Social Stratification of Sanaa

Sanaa is a political capital of Yemen where all citizens have equal rights under law. There some different traditions on religious basis therefore tourists find it quite interesting to visit Sanaa to know about their traditions. It is not easy to plan travel because lots of things have to consider before heading to any other country. The first step is flight booking and for this you have to consider cheap flights to Sanaa. This will help you to keep everything within budget otherwise everything will be out of control if you ignore planning from very first step. You can make your journey successful by knowing about your travel areas therefore following are some details about the social stratification of Sanaa.

Classes and Castes

According to law, all citizens of Sanaa are equal but people are discriminated on the basis of classes and castes. Sayyids stratum lies on the top as these are considered as descendants of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him). Sayyids work in the office of Zaydi imam and control the sacred enclaves, solve tribal divergences by arbitration, affianced in divinity and law and owned and leased land.

Qadis or Fuqaha (known as Mashayikh in the South) lies slightly lower on the social scale and are responsible to perform same social functions. Qabilis (Tribesmen) controls their territory and caravan routs own arable land for cultivation and carry weapons.

Strata the lower cast is the most deprived people and have an incomprehensible genealogy. They live under tribal protection but remain deprived of their land ownership and are not allowed to bear arms. Members of this group are known as Bani Khums in the north, while these people are known as Masakeen and Duafa (the poor and weak) in the south. They usually adopt low status occupation hereditary such as they work as smiths, carpenters, potters, stockbrokers, barbers, blood letters, choir, harbingers, butchers weavers and dyers and tanners.

Akhdams (servants) are lower people who wash and bury dead and clean latrines. Majority of Akhdams and ex-slaves (Abeeds) belong to Africa or Ethiopian descent. All these people observe marital rule of hyper-gamy that forces men to marry within their strata or lower women while women are free to marry their equals or higher-status men.

Symbols of social Stratification

In order to discriminate classes and castes, special attires are worn by people of each group. Male Sayyids and Qadis traditionally wore long robes and use white or green turban to cover their head. They use staff, ring and a flag to symbolize their authority.

Weapons, dances, greetings, call songs and tribal poetry are tribal symbols. Women wear normal dresses without any class discrimination but according to some social and religious customs it is important for women of itinerant tribes and most deprived strata have to leave their faces divulged. Tribesmen wear jambiya in south while in the north the men in the social strata carry daggers.

After knowing social stratification of Sanaa it will be quite easy for you to make your stay comfortable in Sanaa. Book your flight through those airlines that are offering cheap flights to Sanaa.