TRAMES, 2021, 25(75/70), 1, 49–68

PERSECUTION AND LONGING OF YEMENITE JEWS IN

THE HANDSOME JEW

Ebrahim Mohammed Alwuraafi

Al-Baha University

Abstract. The article is an attempt to highlight the suffering of the Yemenite Jews as depicted
in Ali Al-Muqri’s The Handsome Jew. It argues that Ali Al-Muqri has been able to articulate
the suffering experienced by Yemenite Jews for thousands of years and that the novel presents
a fair and realistic picture of the Jewish society during a crucial period in the history of
Yemenite Jews. In addition, the article examines how and why Yemenite Jews actively took
on diasporic consciousness. It argues that this feeling of unbelonging and longing needs to
be contextualized according to their specific living conditions in Yemen. It also argues that
Jewish excitement during the messianic activity, their longing for Zion, and their dream of
return are the outcomes of persecution and discrimination that they received at the hands
Zaydi rulers of Yemen.

Keywords: Yemen, Jews, persecution, longing, Zaydi

DOI: https//doi.org/10.3176/tr.2021.1.04
Received 29 April 2020, accepted 3 June 2020, printed and available online 10 March 2021

1. Introduction

Ali Al-Muqri, born in 1966 in Taiz, is a Yemeni novelist and writer. He began
writing at the age of eighteen. Al-Muqri has published four novels: Black Taste,
Black Odour1 (2008), The Handsome Jew2 (2009), Hurma (Woman) (2012) and Adeni
Incense (2014). He has published a number of poetic works including A Window into

1
The novel was longlisted for the International Prize for Arabic Fiction in 2009.
2
The novel was longlisted for the International Prize for Arabic Fiction in 2011.

© 2021 Author. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons
Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/).
50 Ebrahim Mohammed Alwuraafi

the Body (1987), Restorations (1999), and It Comes with Forgetfulness (2003). Al-
Muqri is a daring and controversial writer. He always indulges in themes which are
considered as taboos in the Arab world. Hence, some of his poetic collections have
been banned in North Yemen for being too erotic. After the unification of North
Yemen with South Yemen in 1990, Ali Al-Muqri gained reputation as a cultural
editor of many progressive and oppositional publications.
Al-Muqri is the novelist of the marginalized. His first novel Black Taste, Black
Odour raises the question of black people in Yemen and how they are marginalized by
successive regimes. His second novel The Handsome Jew deals with the suffering of
Jews in Yemen particularly under the Zaydi regime. His third novel Hurma (Woman)
deals with the Yemeni woman who is silenced, oppressed and marginalized by her
male counterpart. This has been acknowledged by Al-Muqri himself, who says that in
his two novels, The Handsome Jew and Black Taste, Black Odour he “discusses two
Yemeni communities, the Jews and the Blacks, who have been marginalized in the
Yemeni society for sectarian, ethnic and/or religious reasons” (as cited in Al-Ameri
2011, para. 3). He believes that this marginalization most of the time “stems from
linking religion with the concept of the homeland” (as cited in Al-Ameri 2011, para.
3). Regarding their belonging to the Yemeni society in general, Al-Muqri believes
that “the society marginalized this group [the Jews], even though they are Yemenites
because the society in Yemen is still adhering to race, ethnicity and genealogy” (as
cited in Al-Ameri 2011, para. 6).
The Handsome Jew deals with the dilemma of Yemenite Jews. The significance
of the novel lies in its accurate and straightforward expression of the historic
condition of the Jews in Yemen. The novel narrates the suffering of Jews during the
Zaydi regime, which is unprecedented within the continuum of Jewish historical
experience in the region and explicitly reveals the racial and anti-Semitic motivation
of the sadist Zaydis to annihilate all Jews who were part and parcel of the Yemeni
community. Besides brutal deaths and brutally imposed conversions, there was a
brutally imposed life of humiliation, deprivation and degradation.
Due to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, writing fiction about Jews in the Arab
world unvaryingly provokes controversy by inspiring acclaim and repulsion in equal
measure. Some readers and critics see such fiction as a call on the part of these writers
to normalize with the Israelis/Jews who are well-known for their hostility to Islam
and Muslims throughout the ages. Others see such writings as something normal
as they do not deal with Israelis but with Arab Jews who have been part and parcel
of the Arab community since antiquity. Al-Muqri’s novel is not different; the novel
sparked a fierce debate about its premise, the deliberate suppression and oppression
of the Yemenite Jews for centuries as well as about the nature and purpose of its
representation of Jews. Readers and critics have had polarized opinions about the
novel in representing the Yemenite Jews. On the one hand, it is greeted with outrage
as it tries to tell the story of and humanize the enemy. On the other hand, the novel is
praised for resurrecting the past of one of the most forgotten communities of Yemen
that once established one of the greatest kingdoms in the Arab Peninsula and for its
call for tolerance and coexistence irrespective of race, religion, or ethnicity.
Persecution and longing of Yemenite Jews in The Handsome Jew 51

2. Historical context

There are numerous traditions and accounts concerning the origin of Jews in
Yemen. One account suggests that Jews arrived in the Yemen during the reign of
Belkis, the Queen of Sheba/Yemen, and the reign of King Solomon of the Kingdom
of Israel (965–925 BC) (Abu Jabal 1999: 16). Sources mention that Solomon sent a
letter to the queen of Yemen asking her to come to Jerusalem. After their meeting,
the Queen of Yemen embraced Judaism. This is mentioned in Quran too when the
Queen enters Solomon palace, she said “My Lord, indeed I have wronged myself,
and I submit with Solomon to Allah, Lord of the worlds” (Quran 27/44). Tudor
Parfitt assumes that when the Queen of Sheba left Jerusalem to return home, she
was accompanied by a number of Jews who, since their arrival, settled in the area
(Parfitt 1996: 3).3 Another tradition assumes that the Jewish community in Yemen
was founded by a group of Jews who rose against Moses during the Exodus and
made their way to Yemen (Parfitt 1996: 3). It is also believed that Jews might have
left to the Himyar in 70 AD following the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus (Parfitt
1996: 7). Another account suggests that King Solomon sent his men to Yemen to
bring gold and silver to adorn his Temple in Jerusalem and some of them never
returned (Blady 2000: 7). Another myth assumes that in 586 BC, after the prophecy
of Jeremiah, a group of seventy five thousand Jews fled southward into the desert
until they reached Yemen (Parfitt 1996: 3, Tobi 1999: 3).4 Another legend maintains
that the father founders of the Jewish community arrived in the Yemen through a
cave whose one opening was in Eretz Yisael and the second one on the slopes of
Mount Nukum5 (Parfitt 1996: 3-4).6 Still another account suggests that the Jews first
reached Yemen just before the destruction of the first temple by the Babylonians
(Tobi 1999: 3).
The Ḥimyarite Kingdom or Ḥimyar (2nd century BC – 6th century AD) was
one of the most powerful, prosperous and wealthy kingdoms of Yemen and was
the last one before the advent of Islam (Tobi 1999: 3). The Himyarites were greatly
influenced by Judaism and during the reign of King Tubba Abu Karib As’ad (385–
420 AD) Himyar converted to Judaism.7 It is believed that by the 4th century Himyar
was almost a Jewish territory (Parfitt 1996: 8).8 However, the subsequent centuries
3
See also Al-Hasan 2014: 76. (Arabic)
4
This took place forty-two years before Jerusalem was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar and after the
prophecy of Jeremiah – “He who remains in the city (Jerusalem) shall die by the sword, by famine
and by pestilence: but he who goes forth to the Chaldean shall live.”
5
Mount Nukum is a mountain in the eastern part of Sana’a, at an elevation of more than 7,200 feet
(2,200 m) above sea level.
6
Those who believe in this myth say that today the entrance to the cave is lost but it will reopen only
with the coming of the Messiah. On that day, the scattered Jews will triumphantly return to their
home (Parfitt 1996: 3-4).
7
Other historians argue that the conversion took place during the reign of Yusuf Dhu Nawas (517 – 25-
27 AD), the last king of Himyar.
8
Bodies of some Himyarite Jews were discovered in tombs in Beit Shearim in the Lower Galilee.
These bodies, it is believed, were sent from the kingdom of Himyar to Eretz Yisrael for burial (Tobi
1999: 3, Parfitt 1996: 13).
52 Ebrahim Mohammed Alwuraafi

