Abdul Rahman Al-Iryani - Early Life

Early Life

Abdulrahman Al-Eryani was born in the village of Iryan in 1908. His father, Yahia Al-Eryani, was the chief Judge of the Mutawakkilite Kingdom of Yemen and a very pronounced scholar of Sharia. His mother, Salwa Al-Eryani was a known lady for her charitable efforts in her village. Abdulrahman Al-Eryani started his education in his village "Iryan" until the age of 16 when he left to the capital Sana'a to study in its famous Sharia School. After few years, he graduated and worked at the Imam Court until 1937 when he was appointed as a judge for the first time.

According to Yossi Melman of Haaretz, Dorit Mizrahi of the Mishpacha Magazine, and an article in the weekly HaOlam HaZeh, there are allegations that Al-Eryani was born Zekharia Hadad to a Yemenite Jewish family in Ibb. According to this version, in 1918, there was a drought in Yemen, which had a severe effect on the Jews, who were generally worse off then the Arabs. Both his parents died, and he was then adopted by the Al-Eryani, a powerful Muslim family, was renamed "Abdul Rahman Al-Eryani" and converted to Islam. At that time, Yemen was ruled by Yahya Muhammad Hamid ed-Din, who decreed that all orphaned Jewish children must be disconnected from their religion and be given over for adoption to a Muslim family.

According to YemenOnline, the claim of Jewish descent is a "fantasy". According to this version, Abdul Rahman was not the adopted Zekharia, but his stepbrother. Further, Abdul Raheem, who was close to his stepbrother Abdul Rahman, was the real Zekharia Hadad. Abdul Raheem is said to have retired in Iryan before dying in 1980, and has dozens of surviving children and grandchildren.