Muhammad Ahmed Haydara

Muhammad Ahmed Haydara (1902 – 1973; محمد أحمد حيدرة) was the first teacher of the enlightenment movement in the Mutawakkilite Kingdom of Yemen. He also wrote the lyrics for the Yemeni anthem, named Royal Salute.

Haydara was born in the village of al-Duwaymat, in the Ottoman Empire. His father, Ahmed Haydara, was a merchant. He received his education in Aden, which belonged to the Aden Protectorate at the time. Later, he went to Cairo and studied there, obtaining a baccalaureate. Haydara founded the school al-Ahliyya in 1930 with Ahmed Muhammad Numan, which was a modern school teaching subjects such as mathematics, geography, and science. He had three sons, named Muhammad, Shaher, and Abdullah. In 1973, Muhammad Ahmed Haydara died in Alexandria of illness.