The Mawzaʿ Exile (; 1679–1680) is an event experienced by Yemenite Jews,Tobi (2018), p. 135Ratzaby (1961), p. 79 in which Jews living in nearly all cities and towns throughout Yemen were banished by decree of the ruler, al-Mahdi Ahmad, and sent to a dry and barren region of the country named Mawzaʿ. Only a few communities, inhabitants who lived in the far eastern quarters of Yemen (now Nihm, al-Jawf, and Khawlan in the eastThe one exception being Tan'am, which although it lies in the principality of Khawlan, was not spared the fate of exile.) were spared this fate by their mawali (Muslim patrons), who refused to obey the king's orders.Qafiḥ (1958), pp. 246–286; Qafih (1989) vol. 2, p. 714 Many would die along the route and while confined to the hot and arid conditions of this forbidding terrain. After one year in exile, the exiles were called back to perform their usual tasks and labors for their Muslim counterparts, who had been deprived of goods and services on account of their exile.Qafih (1958); Qafih (1989), vol. 2, p. 714 (end); Qorah (1988), p. 11
Background
With the rise to power of the al-Mutawakkil Isma'il (1644–1676), Zaydi Imam and ruler of the Qasimid State, there was a crucial turning point in the condition of Jews there. He endorsed the most hostile policies toward his Jewish subjects, partly due to the claim that the Jews were aiding the Ottoman Empire during the local uprising against them.Tobi (2014), p. 6 The appearance of Sabbateans in 1666 exacerbated the problems facing the community, calling into question their status as dhimmis (protected wards of the state). One decree led to another.
The Imam initially demanded they convert to Islam, and when they refused, he made them stand out in the sun without apparel for three days. Harsher decrees followed this. It is said that al-Mutawakkil Isma'il consulted with Zaydi fuqahāʾ (scholars) to determine whether or not the laws concerning Jews in the Arabian Peninsula applied also to Yemen, citing Muhammad, who was reported as saying, "There shall not be two religions in Arabia." When it was determined that these laws did indeed apply to Yemen, since the country was an indivisible part of the Arabian Peninsula, it then became incumbent upon Jews living in Yemen to either convert to Islam or to leave the country. However, the king fell ill and was bedridden; he did not expel the Jews, although he commanded the heir, al-Mahdi Ahmad, to do it.Tobi (2014), p. 7Tobi (1999), pp. 77-79
Al-Mahdi Ahmad of al-Ghirās, also known by the epithet "Ṣafī al-Din" ("Purity of Religion"), succeeded al-Mutawakkil Isma'il and perpetuated the same hostilities toward his Jewish subjects. This climaxed between the years 1677 and 1680, when he ordered the destruction of synagogues in Sana'a and elsewhere.In Tanḥum ben Joseph's al-Murshid al-kāfi (in manuscript form), p. 112 (Yosef Tobi's Private Collection), there is the following marginal note which reads: "The synagogue was destroyed here, [in] Ḥamidah, on Wednesday, the 17th day of the lunar month Teveth, in the year 1,989 [of the Seleucid Era] (=1678 CE), by order of al-Mahdi and Muhammad ben Ahmad" (End Quote). Yehudah Ratzaby (1984, p. 149) also brings down a manuscript extracted from the binding of an old book, now at the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York (239), in which the author complains: "The razing of the synagogue of Būsān on the fourth day of the week which is the third day of the year 1,989 [of the Seleucid Era] (= 1678 CE), and the enemies forbade us to gather as a quorum of ten for prayer and three scrolls of Law were slashed to pieces. May He in His mercy save us and all Israel from all the decrees." See: Tobi (1999), pp. 78 [end]-79) By early summer of 1679, he gave an ultimatum unto his Jewish subjects, namely, that they had the choice of either converting to Islam, in which they'd be allowed to remain in the country, or be killed. He gave to them three months to decide what they would do.Qafih (1958), vol. 2, page רסב (p. 270 in PDF); Qafiḥ (1989), vol. 2, p. 713
The king's words led to significant consternation among his Jewish subjects, who immediately declared a time of public fasting and prayer, which they observed both by day and night. Their plight soon became known to local tribesmen, whose chiefs and principal men pitied their condition and intervened on their behalf. They came before the king and enquired concerning the decree, and insisted that the Jews had been loyal to their king and had not offended the Muslims or had they done anything worthy of death, but should only be punished a little for their "obduracy" concerning Islam. The king, agreeing to their counsel, chose not to kill the Jews, but decided to banish them from his kingdom. They were to be sent to Zeilaʻ, a place now in Somaliland on the Red Sea, where they would be confined for life unless they converted.Qafih (1958), p. רסג; Qafiḥ (1989), vol. 2, p. 714