were fatal for Jews and Judaism in South Arabia. In the fourth century Christianity
arrived in Yemen (McCord 2018: 866).9 Since then a bitter conflict between Judaism
and Christianity started which culminated in the massacre of the Christians of Zafar,
Mocha and particularly Najran (Parfitt 1996: 8). Eventually, in 525 Dhu Nuwas10
was defeated and Yemen, now almost a Jewish state, was ruled by Christians.
In 629 AD the Muslim era in Yemen started.11 In the early years of Islam, the Jews
were offered two choices: embracing Islam or paying Jizya (poll Tax).12 They chose
the latter. However, things changed during the reign of caliphate Omar ibn Abd al-
Aziz (717–20), who issued what is known as Pact of Omar which was a decree of
protection extended by the Muslim collectivity to the protected people (Parfitt 1996:
15).13 Since then, “the status of the Jews declined as they were no longer ordinary
citizens but dhimmis – protected people” (Tobi 1999: 4). However, the state granted
them full freedom of religion and protection of the self and property (Klorman 2014:
6).
In 897, the Zaydi dynasty was founded in Yemen by Yahya ibn al-Husain bin al-
Qasim Ar-Rassi.14 Born in Medina in 859, he chose Yemen to establish his kingdom
due to its political instability and loose rule. In 901, he conquered Sana’a and was
crowned the first Imam in Yemen.15 Hayyim Hibshush presents the Zaydi king “as a
persecutor of all who were not Muslims in Yemen” (Tobi 1999: 12).16 In 1162, Abd-
al-Nabi ibn Mahdi became the ruler of Yemen. He offered the Jews two choices only:
conversion to Islam or death. This led to mass conversion. However, many chose
martyrdom (Maimonides 1993: 91). In 1173 Ibn Mahdi was defeated by the brother
of Saladin and the persecution ended. Jews were allowed to return to their faith.
The Rasulids ruled from 1229 to 1454. During this period the country enjoyed
prosperity and stability. The Jews, too, enjoyed social and economic prosperity.17
9
It is said that the new religion was brought to the Yemen by St. Thomas (Parfitt 1996: 7).
10
Dhu Nuwas was a Judaic king of Ḥimyar (517 and 525–27 CE). He became renowned on account of
his military exploits against Christians.
11
Some sources say that Yemen submitted to Islam in 630 (Klorman 2014: 5). For more details on the
arrival of Islam in Yemen, see Al Shuga’a (2013: 37-72; Arabic).
12
The poll tax required from the Jews was generally lighter than (Zakat) which was collected from the
Muslims.
13
The Arabic term used to refer to Jews and Christians living in the Islamic state is Ahl al-dhimma or
dhimmis – protected people – who are obliged to pay Jizya (a poll tax).
14
He claimed to be a descendant of Ali ibn Abi Talib, the chief of the Shi’a and the blood cousin and
son-in-law of Prophet Muhammad.
15
Thus 901 is considered the year of the establishment of the Zaydi kingdom in Yemen.
16
Hayyim Hibshish writes that the king Al-Hadi Yahya decided to clean Yemen of other faiths: “Only
in the cities of these peoples not a soul shall live because you shall surely banish them – the Jew and
the Christian, the Ethiopian and the Persian, the Indian and the Egyptian. For the said king wished
to cleanse the land of Yemen of all (alternatively: of the defilement of all) members of another faith,
and their forefather Ali, the commander of the faithful, bequeathed the land of Yemen to them… and
therefore he commanded to destroy and kill and wipeout all who were not his ally if they did not
accept his creed” (As cited in Tobi 1999: 9).
17
According to Yosef Tobi, the era is marked by the absence of persecutions against Jews. Furthermore,
“the Rasuli era in Jewish Yemenite history is marked by its significant spiritual and literary output,
which is the greatest in its history” (Tobi 1999: 5).
Persecution and longing of Yemenite Jews in The Handsome Jew 53

However, this changed with the rise of the Tahiri dynasty (1454–1517). During
the Tahiri reign the social and economic situation of Jews deteriorated because the
Tahirids introduced new discriminatory acts. The Tahirids’ “attitude to the Jews
was rigid. They ousted almost all the Jews from the areas they inhabited, on the
pretext that they were sacred and non-Muslims may not live there” (Tobi 1999: 6).
In 1499/1500, during the reign of the last king of the Tahirids, Amir ibn Abd al-
Wahhab, the Jewish Messiah was active in Yemen. And this angered the king, whose
“response was a collective punishment” (Tobi 2013: 249).18
The first rule of the Ottomans began in 1546 and ended in 1630. The Ottoman
rule “improved the legal status of the Jews” (Tobi 2013: 250). This “change was
part of the general policy toward the minorities in the Ottoman Empire” (Tobi 2013:
250).19 The Zaydis were able to expel the Turks from Yemen in 1635 and Yemen
once again came under a Zaydi regime. The new Zaydis were “religious fanatics
and far stricter than the Sunni Ottomans … in their treatment of Jews” (Tobi 1999:
50). According to some sources, the new “regime was the most hostile to the Jews of
Yemen as local Muslims took revenge for the relatively comfortable attitude of the
Turks to the Jews and because of the aforementioned alleged argument that the Jews
sided with the Turks” (Tobi 2013: 251).20 It was during this period that the Zaydis did
“fully apply the discriminatory laws against Jews” (Tobi 2013: 251)21 and therefore,
the Jews’ “lot deteriorated under the Zaydi yoke” (Tobi 1999: 50).
In 1667, during the reign of Imam al-Mutawakkil Ismail (1644–1676), a great
event happened that changed the life of Jews in Yemen forever. They heard that the
promised Messiah and Redeemer had arisen. Sabbatai Zevi was the long-awaited
messiah.22 Thus, the Jews of Yemen, especially in Sana’a, went to the streets to
express their messianic aspirations. The Imam “decided to strip them of all their
rights as a protected religious minority” (Tobi 1999: 6). The Imam, as a sign of
humiliation to the Jews, imposed many new discriminatory laws such as prohibition
to wear headgear (Klorman 2014: 37, Tobi 2013: 252).23 The leaders were arrested
and tortured, and the sentence of death hovered over them. Further, in 1679, the
Jews were expelled to Mawza, a place near Mocha, the Red Sea port in west Yemen.

