Word: imamate
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Yemen. Temporarily in charge of the reform-minded Prince Badr (TIME, June 29) while his father, the gory Imam, is off in Rome. Chances are that when papa returns shortly, things will go from Badr to worse...
...bitterly opposed sects are the Shiites and Sunnis, each claiming the true faith and branding the others as heretics. The Shiites acknowledge as their leaders the direct descendants of Ali, Mohammed's son-in-law, consider these imams incorruptible, infallible and immortal; since the disappearance of the last known successor of the house of Ali in 878, the Shiites wait for the "Hidden Imam" to make his earthly return. The Sunnis, on the other hand, refuse to accept divine inspiration by inheritance, recognize first the caliph as the "commander of the community," then turn to the "consensus," made...
There are no rules of hereditary succession to the feudal throne of the Imam of Yemen, and the reigning Sword of Islam wields it only so long as he can keep his enemies at bay. The enemies are many, the proliferation of pretenders spawned by his multi-wived Moslem relatives. But on his side the Imam has absolute powers : Macbeth's castle and the Borgia palaces were holiday resorts compared with present-day Yemen, where ten of the current Imam's brothers and most of his dozen sons have died violently in family infighting and palace intrigues...
Much of the latest bloodletting results from the aging Imam's efforts to make sure that his favorite son, Seif el Islam el Badr, gets the Imamate when the old man dies. Crown Prince Badr is a nice young man, introduced by Egypt's Nasser to anti-imperialist slogans and Russian technicians, but thus far Badr has displayed none of the bloodthirsty toughness required to seize and keep the Imamate. Three months ago. suffering from arthritis, rheumatism and heart trouble, the Imam traipsed off to Italy for a rest cure, traveling light with only one wife...
Under medical treatment in Rome, the ailing Imam of Yemen, 67, was suffering from arthritis, also reportedly from the effects of chewing too many qat leaves (a common Middle Eastern narcotic), swigging too many flagons of eau de cologne (he likes the stuff), and leaning too heavily on aphrodisiacs. In keeping with Arabian face-keeping, the oil-rich Imam arrived in Rome last month with an entourage of about 90 assorted Yemeni, including several Cabinet ministers, scimitar-bearing guards, three of his Queens, 23 concubines (who, according to the Italian Foreign Office, are not genuine harem types, "just slaves...