Al-Muntakhab al-Hasan was an imam

Imam

An imam is an Islamic leadership position, often the worship leader of a mosque and the Muslim community. Similar to spiritual leaders, the imam is the one who leads Islamic worship services. More often, the community turns to the mosque imam if they have a religious question...

 of the Zaidi

Zaidiyyah

Zaidiyya, or Zaidism is a Shi'a Muslim school of thought named after Zayd ibn ʻAlī, the grandson of Husayn ibn ʻAlī. Followers of the Zaydi Islamic jurisprudence are called Zaydi Shi'a...

 state in Yemen

Yemen

The Republic of Yemen , commonly known as Yemen , is a country located in the Middle East, occupying the southwestern to southern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the north, the Red Sea to the west, and Oman to the east....

 in the period 934-936. He was the fourth ruler of the Rasssid Dynasty

Rassids

The Imams of Yemen and later the Kings of Yemen were religiously consecrated leaders belonging to the Zaidiyyah branch of Shia Islam. They established a blend of religious and secular rule in parts of Yemen from 897. Their imamate endured under varying circumstances until the republican revolution...

Al-Hasan bin Ahmad was the third of the six sons of imam an-Nasir Ahmad

An-Nasir Ahmad

An-Nasir Ahmad was the third imam of the Zaidi state in Yemen. Through his active leadership he confirmed and expanded the polity founded by his two predecessors.-Early years and succession:...

. An-Nasir Ahmad had been a powerful ruler who had consolidated Zaydiyyah influence in the Yemeni highland, but after his death in 934 the imamate entered into a rather obscure period. The rivalling Yu'firid Dynasty controlled Sa'dah

Sa'dah

Sa`dah is the capital city of Saada Governorate in north-western Yemen. It is located at , at an elevation of about 1,800 meters. Known in antiquity as Karna, its population in 2004 was estimated at 51,870.- External links :*...

, the residence of the Rassids, for four months after an-Nasir's demise. Now, al-Hasan claimed the imamate

Imamate

The word Imamate is an Arabic word with an English language suffix meaning leadership. Its use in theology is confined to Islam.-Theological usage:...

, with the regnal name al-Muntakhab al-Hasan. However, his elder brother al-Mukhtar al-Qasim

Al-Mukhtar al-Qasim

Al-Mukhtar al-Qasim was an imam of the Zaidi state in Yemen, who held or claimed power from 936 to 956.Al-Qasim bin Ahmad was the eldest son of the imam an-Nasir Ahmad who died in 934. An-Nasir's death ushered into a period of internal political turbulence among the Zaidis of highland Yemen...

 was set up as rival imam. Neither al-Mutakhab al-Hasan nor al-Mukhtar al-Qasim are listed in the later Zaidi chronicles, which count the imamate of their younger brother al-Mansur Yahya

Al-Mansur Yahya

Al-Mansur Yahya was an imam of the Zaidi state in Yemen, whose tenure as imam is counted from 934 to 976.Yahya bin Ahmad was the fifth son of the imam an-Nasir Ahmad. Even before the death of an-Nasir in 934, three of his sons quarreled bitterly among themselves...

 as starting from 934. The death of al-Muntakhab al-Hasan is dated in 936 by the historian Ibn Khaldun

Ibn Khaldun

Ibn Khaldūn or Ibn Khaldoun was an Arab Tunisian historiographer and historian who is often viewed as one of the forerunners of modern historiography, sociology and economics...

; another text says 939. The next important Rassid figure was his brother al-Mukhtar al-Qasim.