18
This led to the extinction of entire Jewish communities in some parts of Yemen. Yosef Tobi writes
that since “the end of the fifteenth century … there were no Jewish communities in Hadramawt, save
along the western periphery” (Tobi 2013: 249).
19
The Ottoman rule allowed the Jews of Yemen a chance to contact other Jewish communities and Jews
started their contact with the Kabbalists in Safed, and with other Jewish communities throughout the
Ottoman Empire. This is because the Ottomans implemented the principles of the Hanafi school of
Islam which was much more tolerant to non-Muslim minorities throughout the empire.
20
The Jews were accused of siding with Turks and acting against the interests of Yemen (Tobi 2013:
251). And therefore, the “Zaydis treated the Jews more severely, not only in comparison to the Turks
but also in comparison with the ancient Zaydi policy” (Tobi 2013: 251).
21
See Tobi 2013: 251-252.
22
The messianic movement in Yemen grew precisely out of information arriving from Erez Israel and
Egypt through letters and messengers that the King Messiah of Israel had arisen for the Jews.
23
According to Yosef Tobi (2013), the headgear (Amaim) was “a respected status symbol” and the Jews
“were forced to walk bareheaded, the most despicable thing in Yemeni society in those days” (252).
54 Ebrahim Mohammed Alwuraafi

This disastrous event is known in the history of Yemenite Jews as The Expulsion of
Mawza.24
The Turks reconquered Yemen in 1872. In fact the Jews, due to the political, social
and economic circumstances, have been waiting for any foreign power to intervene
or even control the affairs of Yemen (Tobi 1999: 86). When the Turks conquered
Yemen, the Jews even helped the Turks by weaving plots and providing them with
intelligence (Tobi 1999: 86). The status of Jews improved drastically between 1872
and 1918.25 However, their status deteriorated after the Ottomans left the country in
1918. During the rule of Imam Yahya (1904–1948), all traditional laws concerning
Jews, including Orphan’s Decree and the poll tax, were revived.26 The Jews again
became protected people. He even destroyed the new synagogues that were built
during the Ottoman rule in Sana’a.27
The Jews’ history in the Yemen is “an unending chain of persecution and
humiliation” (Parfitt 1996: 6). That is why “[D]uring the long centuries of exile,
the Jews had prayed for an abrupt and dramatic end to their existence in Yemen, a
time when their triumphant remnant would return to the Holy Land on the wings of
eagles, as foretold by the prophets” (Tawil 1998: 14). So, the life of Jews in Yemen
has witnessed many ups and downs. It was stable and prosperous at times and faced
declination and oppression at other times. And due to the difficulties that the Jews
faced in Yemen, they were among the early immigrants to leave for Israel.28

24
On the messianic activity in 1666–1667 and its consequences, the decree against headgear and the
Expulsion of Mawza see Tobi 2013: 252-255. This episode of the history of Yemeni Jews will be
discussed in detail while discussing the novel.
25
The Jews are no longer protected people as Ottoman government had abolished the jizyah. This
was part of a general plan throughout the Ottoman Empire which granted equal status to minorities,
including Jews. Further, the Turks announced their intention of abolishing the humiliating
discriminatory laws that had been enacted against the Jews (Tobi 1999: 87, Klorman 2014: 13).
However, most of these intentions never came to fruition for they aroused the rage of the native
people. So, many discriminatory acts were still valid (Tobi 1999: 89-90).
26
For more details on these discriminatory acts and laws see Ken Blady 2000: 10-11; Tobi 1999: 89;
Parfitt 1996:. 15-6.
27
During the reign of Imam Yahya, “Jews were not allowed to leave the country, their economic system
was severely injured by government policy, and worst of all the Zaydi orphans’ edict was reinforced”
(Tobi, 1999:. 7)
28
Ari Ariel (2014) writes that Jewish immigration to Israel has three periods: period I: 1881–1910,
period II: 1911 to World War II and period III: World War II to 1950. In the first period, “migration
was organized by small groups of Yemeni Jews and provoked primarily by push factors in Yemen,
particularly political and economic instability. That is, the movement began as an organic response
to local conditions and was not connected to the Zionist movement or Zionist ideology” (9). The
second period “witnessed the entrance of the Zionist movement into the Yemeni arena … From these
moments on, the Zionist movement would be a primary force directing Yemeni Jewish movement”
(9). During the third period, the number of immigrants increased dramatically due to many reasons
such as the conflict with the British in Aden and the airlift known as Operation on Eagles Wings.
Ariel also discusses the different factors that provoked the Jewish immigration. In addition to the
push factors which force people of certain communities to immigrate, there were the economic
factor, the ideological factor, the religious factor and the political factor. All these combined are
behind the immigration of Jews. Though the effect of these factors differs from period to period.
Persecution and longing of Yemenite Jews in The Handsome Jew 55

3. The Handsome Jew

In its general drift, The Handsome Jew is a love story. Fatima, a young Muslim
woman, falls in love with Salem, a young Jewish boy. The relations between the two
lovers are marked by inequality: both are ethically, religiously and racially different.
Fatima belongs to a rich family; she is the daughter of Mufti (a jurist who interprets
Muslim religious law), the highest position in the Muslim religious ladder. Salem
is the son of a poor, simple Jewish craftsman. He gathers wood for the Mufti. He
does not sell the wood for price but gets things such as corn, bread and sweets in
return (Al-Muqri 2011: 7). Fatima used to receive him, take the wood from him and
sometimes give him food or tea. She falls in love with him though he is younger than
her and her family does not recognize the love affair that is growing between the
two because in their opinion Salem is still young and belongs to another religion and
community. Fatima confesses her love to Salem, and both live for years in love. After
seven years of surreptitious love – knowing very well that their families will never
accept their marriage – Fatima and Salem decide to elope and leave Raydah29 to
Sana’a where they can marry and freely lead their own life. However, their happiness
does not last. Fatima, after only one year, dies in childbirth. Since their first meeting,
Fatima calls Salem ‘my handsome Jew,’ hence the title of the novel.
Fatima stands out as a symbol of tolerance, coexistence, open-mindedness and
love. She sees all human beings as the creation of God regardless of their religion.
Speaking to Salem’s father, she says:
What I taught him was Arabic language and grammar so that he can
read and write. I know he is a Jew. To you be your religion and to us be
our religion. There is no problem. We are descendants of Adam and Adam
is from the earth … Let me tell you, I swear, there are many books on
the shelves at our home which, if the Muslims read them, would make
them love the Jews, and if the Jews read them, would make them love the
Muslims (Al-Muqri 2011: 15-16).
Her decision to marry Salem, the other, is born out of her conviction that all
people are equal. Further, Fatima breaks the familiar Muslim rules and visits a
Jewish home30, and learns Hebrew and Jewish law. Moreover, Fatima’s tolerance
and her respect of others’ opinion is seen when she follows a fatwa by Abu Hanifa,
the founder of the Hanafi school of Sunni jurisprudence, to marry Salem. Her father
the Mufti follows the Zaydi-Shiite doctrine. It follows that Fatima should follow the
same doctrine. But she does not hesitate to follow another religious doctrine. That is,
she obtains a fatwa from a scholar in a doctrine other than her own.
Fatima’s coexistence, tolerance and love for the other is juxtaposed with the larger
community’s religious and racial intolerance and hatred. The Zaydi community is
portrayed as violent, hateful, and simple-minded enough to be incited by its leaders.
Its religious and racial ideology is the fundamental source of the motivations that
29
Raydah or Raida is where the novel takes place. It is a market town located 49 kilometers north of
Sana’a. It once had one of the largest Jewish communities in Yemen.
30
It is a big shame for a Muslim woman to visit a Jewish home but not vice versa.
56 Ebrahim Mohammed Alwuraafi

