 781 AH (1379/80).