[1] The movement began with generalized opposition to the rule of Imam Yahya Muhammad Hamid ed-Din, a conservative ruler who was deeply suspicious of foreign influence and as a result kept his land isolated and deprived of modern technology.
"[2] Yahya's motivation was more patriarchal than tyrannical; he believed that as a sayyid who could trace his ancestry to the Islamic prophet Muhammad, it was his responsibility to protect the imamate from infidels and modernity.
[3] After Yemen's defeat by Saudi Arabia in their border war in 1934, rumors arose of a plot among army officers, the Imam's son Ali, and Ghalib al-Ahmar of Hashid.
Numan had been in Cairo since 1937, studying at Al-Azhar University, working with Arab nationalists and writing articles and pamphlets critical of Yemen's conservative imamate.
Numan did not challenge the existence of the imamate itself, and in fact flattered the Crown Prince, Ahmad bin Yahya, whom he believed supported the idea of reform.
He also wrote a manifesto designed to persuade Imam Yahya of the benefits of reform, by using Islamic arguments, entitled al-Barnamij al-Awwal min Baramij Shabab al-Amr bi'l-Ma'ruf wa 'l-Nahi 'an al-Mankur ("The First Programme of the Youths for Promoting the Good and Preventing the Bad").