led to the victimization of Jews. The Zaydis actually claim they descend from
Prophet Muhammad and have a divine right to rule. Descent from Muhammad
means descent from Al-Hasan and Al-Husain, the offspring of Fatima (Prophet
Muhammad’s daughter) and Ali ibn Abi Talib (Prophet Muhammad’s cousin and
the last of the Righteous Caliphs). They call themselves Hashmites (descendants of
Hashim, the grandfather of Prophet Muhammad) and Ahl Al-Bait (means belonging
to the Family of Prophet Muhammad). They have enjoyed a high status and respect
due to their alleged ancestry. However, they have oppressed all other Yemenites
whose religious beliefs are different: no difference between Sunni Muslims or Jews.31
They see themselves as God’s representative on earth and that Imamate/leadership
is their heavenly right.32 They were created to rule. Hence the Muslim community is
duty bound to align itself at the side of, and to obey, any descendant of Muhammad
who nominates himself to the position of leadership, provided that an individual
fulfills a list of requirements. They have committed horrible crimes and massacres in
the name of God. The last war in Yemen between Houthis and the Yemeni legitimate
regime that started in 2014 and is still running until today is just an example.
As a historical novel, The Handsome Jew recounts briefly the history of Yemenite
Jews focusing mainly on the seventeenth century. The novel is an attempt to revive
lost history, memory and identity. In other words, the novel is a revisit to a forgotten
period of Jewish history in Yemen. It is a daring novel because it discusses a topic
which has never been discussed before – the marginalization and persecution of
Jews in Yemen. The time setting of the novel is highly significant as the seventeenth
century witnessed devastating and terrifying events, which had no precedence in
the annals of the Jewish history and that changed the life of Yemenite Jews forever.
It was during the seventeenth century that the news that the long-waited-for Jewish
messiah had emerged. The consequences of this movement had a tremendous effect
on the life of Yemenite Jews. Many of the discriminatory laws were issued during
this century. Their expulsion to Mawza, the confiscation of their property, the looting
of their possessions all took place during this century. The reader comes to know the
condition of the Jews at the time, their struggle to follow their religion and preserve
their Jewish culture and heritage in the face of a Zaydi regime and community
that persecuted them by words and deeds. The novel’s further merit is that it raises
questions in the reader. After reading the novel the reader faces a new challenge – to
read about the Yemenite Jews in the books of history to answer the many questions
raised by the novel.
The Handsome Jew demonstrates how the Yemenite Jews are always reminded
of their otherness and unbelonging. They are always told that they are unwanted and
have to find another place for living as they do not belong to this soil. The Zaydis
consider the Jews as outsiders and not Yemenites and, therefore, they must leave
the country. Sheikh Saleh, the Muezzin, is a Muslim fanatic who cannot bear the
sight of Jews. Though he is the one who calls for prayer and represents Islam, he
is full of hatred and animosity. Whenever he meets a Jew, he yelps “when are you
going home?” The first words Salem hears from the Muezzin are “When are you
31
See Al-Muqri 2011: 126.
32
See Hadi Mohammed Saleh 2016: 23.
Persecution and longing of Yemenite Jews in The Handsome Jew 57

going to leave the land of Arabs?” (Al-Muqri 2011: 35). Next time he speaks the
words but in a different way “when are you leaving to your home?” Salem’s father
painfully replies “Where shall we go? Where is our home?” and the Muezzin replies,
“You say that Jerusalem is your home! Go there … or go to hell” (Al-Muqri 2011:
35). Saleh’s words are always a source of tension, irritation and stress particularly
to Salem’s father and As’ad, a Jewish cobbler. Whenever their day is poisoned by
Saleh’s words, they spend the rest of the day discussing the possibilities of leaving
for Jerusalem or living here in Raydah (Al-Muqri 2011: 35). Saleh’s behavior
presents a negative image of Islam to non-Muslims particularly the dhimmis who
live under the protection of the Muslim state. That is why Muslims get a negative
response from the Jews. For example, As’ad is a not fanatic Jew but he does not
like Muslims and always has verbal clashes with Saleh. He calls Muslims “cursed
infidels (Kafirs)?” (Al-Muqri 2011: 17). However, his argument with the Muezzin
shows his deep knowledge of Islam. This is a sign of his open-mindedness and
readiness to learn about the other. Unlike Muslim scholars who are much less open
to learn about the Jewish religion and traditions. Maybe because “there was nothing
to be expected of the religion of a despised and weak nation” (Tobi 1999: 157).
Another situation which shows the otherness of the Jews takes place when Hussein,
the son of their neighbor in the market, asks “Where are you from?” and Salem
replies “From Rayda. From this land” (Al-Muqri 2011: 22). Hussein shouts, “It is not
your father’s country. This is our country. You are an infidel Jew” (Al-Muqri 2011:
22). So, when a Zaydi child insults him with ‘infidel’ and tells him he is not here
at home, or when Saleh the muezzin every day asks them to leave ‘the land of the
Arabs,’ Salem wonders, “Who are we?” (Al-Muqri 2011: 22). This shows the close
connection between home and identity.
Salem and other Jews are always considered as inferior. The Zaydi leaders have
inculcated the feeling of superiority in the hearts of the Zaydi community. When
Salem goes to the Imam to declare his Islam so that he and his son can survive,
Ali introduces him to Imam but before that he tells the imam ‘Azakum Allah.’ This
phrase is said before uttering a Jewish name showing that the speaker is going to
utter something inferior or despised (Al-Muqri 2011: 105). This phrase shows the
humbleness, lowliness and inferiority of the Jews’ status in the Yemenite society. It
is a sign of degradation, disgrace, humiliation and ignominy. Further, throughout the
novel when the word ‘Jew’ is uttered it is followed33 by the word ‘cursed’ which is a
big insult in the Yemenite traditions.
Al-Muqri attempts to underline the victimization of the Jews by highlighting the
atrocious cruelty and mad violence of the Zaydis who never hesitate to physically
attack the Jews whenever they have a chance. The wine attack is just an example.
One day some Zaydis attack a Jewish neighborhood and smash containers of wine.
They claim that the Jews spoil the young Muslims by selling wine to them. The
problem is that if they sell wine to Muslims, they are attacked by religious fanatics
and if they do not sell, they are also attacked by Muslim addicts. And when they
go to complain to the government they are not believed, and their witness is not
accepted by the Zaydi jury.
33
In Arabic, unlike English, the adjective follows the noun.
58 Ebrahim Mohammed Alwuraafi

