Even in the areas of Ottoman control, anti-Turkish sentiment was brewing, beginning ethnic and sectarian conflicts between the Turkish overlords and the local inhabitants.

Due to these circumstances, Sayyid Muhammad ibn Ali al-Idrisi began spreading his great grandfather's teachings, as well as calling for the local inhabitants to maintain a stricter adherence to Islam.

In the treaty of al-Hafa'ir (ratified January 1910), Al-Idrisi gained the position of Kaymakam of Asir which de facto made him a semi-independent ruler of the region under Ottoman Suzerainty.

The Italo-Turkish War led to Italy assisting Asir by means of naval bombardment, arms and ammunition, the two states united against a common enemy.

Threats to Asir's independence would soon grow, as Hussein bin Ali of Hejaz and Yahya of Yemen would eye territory controlled by the Emirate.

Yet despite the aforementioned agreement, Al-Idrisi would also use Hejazi support in order to occupy parts of Yemeni Tihamah throughout 1919 to 1921, thus stretching the Emirate's territory from Abha in the North to Al Hudaydah in the South.