Ḥalī

Hali, historically known as Hali ibn Yaqub, stood in the coastal plain south of al-Qunfudhah on the eastern side of the Red Sea. It developed as a station on the road between Yemen and Mecca and became a substantial town long before the fourteenth century. Its wadi linked the plain to the Asir mountains, while an anchorage on the coast connected the district with Red Sea shipping. The town thus belonged to both the overland pilgrimage route and the coastal world facing Africa.

Ibn Battuta's account from shortly before the middle of the fourteenth century gives a particularly vivid picture. After sailing from Suakin, he reached Hali and described a large, populous town and an impressive congregational mosque. He also visited an Indian ascetic, Qabala, whose modest dwelling adjoined the mosque. The man's companions gathered for prayer and remembrance, and visitors were offered simple food. The account places local religious life within the movements of pilgrims and scholars across the Red Sea and Indian Ocean, alongside the roads that connected Hali with neighboring Arabian districts.