The Handsome Jew revisits one of the watersheds in the history of Yemenite Jews,
the messianic movement. The novel shows how such a messianic activity is given a
political dimension by the Zaydi rulers so that as to vindicate their oppression of the
Jews. In 1666 the Jews of Yemen were informed that the long-awaited King-Messiah
had arisen, and his name was Sabbatai Zevi. Born in 1626 in Smyrna, and died in
1676, Sabbatai Zevi34 proclaimed himself Messiah, raising the hope of liberation of
the Jews in many countries. Like other Jews all over the world, when the Yemenite
Jews heard the news, “they were very happy and excited as if they had no other
dream but to wait for him” (Al-Muqri 2011: 117). The messianic activity has been
nurtured among the Jews “by the expectation of redemption by one of the progeny
of the House of David, who would restore the exiles to the land of Israel and there
renew the Jewish kingdom” (Tobi 1999: 48). First the kingship of the world will
go for them; second, they will return to their promised land. The novel details this
event in Yemen to show the Jewish joy for returning home and ruling the world.
The moment the news of the new messiah arrives in Yemen, the Yemenite Jews
begin to show signs of joy and delight. They “started in the first week of Shaban35 to
sell their homes, possessions and property very cheaply” (Al-Muqri 2011: 119) and
made preparations for their ascent to the Land of Israel. The sale of their belongings
was accelerated and “many of them stopped working and gave their money away
as donations and loans” (Klorman 1993: 33). The messiah represents freedom,
salvation and redemption for the Jews. Their dream of freedom and returning home
is connected with his arrival. The Jews’ self-respect and dignity will be restored after
centuries of suffering, powerlessness and humiliation.
The central figure of the 1667 messianic movement in Yemen is Sulayman Jamal
Al-Aqta, one of Yemenite rabbis. He is a Jewish nagid (leader) who is also in charge
of collecting Jizya from the Jews. He leads a group of Jews in Sana’a to express their
messianic aspirations in connection with the larger Sabbatean movement all over
the world. Hamami, who lived and witnessed these events, describes him as “great
and versed in torah and in the Bible and in the halakhot and the aggadah and the
qabbalah, but mostly in the qabbalah, and a great thing happened to him” (as cited
in Tobi 1999: 70). According to Tobi, the ‘great thing’ refers to “some revelation
or divine illumination that aroused within him the feeling that he himself was the
Messiah or at least that he was to play a central part in the course of the redemption”
(Tobi 1999: 70). Sulayman al-Aqta, as Klorman (1993) says, “underwent some sort
of inspiring vision … After his vision, which probably instructed him as to what
should be done, Sulayman al-Aqta initiated a bold action to remove what seemed
to be the final obstacle to the messianic appearance – the Zaydi government” (41).
According to A-Muqri, Sulayman al-Aqta is a rabbi and the Jews do not see anyone
better than him to rule Sana’a. They give him expensive attire which resembles the
attire of kings, perfume him and adorn him with jewels (Al- Muqri 2011: 122). The
event has been described by historians such as Klorman, who writes: Sulayman
34
Eventually, Sabbatai Zevi was imprisoned by the Ottoman Sultan who offered him the choice between
death and conversion to Islam and he preferred the latter, leaving everyone who had followed him in
dismay.
35
Shaban is the eighth month in Islamic calendar. It comes before Ramadan.
Persecution and longing of Yemenite Jews in The Handsome Jew 59

mounted the palace in the fortress of Sana’a … to challenge the authority

of Sayyid Jamal al-Islam Ali, the governor of the town … [he] prepared
for his mission in a festive manner appropriate to a happy bridegroom on
the eve of his wedding day. Like a bridegroom, his hair was shaved and
perfumed with expensive perfume, and he was dressed in a beautiful white
silk robe” (Klorman 1993: 41-42).
When he arrives at the palace, all alone, he steps forward carelessly, without fear.
He speaks to the prince in Hebrew, with words that nobody understands. They bring
a translator. The interpreter does not believe his ears and does not dare to reveal what
he has heard; however, he translates: “He tells you: Get up and leave your throne.
Your kingship is over. Your days have gone. Kingship is for us now” (Al-Muqri
2011: 123).
But instead of getting the throne, Sulayman is arrested by Jamal al-Islam Ali,
the governor of Sana’a and thrown into the Bustan prison in Sana’a where he was
“locked … in a place of snakes and scorpions” (Tobi 1999: 73). Then the Imam
orders “that he be executed as a rebel against the kingdom who had grievously
violated the protection agreement between the Zaydi state and the Jews” (Tobi 1999:
73). However, before the beheading, Jamal is offered to convert to Islam in order to
save his life, but he contemptuously rejects this offer. As if death is not enough, the
Zaydis then drag his naked corpse and hang it on Bab Shu’ob36 for three days. He
remains there for several days, until his fat (he was obese and paunchy) runs on the
walls; and when the corpse starts to rot and people are disgusted by the smell, the
Jews are ordered to pull him down.
However, the death of Jamal does not mean the end of the suffering of the
Yemenite Jews. They are imprisoned collectively, extra taxation is imposed, fines
are levied, and many more discriminatory laws are issued including the Decree of
the Turban, with which they are forbidden to wear turbans or headdresses. The state
confiscates all their property (both movable and immovable). They are stripped
from the right to own or possess lands. Their houses have to be lower than those
of the Muslims. The construction of synagogues is no longer allowed, and the cult
is conducted in private houses, transformed into prayer rooms. They are prohibited
from riding camels and horses (they could ride only donkeys, and only with both
legs on one side, like women). They cannot possess or carry arms (in Yemeni society
the right to bear arms distinguishes the freemen). “After the killing of Sulayman
al-Aqta,” Al-Muqri writes, “the Jews were much more humiliated and degraded …
A chain of punishments were issued against them. Their money and unsold land was
confiscated. He even sent his soldiers to register the names of the Jews all over the
kingdom. Then he decided to raise the jizya 20 times extra” (Al-Muqri 2011: 125).
After nearly three years and due to the new decrees, “some Jews died of hunger and
some who survived converted to Islam” (Al-Muqri 2011: 125).
Undoubtedly, the response of the Imam Isma’il is very harsh as he perceives this
as an actual insurrection. According to Tobi, Isma’il

36
Meaning gate of Shu’ob. One of Sana’a’s main gates.
60 Ebrahim Mohammed Alwuraafi

decided to take drastic action against the Jewish communities, no doubt on

the assumption that the Jews had violated the conditions of the protection
agreement between the Islamic government and themselves by rebelling
against the former. Instructions went out from Sudah to all the cities of
Yemen and its provinces to strike at the Jews. And sure enough, the orders
were fulfilled by the Imam’s own troops dispatched from Sudah and
presumably by local populations everywhere (Tobi 1999: 71).
To fully impose his control on the Jews, a political dimension is added to the
messianic movement which “was perceived by the rulers as a revolt … This was
because the nature of a messianic movement was to alter the order of government”
(Tobi 1999: 68). It is seen as “a violation of the laws of protection granted them by
the Islamic State, an act that released the state from maintaining the protection. The
significance of this ruling was that Jewish blood and property were now free for all
because the state was not obliged to protect them” (Tobi 1999: 68).37 As soon as the
protection is no longer valid, the Zaydis of Kawkaban and Shibam attack the Jewish
families and loot their furniture, jewels and money (Al-Muqri 2011: 119). It does not
take long for the news to reach Hamdan, Al-Aroos, Hodoor and bilad al-Bustan who
seize the opportunity and ransack the property of all the Jews in the area (Al-Muqri
2011: 120). Furthermore, the Imam enforces the laws of discrimination against the
Jews that were practiced in other Islamic states in addition to the local ones. Further,
Jewish leaders “were arrested and tortured in several prisons, and the sentence of
death hovered over them” and to save their lives the Jews sentenced “were offered
their lives in return for conversion to Islam” (Tobi 1999: 72).
One of the darkest moments in the history of Yemenite Jews is their exodus to
Mawza.38 Al-Muqri masterfully details how the Jews are treated as non-humans,
objects that could be easily disposed of, or willingly erased. The Jews are no longer
the masters of their lives which are now totally controlled by the Zaydis. The Imam
Isma’il resolves to expel the Jews from Yemen. But due to his death, the act of
expulsion was carried out by his successor Imam Ahmad. The Imam Ahmed adds
a religious dimension, in addition to the political one, to his decision and justifies
his action by quoting a Hadith by prophet Muhammad: “Drive out the Jews from
Hijaz”; in another version: “Drive out the infidels from the Arabian Peninsula” (Al-
Muqri 2011: 129). The Jews are expelled from all Yemen and sent to Mawza, a torrid
and scorching area on the shores of the Red Sea. There, about half of them died of
hunger, disease and hardship. Describing the condition of the Jews during and after
their exile in Mawza, Yosef Tobi writes:
This event was disastrous for Yemenite Jewry owing to its serious
economic, political and demographic outcome (more than half of the
Jews disappeared during this exile) as well as its spiritual consequences.
Uprooted from their ancient dwelling places they were cut off from their
traditions … From then on they were treated as unclean persons, forbidden
direct contact with Muslims. Moreover, they suffered a profound social
37
See Al-Muqri 2011: 119.
38
Mawza is a district of Taiz Governorate, Yemen. It is located on the Red Sea shore.
Persecution and longing of Yemenite Jews in The Handsome Jew 61

