From Nu`man: "On Yemeni demographics: Its said that Zaydis (otherwise referred to as Shi'ah in the media) are 30-40% of Yemen. Obviously this was not always the case. I remember reading many, many years ago that Zaydis were about 60% of Yemen (or of the old North Yemen). The rest was made of up (shafa'i) Sunni muslims. The split is along geographical lines. Anyone south of Ta'iz and stretching to the east into Hadramout was assumed to be Sunni while everyone to the North of Ta'iz was assumed to be Zaydi.
Now one of the reasons the that Zaydi numbers have decreased is because from the mid-1970's North Yemen (before unification in 1990) ran two parallel education systems: Firstly there was the State education system; Secondly, there was the Islamist education system (run by people who later were to form the Yemen's Muslim Brotherhood, Islah Party). The Islah schools were known as Ma'had al-Elmi (Scientific Institute).
These 'Scientific Institutes' were originally funded by Saudi Arabia and had a two fold target. In the 70's & 80's, secular left politics was still strong in the Yemen so by Islamically brainwashing children in Yemen, the Saudis (British?) thought less and less people would join left-wing movements when they become adults. The other purpose of the Scientific Institutes was clearly to turn Zaydi children into Sunnis. By the time the Scientific Institutes were disbanded in the mid-1990's there were well over 1,100 of them operating in Yemen.
Also, one of these 'Scientific Institutes' was drafted into Birmingham, UK in the mid 1980's which was clearly targeted at Yemenis who had come from the provinces of Ta'iz and in the south Yemen. I wrote about many years ago well before the so-called "Arab Spring". It needs touching up but its here:
Now one of the reasons the that Zaydi numbers have decreased is because from the mid-1970's North Yemen (before unification in 1990) ran two parallel education systems: Firstly there was the State education system; Secondly, there was the Islamist education system (run by people who later were to form the Yemen's Muslim Brotherhood, Islah Party). The Islah schools were known as Ma'had al-Elmi (Scientific Institute).
These 'Scientific Institutes' were originally funded by Saudi Arabia and had a two fold target. In the 70's & 80's, secular left politics was still strong in the Yemen so by Islamically brainwashing children in Yemen, the Saudis (British?) thought less and less people would join left-wing movements when they become adults. The other purpose of the Scientific Institutes was clearly to turn Zaydi children into Sunnis. By the time the Scientific Institutes were disbanded in the mid-1990's there were well over 1,100 of them operating in Yemen.
Also, one of these 'Scientific Institutes' was drafted into Birmingham, UK in the mid 1980's which was clearly targeted at Yemenis who had come from the provinces of Ta'iz and in the south Yemen. I wrote about many years ago well before the so-called "Arab Spring". It needs touching up but its here:
