Arab, Northern Yemeni

Northern Yemeni Arabs are the people of Yemen's northern highlands and eastern plateau, from Sa'dah near the Saudi border through Amran and Sana'a to Dhamar, and east to Marib and al-Jawf. They speak Sanaani Arabic (ayn), named after the capital and spoken by about 13 million people; it is marked by a hard 'g' for the classical qaf, the classical 'ma' for 'what' and for negation, and future prefixes such as sha- and 'ad-. This was the realm of the Zaydi imamate, founded at Sa'dah in 897, which ruled the highlands until the 1962 revolution created the Yemen Arab Republic.

The north is the land of Yemen's great tribal confederations: Hashid (led by the al-Ahmar family), Bakil, the largest, and the Madhhij tribes of Marib and al-Bayda, with Khawlan east of Sana'a. Tribes keep their own customary law ('urf), arbitration and blood-feud customs, and men go armed. Above the tribes stand the sada (Hashemites, descendants of the Prophet), below them the mazayna service families and the Black Muhamasheen, a separate people. Most Northern Yemenis are Zaydi Shia, about a quarter are Shafi'i Sunni, and a small Ismaili community lives in Jabal Haraz. The Houthi movement (Ansar Allah), born of a Zaydi revival in Sa'dah, has ruled most of the group since taking Sana'a in 2014. Northern Yemenis have long worked in Saudi Arabia, the destination of most who emigrate.

Highland towns are built of tall stone and baked-brick tower houses trimmed with white gypsum, topped by the mafraj, a sitting room with alabaster or coloured-glass (qamariya) windows where men gather each afternoon to chew qat; the Old City of Sana'a is a World Heritage site. Villages perch on ridges above terraced fields. Men wear the jambiya, a curved dagger in an upright sheath whose hilt marks status, with a robe (zanna) and suit jacket, and often a rifle; the bara' dagger dance is performed at weddings and feasts, and the Song of Sana'a, sung to the lute and copper tray, is a recognised heritage. Saltah, a bubbling meat stew topped with whipped fenugreek, is the national dish, with fahsa, shafut (bread in spiced yoghurt), aseed and bint al-sahn, and qishr (coffee-husk drink). Marriage is arranged within tribe and status group, often between cousins; weddings last days with separate men's and women's celebrations. Honour (sharaf), hospitality and the protection of guests are core values.

Most Northern Yemenis are Zaydis, followers of the oldest Shia school, which recognises Zayd ibn Ali (d. 740) and holds that the imam must be a descendant of the Prophet who rises to claim rule. In law and daily practice Zaydism is close to Sunni Islam: Zaydis pray with arms at their sides, add 'come to the best of works' to the call to prayer, do not curse the first caliphs, and their scholars traditionally opposed saint veneration. Since the 2000s the Houthis have pushed a revivalist line with Twelver influences: mass celebrations of the Prophet's birthday, Eid al-Ghadir and Ashura, the movement's anti-American and anti-Israeli slogan chanted in schools and mosques, rewritten curricula, and a one-fifth religious tax (khums) for the Hashemites. Sunni tribes of Marib, al-Jawf and al-Bayda follow the Shafi'i school, with Salafi influence spread from the Dammaj institute in Sa'dah (closed 2014). The Ismailis of Jabal Haraz, mostly Sulaymani with a Dawoodi Bohra minority whose shrine at Hutayb draws pilgrims from India, keep their own mosques. Folk Islam is shared by all: amulets against the evil eye, jinn and ruqya healing. Abroad, Northern Yemenis in Saudi Arabia face suspicion as Shia under the Wahhabi religious establishment.

A New Testament in Sanaani Arabic was published in 2024, and the Standard Arabic Bible is understood by the educated. The JESUS film and The Savior are available in Sanaani Arabic, with The Prophets' Story (Create International) and Global Recordings Network's 'Words of Life 2' audio. There is no open church for Yemenis in the north; foreign Christians left after 2015 and Yemeni believers meet in secret, at great risk under Houthi rule. Strong tribal identity, Zaydi and Sunni commitment and the war form deep barriers.