and moral crisis in consequence of the exile, as the temporal and spiritual
leadership was insufficiently respected by the members of the community.
There is even some evidence of prostitution in the Jewish community,
unimaginable under other circumstances (Tobi 1999: 6-7).
The Jews are panic-stricken as the future becomes darker and bleaker. They have
suffered too much and hoped too much. Now they are exasperated beyond endurance
by the hostile and aggressive attitude of the Zaydis. They are highly disappointed,
and their hopes are thoroughly lost.
Al-Muqri presents a touching and heartbreaking portrait of Jewish exodus. He
writes: “Of course, they did not weep. Expulsion decree gave them no time to do so.
It appeared that their destination will be opposite to their dreams. To there. To the
unknown” (Al-Muqri 2011: 131). It is a journey to the unknown. They have left their
belongings, their dreams, their hopes, and their future. They do not know where to
go. When Salem sees the Jews gathering at the outskirt of Sana’a ready to leave, he
says: “I was hit by the sight of the Jews gathered to leave Sana’a with a heartache
that has not yet been recovered until now. Those who still have some possessions
sold them cheaply” (Al-Muqri 2011: 133). Seeing their horrible condition, Salem
decides to accompany them in an honor for Fatima. He buys a donkey and rents
another to help the poor ones carry their belongings and to ride one if he gets tired.
But that does not happen. There were many “old women being carried on backs, and
old men creeping like infants; they cannot stand or walk even a single pace. Pregnant
women with infants, uncountable sick persons. What can two donkeys do for them”
(Al-Muqri 2011: 134). Salem gives the first donkey to an old man and the second to
a young woman who had an abortion. She says that the abortion happened because
she spent the night without cover. Later he discovers that the young woman is his
daughter-in-law, Said’s wife (Al-Muqri 2011: 134). Thousands of children, women,
and old men are struggling under the heavy weight of bundles making their way
painfully down to the scorching shores of the Red Sea in a sinister tumult. Some
faint and are trampled by the surging crowds. Moaning and sobs are mingled with
cries. Women carrying babies are wailing and weeping. Some people fall by the
wayside, and some do not rise again. “Many people,” writes Al-Muqri (2011), “were
reluctant to walk with the surging crowds, they were incapable of any movement.
They chose the simple and easy path; they refused any help and surrendered to the
coma of eternal death. We can do nothing for them except burying them as much
as we can” (136). However, “it makes no difference whether we bury them or
leave them without burying for the wind and crows. The whole earth has become
a cemetery” (Al-Muqri 2011: 136). After three days they arrive at Mawza.39 Salem

39
The region of Mawza was inhospitable, unhealthy and very hot, and it is estimated that about one
third of the Yemenite Jews died of hunger, thirst and disease during the march to reach it. But after a
short time in exile, considering the need that the economy of the country had for Jews as artisans and
small traders, they were allowed to return. However, the Jewish presence was afterwards considered
to be unclean and contaminating for Muslims, so it was forbidden for Jews to return to their ancient
dwellings, and they were forced to build separate neighborhoods, generally outside the walls of the
town.
62 Ebrahim Mohammed Alwuraafi

wonders, “Is it the order of Imam to leave us here or the whim of a soldier got tired of
the creeping of the sick, the hungry and semi-dead bodies?” (Al-Muqri 2011: 137).
Describing the new place, Salem says: “Our stay in this hot place is like our traveling
to here: Hunger and fever accompanied all of us. Nothing can stop the mosquitoes
from sucking the blood of the arrivals. Death is a final rescuing dose as an expected
healer” (Al-Muqri 2011: 137). It is the catastrophe of the Yemenite Jews. It is this
catastrophe and its pain and suffering that Al-Muqri brings to life in this novel.
The intensity of persecution and humiliation is clearly seen in the Jews’
willingness to take revenge. The ill-treatment that the Jews receive at the hands of
the Zaydis makes them think of revenge. When the news of the new messiah arrives
in Yemen, the Jews start to threaten the Zaydi Muslims. They will avenge the wrong
things done to them. Here we can affirm that the Jews’ intention to persecute the
Muslims when their kingship comes is reactive and not proactive. It is a reaction to
the persecution they experienced at the hands of Zaydis. It does not spring from an
evil spirit but rather a reflection of past oppression and persecution. It is a reaction to
the debasement of status facing them every day. In other words, with the arrival of
the news of the newcomer, the life of Jews is entirely altered. Some of them cannot
hide their joy and start to express such joy in a way unfamiliar to the Zaydis. Salem’s
brother Haza’a dies because of fever. He was 23 years old. He is a fanatic. He assures
his brother of the coming of the liberator and future redeemer of the Jewish people.
Then he will take revenge and fight all Muslims. Angrily, he says: “on that day, I
will avenge myself on all Muslims, even those who have done nothing to me. It is
enough that they were silent. I will cause abortion of the fetuses before they are born,
and if they are born I will never let them grow to become strong enemies. They are
enemies before they are born, even before they are created” (Al-Muqri 2011: 32).
A Jewish cobbler says to a Zaydi Muslim while stitching his shoes: “You will see,
we will make you kneel before us; we will take revenge; we will make you walk
barefooted. Jews alone will wear shoes. And as for you, you have to manufacture
their shoes and repair them” (Al-Muqri 2011: 118). Some others intend to impose
jizya on Muslims and it will be doubled. Another Jew while selling an axe for a
Muslim and while bargaining, he says: “Give me whatever you like. Today it is for
you and tomorrow for me, with which I will hit your head” (Al-Muqri 2011: 118).
Some other Jews threaten the Muslims that they will destroy everything Muslims
have built in Jerusalem and build synagogues in the place of mosques (Al-Muqri
2011: 118). The dream to rule the whole world, is expressed by As’ad when he says:
“The Jews will not live in Jerusalem only, but they will rule the whole world. When
the messiah arises we will rule from Jerusalem, ah ... ah … the authentic Jew, the Jew
and the son of the Jew, and no one else, will sit on the throne in Jerusalem and will
give his orders to eliminate all the enemies. This is the will of the lord” (Al-Muqri
2011: 52). This reaction of the Jews can be understood if we follow their history
in Yemen. They have been suffering for more than two millenniums at the hands
of local people. In her discussion of the human response to perceived injustices,
Hannah Arendt (1970), argues that human beings react with rage and resort to
violence: “Rage is by no means an automatic reaction to misery as such … Only
Persecution and longing of Yemenite Jews in The Handsome Jew 63

