The Rasulids are a Sunni Muslim dynasty that rules Yemen from 1229 to 1454.The Rasulids descend from the eponymous Rasul (his real name is Muhammad ibn Harun), a Turkmen Oghuz chief.Later, they assume an Arab lineage, claiming descent from an ancient Arabian tribe.

Rasul comesto Yemen around 1180 while serving as a messenger for an Abbasid caliph.

His son Ali (d. 1217) is governor of Mecca for a time, and his grandson Umar bin Ali is the first sultan of the Rasulid dynasty.Rasūl is Arabic for messenger (although in this context it does not carry the Islamic prophet significance); during their reign, however, the Rasulids claim to be descendants of the legendary patriarch Qahtan.