Sana'a The Jewish community in Sana'a was concentrated in the neighborhood of al-Sā'ilah, within the walled city, as one enters Bab al-Shaʻub (the Shaʻub Gate) on Sana'a's north side. The chief rabbi of the Jewish community at that time was an elder to whom they gave the title of Prince (nasi), Rabbi Suleiman al-Naqqāsh,Tobi (1986), p. 42, note 68. According to Erich Brauer, the title of nasi was conferred upon a man belonging to the community's most noble and richest family. There was no direct election for this post. In general, the nasi was also a scholar, well-versed in Torah, but this was not a condition for his office. Among his duties, he was a representative of the community in all its affairs before the government. He was also entrusted with the duty of collecting the annual poll-tax (ğizya), as also to settle disputes arising between members of the community. See Brauer (1934) pp. 281–282. while the city's chief seat of learning was under the tutelage of Rabbi and Judge, Shelomo ben Saadia al-Manzeli (resh methivta).Saleh (1979b), vol. 1, s.v. Shaḥrith shel Shabbath. Rabbi Shelomo ben Saadia al-Manzeli (1610–1690) is said to have returned to his post after the Mawza Exile, serving as both President of the court at Ṣan'ā' and the city's spiritual instructor. He helped draft a series of enactments meant at bettering the spiritual condition of the Jewish community, by way of merit, and thereby hoping to prevent the recurrence of harsh decrees against the community in the future. See: Gavra (2010), vol. 1, p. 70. The Jews of Sana'a were given but short notice about the things that were about to happen to them.Rabbi Yosef Qafih believes that they were given advance warning as early as late-summer of 1678. See: Qafih (1958); Qafih (1989), vol. 2, p. 713, note 130. According to Arabic sources, Imām al-Mahdī had ordered the newly appointed governor of Sana'a, Muhammad ibn al-Mutawakkil, to expel the Jews and demolish their synagogues on 1 Shaʻbān 1088 anno Hijri (= 29 September 1677), nearly two years before the actual expulsion. The matter was delayed only because the governor wished to consult first with the religious scholars of his city. All this may have been done without the foreknowledge of the Jewish community. See: van Koningsveld, et al. (1990), p. 23. They had been advised to sell their houses, fields and vineyards, and that all property which they were unable to sell would automatically be confiscated and accrue to the Public Treasury (Ar. al-māl), without recompense.Qafih (1958); Qafih (1989), vol. 2, p. 714
By late 1679, when the king saw that they were unrelenting in their fathers' religious faith, he then decided to follow through with what he had determined for them and issued a decree, banishing all Jews in his kingdom to the Red Sea outpost known as Zeila'. On the 2nd day of the lunar month Rajab, in the year 1090 of the Hijri calendar (corresponding with Gregorian calendar, 10 August 1679), his edict was put into effect, and he ordered the Jews of Sana'a to take leave of their places, but gave more space to the provincial governors of Yemen to begin the expulsion of all other Jews in Yemen to Zeila', and which should be accomplished by them in a time period not to exceed twelve months. The Jews of Sana'a had, meanwhile, set out on their journey, leaving behind them their homes and possessions, rather than exchange their religion for another. In doing so, according to rabbinic teaching, they brought sanctity to God's name.In accordance with a teaching in Leviticus 22:31–32, and explained in the Responsa of Rabbi David ibn Zimra, vol. 2 (part 4), responsum no. 92 , Warsaw 1882 (reprinted), p. 47 (Hebrew pagination כד). Here, the author makes it clear that if Jews are collectively compelled by the Ismaelites to convert to Islam or else face punishment, they are to prefer punishment rather than exchange their religion for another, and, in so doing, they bring sanctity to God's name.
Rabbi Suleiman al-Naqqāsh had preemptively made arrangements for the community's safety and upkeep by sending written notifications to the Jewish communities which lay along the route, requesting that they provide food and assistance to their poor Jewish brethren when they passed through their communities in the coming weeks or days. The king's soldiers were sent to escort the exiles to their final destination, while the king himself had sent orders to the governors of the outlying districts and places where it was known that the Jewish exiles were to pass through while en route to Zeila', commanding them not to permit any Jew to remain in those cities when they reached them, but to send them on in their journey.Al-Naddaf (1928); Reprinted in Zechor le'Avraham, by Uziel al-Nadaf, (Part II) Jerusalem 1992 (Hebrew), pp. 4-5
Unexpected turn of events Meanwhile, while columns of men, women and children were advancing by foot southward with only bare essentials, along the road leading from Sana'a to Dhamar, Yarim, 'Ibb and Ta'izz, the chiefs of the Sabaean tribes who had been the patrons of the Jews came together once again and petitioned the king, al-Mahdi, this time requesting that the king rescind his order to expel all Jews unto the Red Sea outpost of Zeila', but to be content with their banishment to the Tihama coastal town of Mawza', a town about from Mocha, as the crow flies. The reason being for this urgent request was that, by taking into consideration their troubles in a barren wasteland, those that will remain of them will be more inclined to repent and to choose the way of Islam, in which case it will be easier to hoist them from that place and to bring them back unto their former places. The grandees reminded the king how they had been faithful in implementing his orders. At hearing this, the king agreed and sent orders to the effect that Jewish exiles should be conducted only to Mawza'.
By the time the Jews of Sana'a reached Dhamar, they had already been joined by the Jewish villagers of Siān and Tan'im (located about eastward of Bayt al-Ḥāḍir, southeast Sana'a), all of which places lie within Sana'a's periphery.Ratzaby (1961), p. 367, s.v. poem entitled: אבן אלאסבאט אבדע, lines 16–19 The Jews had sent fifteen letters to the king in al-Ghirās, asking him to forgive them of whatever offence they may have committed and to permit them to remain in their former settlements, yet none of these did he answer.Ratzaby (1961), p. 369, s.v. poem entitled: אבן אלאסבאט אבדע, lines 4–5
Evacuation of the Jews of Dhurān