when our sense of justice is offended do we react with rage, and this reaction by no
means necessarily reflects personal injury” 63). Talking about the violence that rises
between the colonizers and the colonized, Jean-Paul Sartre (1963) writes: “for at
first it is not their violence, it is ours, which turns back on itself and rends them; and
the first action of these oppressed creatures is to bury deep down that hidden anger
which their and our moralities condemn and which is however only the last refuge of
their humanity” (18). Like the colonized, As’ad’s comments are reactive and never
proactive. He has been subject to injustice for years and his anger as stated by Ardent
and Sartre is vindicated.
The Yemenite Jews are not given the chance to settle down or to feel that they are
Yemenites living in their land. They are not accepted and always reminded of their
otherness. They are insulted, cursed, discriminated against, looked down upon and
despised. They are not allowed to build strong homes. They should build their home
with clay and not stones. For this reason their homes are destroyed very easily by
rain. One of these houses is As’ad’s house. Lamenting the oppressive Zaydi laws that
do not allow them to build strong houses, As’ad says:
we cannot build our houses on a strong basis because they do not permit
us to build one or maximum two storeys on the condition that it does not
compete with or surpass theirs. What shall we do? Our homes if not swept
or uprooted by floods, they are destroyed by rain … they are not our home
to care for. They are homes for the wind. It scatters them whenever it wants
to and it scatters us also (Al-Muqri 2011: 58).
It is thus natural that their allegiances and loyalties are directed to the land of
Israel rather than to the surrounding society. They feel that the current place is
temporary. Further, deep inside they feel that the Jews in general have no home other
than the Holy Mount in Jerusalem. These misdirected loyalties are the outcome of
their ill-treatment at the hands of Zaydi Muslims and non-acceptance in the Yemeni
society. They have been living in this place for millenniums, however, they are seen
as outsiders who should go back to their original home. Further, they have no right
to own land. This is a very critical issue. Preventing someone from owning land
will always remind him that he does not belong here. There are also those publicly
humiliating assignments such as latrine and toilet cleaning, carcass removal and
others that make one feel inferior. They have nothing to compensate for all these
except their longing and dream of return. This feeling of longing and return is what
stimulated the Jewish messianic movement in Yemen among other places which has
always found its expression in the chiseling of the David Star on everything they
make, such as wooden doors and windows or the walls of the room. Muslims do not
know the meaning of this star. They think that it is a kind of decoration (Al-Muqri
2011: 42).
The longing of the Yemenite Jews is intensified by the mean jobs assigned to
them by the Zaydi regime. They are forced to clean the baths, dung and corpses
from the streets. In the novel, Salem collects firewood for the Mufti. He does not
sell the firewood for a price but gets things such as corn, bread and sweets in return
64 Ebrahim Mohammed Alwuraafi

(Al-Muqri 2011: 7). As’ad is a cobbler, one of the mean jobs for the Zaydis. Another
unnamed character is a blacksmith. In other cultures, these may look ordinary jobs
but in Yemen such jobs are done by minorities such as the Jews. It is a great shame
to work in such a job.40
The longing of the Jews for Jerusalem is deepened by their isolation from the
larger society. The Jews, debased and despised, and due to their inferiority, are forced
to live in isolation. This is clear from the reaction of the Salem’s family to Fatima’s
visit to their home. Salem is forbidden from going to the Muslim house to continue
his learning. For this reason, Fatima comes to his home. His mother does not believe
that Fatima has come to visit them. She wonders, “Is it possible? A Muslim woman
at a Jewish home?!” (Al-Muqri 2011: 14). This question is crucial. Jews may go to
a Muslim house but not the other way around. It is something out of nature to see a
Muslim at a Jewish house. “I know,” Salem’s says, “that she [his mother] has met
her [Fatima] many times at their home or at other Muslim homes, but what I do
not know is that a Muslim female visit to the Jewish neighborhood was something
unimaginable” (Al-Muqri 2011: 14). In another place in the novel, Salem says: “I
do not know what the word infidel means. I only know that I am a Jew. Children
who live outside our neighborhood call me a Jew. The old call our neighborhood
the neighborhood of the Jews” (Al-Muqri 2011: 22-23). This shows that a warm
relationship between the two communities is absent. Their relationship does not go
beyond business relationships. The presence of Jews is crucial for the local economy
as the Zaydis abhor almost all manual professions except agriculture. They depend
on the Jews to repair the broken tools. Only the Jews could fashion jewels. Though
there is a mutual trust between the two, each sect believes that the religion of the
other is false.
In addition to linking persecution to politics and messianic movement, Al-Muqri
also links it to religious intolerance and fanaticism. Al-Muqri opines that religious
fanaticism and intolerance are behind the persecution of Yemenite Jews. As we
have seen, all Zaydis justify their oppressive treatment of Jews by citing Quran
or Hadiths. Yemenite Jews are the victims of misunderstood religion and bigoted
fanatics such as the Muezzin and Zaydi imams who believe to represent God on
earth. The novel is a call for moderate religion and tolerance. At the end of the novel,
Salem summarizes those who are intolerant from both religions. These people are
the poison of communal life. He comments on the death of his uncle and aunt in
Mawza:
My uncle requested my forgiveness as he died on a hot summer day. But
his wife did not request me. Instead she blessed me with her forgiveness on
the condition that I have embraced Judaism again. But I am not sure that she
has forgiven me or forgiven herself … anyone who knows her like me knows
very well that she died with all her grudge, malice and hatred. Same like my
brother. And maybe like As’ad and Saleh the muezzin (Al-Muqri 2011: 137).
40
The circumstances of the Yemenite Jews seem to be similar to those mentioned in Psalms 70:20: “In
our exile we suffer from three calamities, the first is persecutions, wandering and slavery; the second
is agony, poverty and humiliation; the third is war, abuse and famine” (136).
Persecution and longing of Yemenite Jews in The Handsome Jew 65

To highlight his point of religious tolerance and coexistence, Al-Muqri creates

Fatima, such a lovely character.
The conflict between the two communities continues even after death. Despite
the hopes that the reader feels at the beginning of the novel that the intimacy between
the two main characters represents and may lead to the intimacy between the two
communities religiously, culturally and socially, the end is unhappy. The story, which
opens with love and romance, has a tragic end. Salem, at the end of the story, decides
to transport the bones (the remains) of his life partner from her isolated tomb in the
Jewish cemetery to the Muslim cemetery. But what he does not expect is the attitude
of her Muslim community. Four Muslim men from her family along with the grave
guard come with bulldozers and exhume her body: “there is no place for this infidel
except with Jews in their cemetery” (Al-Muqri 2011: 146). The bones again are
buried in the Jewish cemetery. Only one day later, the Jews remove her bones and
put them back in the old isolated grave. When Salem dies, he is buried in a Muslim
cemetery but after just one night four men dig up the grave and take the corpse. He
is exhumed also like Fatima. Though he has declared his Islam many years ago, he is
not accepted. So, both Salem and Fatima are alienated in their life and in their death.
They are rejected by both Muslims and Jews. Said, their only son, says: “what is
this? How? The earth and the people do not accept them ... no one ... neither land nor
people” (Al-Muqri 2011: 148). One day in the morning Ibrahim, Said’s son, does not
find his father. He is informed that some people saw him carrying a bag in his hand
and went towards the east. Some say towards the west, others toward the north and
still some others toward the south. Going the four directions at the same time has
two interpretations: first they belong nowhere and second, they belong everywhere.
The exhumation of the remains of Fatima and Salem and constant transfers of their
bodies, in a kind of war between the two communities, darkens this optimistic vision
of the future. Hence The Handsome Jew can be called a story of isolated graves and
expelled souls.

