Syedna Hatim became the third Dai al-Mutlaq in Yemen after his father the second Dai Syedna
Ibrahim al-Hamidi in 557 AH/1162. His ascension to the throne of the Dawat was challenged by a grandson of the first Dai Syedna
Dhu'ayb ibn Musa, Ahsan bin Mohammad bin Syedna Dhu'ayb. Syedna Hatim was the first Dai to venture into the Yemeni political field after the era under the rule of the Sulayhid Queen
Arwa al-Sulayhi and her political patronage. The
Zaydi Shia Imams of Yemen began to wage war against the
Tayyibi Ismaili Shia (see
Al-Mutawakkil Ahmad bin Sulayman). It is in this context that Syedna Hatim became interested in territorial acquisition and becoming a military power as a security requisition for the
Taiyabi Ismailis. Banu Zuwahi, offered mountain-peak fortress of Kawkaban near San'aa to Syedna Hatim in 561/1166. San'aa was under the rule of Sultan Ali b. Hatim al-Yami of the Hamdan tribe. See
Hamdanids (Yemen) for further information. Perceiving a threat to his own sovereignty, Sultan Ali proceeded to lay siege to Kawkaban. A trusted associate of the Dai, Ahmad al-Hibri betrayed him. Ahmad al-Hibri accepted a bribe from Sultan Ali, gave him vital information about the Dai's arrangements, and persuaded others in Kawkaban to turn against him, and forced Hatim to leave Kawkaban. He went to Lu'lu'a and Ray'an, two smaller fortresses some distance away. But Sultan Ali pursued him there with his troops and the Dai's reluctance to cause further strife among the Hamdan qabila prompted him to relinquish his hopes for acquiring territories in the San'aa region. He decided to move to the mountainous
Haraz region, where there had been Ismailis from the time of the first Sulayhid ruler. In the next few years a series of successful military expeditions gradually brought most of Haraz under the Dai's control. The core of his army was the Ya'aabir qabila, and their chief Amir Sabaa b. Yusuf. ==Works==