These armed groups were named after their former commander, Hussein Badreddin Al-Houthi, who was reportedly killed in June 2004. From a religious and doctrinal perspective, the Houthis are ‘Zaidis’ i.e. followers of Imam Zaid Bin Ali Bin Hussein Bin Ali Bin Abi Taleb. 

It is commonly known that Ali Bin Abi Taleb, cousin of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), married the Prophet’s daughter, Fatima, and had many daughters and sons with her. Relying on the sayings of the Prophet, the Shia’a faction believed that Ali was the rightful Caliph who should succeed Prophet Muhammad, contrary to the view held by other Muslims.  

After the death of the Prophet in 630, the Caliphate was passed down to his companion Abu Bakr As-Seddiq who was seen by the Sunni community as a good man and a true believer. Umar Ibn Khattab was made Caliph for ten years after the passing away of Abu Bakr in 634. After Umar’s death in 644, Uthman Ibn Affan held the position of the Caliph and was given the nickname Dhu-Nnoorayn (‘the man with two lights’). The reason for this nickname was because Uthman was married to two daughters of the Prophet. When Uthman Ibn Affan died in 656, Ali Bin Abi Taleb succeeded him. The Shia’a Muslims argued that the first three caliphs were usurpers and that Ali Bin Abi Taleb was the only rightful successor to the Prophet. 

The murder of Caliph Ali in 661 marked the beginning of the Imamate of his son, Hasan. Hasan was poisoned, and Ali’s second son, Hussein, succeeded his father to the office. Hussein died in 680 in the Battle of Karbala fought against the forces of Yazid ibn Mu‘awiya ibn Abi Sufyan. Ali ibn Hussein, known as Zayn al-Abidin became the fourth Shia’a Imam after his father Hussein, his uncle Hassan and his grandfather Ali. Following Zayn al-Abidin’s death in 712, the Imamate was handed over to his son Muhammad who was given the title ‘al-Baqir’, which means the splitter of knowledge. After his passing away in 732, a dispute over power arose between his son Jaafar and his brother Zaid who were the same age. 

Some, the Zaidis, viewed that Zaid was the rightful claimant to the Imamate after his brother. Others, the Shia’a, argued that his son Jaafar was more eligible to assume office. 

Therefore, it can be seen that the Zaidis, in their political beliefs, are part of the Shia’a school of thought but differ in some respects. The main reason for this discrepancy between the Shia’a and the Zaidis despite their shared origin and their descent from a common ancestor, Imam Ali, is that Imam Jaafar used to encourage self-restraint among his fellows and advocates, cautioning against fighting the Umayyad rule to avenge the blood of Imam Hussein and his loved ones while Imam Zaid used to mobilize supporters for an uprising against the Umayyad dynasty. Imam Zaid staged a failed rebellion against King Hisham ibn Abdul Malik ibn Marwan that resulted in his death in 740.

For the Zaidis, he is not an Imam who inherits the Imamate from his predecessor (father or brother) in writing; rather, they hold that the Imam is the person who can revolt against tyrannical rulers, promote virtue and prohibit vice and work on spreading Islam. In this context, Imam Zaid is quoted as saying: “He is not an Imam who sits at home and refrains from jihad. An Imam is he who fights for the sake of Allah, defends his subjects and guards his women.”

That the Imam should be present to revolt against tyranny is a cornerstone of the Zaidi doctrine. In contrast, the Twelver Shia’a are staunch adherents to the idea of Occultation and believe that the twelfth Imam Al-Mahdi who has been in occultation since 941 is still alive and will  reappear to make peace and justice at the end of time. 

Although Zaid was the founder of Zaidism, it was his disciples and supporters who laid down the Zaidi political school of thought, which was shrouded with ambiguity and contradiction, specifically with respect to the Imamate, the main bone of contention between Zaidis and Twelvers. The assertion of Imam Zaid that the Imamate was passed in writing solely to Ali and his two sons Hassan and Hussein, not to twelve Imams, was uncontested. 

Another point of discord arose when Imam Zaid acknowledged the caliphate of Abu Bakr As-Seddiq and Umar Ibn Khattab, saying that they had served both in word and in deed, unlike the Twelvers who disavowed the two caliphs. 

The Zaidi doctrine rests on many Islamic schools of thought, which makes it open to different Islamic cults, even if it voices overt support to Imam Ali Bin Abi Taleb and Ahl al-Bayt. Noteworthy is that the Zaidis had also a role in the Shafi’is spread in Yemen.