4. Conclusion

Al-Muqri in this novel has given the reader a vivid picture of the suffering of
the Jewish community in Yemen during the 17th century. The novel demonstrates
the Zaydi persecution of Jews: discriminatory laws, high taxes, exile, and land
confiscation. The Zaydis are portrayed as rabble hungry for booty, violent, cruel, and
narrow-minded and are easily incited by their leaders. They are waiting for the Jews
to leave their land. Al-Muqri’s novel is an attempt to explain the many reasons behind
the emotional excitement and the persistent feeling of longing that are awakened
among the Jews: first, the already existing messianic expectations; second, the
oppression and suffering of the Jews and finally, their exile to the unknown region
called Mawza. All these drove Jews to immigrate to Israel as soon as they had the
opportunity to do so. Al-Muqri is trying to find a vindication or justification for the
flight of Yemenite Jews to Israel.
66 Ebrahim Mohammed Alwuraafi

The novel discusses religious intolerance. Al-Muqri is not against religion. He is

against the misuse of religion. He is against religious fanaticism and extremism. He
is of the opinion that the persecution of Jews throughout history is due to religion.
Before re-narrating the chronicles of Yemenite Jews, Al-Muqri in the first half of
the novel tries to establish the idea that religion is at the root of what happened to
Yemenite Jews. Al-Muqri questions the strict and blind adherence to any religious
doctrine and encourages religious freedom and the right to choose or change a
religion. Further, he presents both religions on an equitable basis regarding their
merits or demerits. Al-Muqri seems to be open-minded on the question of religious
beliefs and affiliations.
It seems that Al-Muqri believes in the young generation. They are more open-
minded, tolerant and peaceful than their old counterparts. A generation that will
tolerate religious affiliations, social classes and racial differences. The relation
between the two lovers is marked by inequality. Fatima belongs to a rich family. She
is the daughter of a jurist who interprets Muslim religious law, the highest position
in the religious ladder. Salem belongs to a poor Jewish family, considered as an
outsider by the society. He is religiously, socially, and racially different. But this
does not stop Fatima from loving him. So, Al-Muqri makes characters of different
religious and ethnic backgrounds communicate and develop a variety of interlocking
relationships between the Jews and the Zaydis, the most important of which is the
love relationship that develops between Fatima and Salem. This underlines the core
theme of Al-Muqri’s novel which is the possibility of friendship and love between
two persons, if not two peoples, who are politically, ideologically, and religiously
different.
Fatima and Salem are banished by both communities. They are banished because
they transgress the narrow thinking of their communities. They are doomed because
they fall in love though they are different. They are banished because they are
able to overcome the hostilities of the two religions, and the ideology of the two
communities. They reject fundamentalism, fanaticism and religious barriers between
humans. Fatima and Salem have crossed the religious barrier and the dividing line.
However, their cross is a passage to freedom. They have managed to escape from
religious restrictions and communal conflicts. Their crossing of the barrier takes both
physical and conceptual dimensions. It is a crossing of the geographical borders (i.e.,
from Raydah to Sana’a) and of moral or psychological borders (when they develop
a romantic relationship with each other).
Finally, Ali Al-Muqri provides a narrative deploying positive Jewish images
and foregrounding the human dimensions of the Jew as a victim of a history of
persecution and genocide and challenging the conservative Arabic discourse and
therefore paving the way for a new age of sympathetic Jewish images in Arabic
fiction. He attempts to be objective in his treatment of the Jew as a historical victim.
Hence Al-Muqri is one of the first writers who started the process of humanization
of the Jewish subject through fiction in the new millennium.
Persecution and longing of Yemenite Jews in The Handsome Jew 67

Address:
Ebrahim Mohammed Alwuraafi
Department of English Language and Literature
Faculty of science and Art-Al-Mandaq
Al-Baha University
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
E-mails: [email protected], [email protected]

References

Abu Jabal, Kamilia (1999) Yahud Al-Yemen: dirasa siyasiyah, iqtisadia and ijtima’eya. [Yemenite Jews:
a political, economic and social study.] Damascus, Syria: Dar Alnumair Publishering House.
Al-Ameri, Suzan (2011) “Al-Yahudi Al-Hali: qisat hob tatakhata al-ikhtilaf ad-deni”. [The Handsome
Jew: a love story that transcends religious difference.] Al-Emarat Al-Youm. Available online
at <https://www.emaratalyoum.com/life/culture/2011-11-21-1.438832>. Accessed on January
26, 2026.
Al-Hasan, Abdullatif A. (2014) Athar alfikr Alyahudi ala ghalat Ashi’a. [The impact of Jewish thought
on the Shi’ites.] Riyadh, KSA: Obekan Publishing.
Al-Muqri, Ali (2011) Al-Yahudi Al-Hali. [The Handsome Jew.] Beirut, Lebanon: Dar Al-Saqi.
Al-Shuga’a, Abdul Rahman A. (2013) Tarikh al-Yemen fi al-Islam. [History of Yemen in Islam.] 8th ed.
Sana’a, Yemen: Al-Ihsan Net.
Arendt, Hannah (1970) On violence. New York, NY: A Harvest/HBJ Book.
Ariel, Ari (2014) Jewish-Muslim relations and migration from Yemen to Palestine in the late nineteenth
and twentieth centuries. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill.
Blady, Ken (2000) Jewish communities in exotic places. Jerusalem, Israel: Jason Aronson Inc.
Klorman, B. Z. Eraqi (1993) The Jews of Yemen in the nineteenth century: a portrait of a messianic
community. New York, NY: E.J. Brill.
Klorman, B. Z. Eraqi (2002) “Yemen”. In Reeva Spector Simon, Michael Menachem Laskier, and Sara
Reguer, eds. The Jews of the Middle East and North Africa in modern times, 389–408. New
York, NY: Columbia University Press.
Klorman, B. Z. Eraqi (2014) Traditional society in transition: the Yemeni Jewish experience. Leiden,
The Netherlands: Brill.
Maimonides, Moses (1993) Epistles of Maimonides: crisis and leadership. Abraham S. Halkin, transl.
Philadelphia, PA: Jewish Publication Society.
McCord, Stephen K. (2018) “Yemen”. In Encyclopedia of Christianity in the Global South. Vol. 2,
865–867. New York, NY: The Roman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc.
Parfitt, Tudor (1996). The road to redemption: The Jews of the Yemen 1900-1950. Leiden, The
Netherlands: E J Brill.
Quran 27:44. Available online at <https://quran.com/27/1-93>. Accessed on January 26, 2020.
Saleh, Hadi Mohammed (2016) Asifat al-hazm. [Decisive storm.] Al-Janadria, KSA: Al-Janadria
Publishing.
Sartre, Jean-Paul (1963) “Preface”. In Frantz Fanon, ed. The wretched of the earth, 7–35. Constance
Farrington, transl. New York, NY: Grove Press.
68 Ebrahim Mohammed Alwuraafi

Tawil, Hayim (1998) Operation Esther: opening the door for the last Jews of Yemen. New York, NY:
Belkis Press.
Tobi, Yosef (1999) The Jews of Yemen: studies in their history and culture. Leiden, The Netherlands:
Brill.
Tobi, Yosef (2013) “Jews of Yemen”. In Abdelwahab Meddeb and Benjamin Stora, eds. A history of
Jewish-Muslim relations from the origins to the present day, 248–257. Princeton: Princeton
University Press.