Ali al Sulayhi

Ali bin Muhammad Ali alSulayhi was the founder and sultan of the Sulayhid dynasty in Yemen. He established his kingdom in 1047 and by 1063, the Sulayhids controlled had unified the entire country of Yemen as well as the Muslim holy city of Mecca under his leadership. AlSulayhi was killed in 1066 during a tribal vendetta between the Sulayhids and the Najahids of Zabid. He was succeeded by his son, Ahmad alMukarram.

AlSulayhi was born and raised in the village of Jabal near Manakhah. He was the son of Muhammad bin Ali alSulayhi, the chief qadi of Jabal Haraz. His father was a leading Sunni Muslim and educated alSulayhi on the Shafii madhab Nonetheless, alSulayhi converted to Ismailism, a branch of Shia Islam, after coming under the influence of the dai Amir alZawahi. Zawahi had kept his Ismaili faith private and was wellregarded by alSulayhis father who employed him to teach his son. However, alZawahi, who also served as the Chief Dai of the Ismailis, secretly taught alSulayhi the system of canon law used by the Fatimid Caliphate and the allegorical interpretation of the Quran employed by the Ismailis known as tawil.

Source: Wikipedia