 In Yemen and Hadramaut , much of the population adhered to Shia Islam in its Zaydi form . The inhabitants of Upper Mesopotamia were made up of Sunni Muslim Kurds and Turks , although there was a significant Yazidi minority in that region as well . Jews were spread throughout the Islamic world and most Ayyubid cities had Jewish communities due to the important roles Jews played in trade , manufacture , finance , and medicine . In Yemen and some parts of Syria , Jews also lived in rural towns . The Ayyubid emir of Yemen in 1197 – 1202 , al @-@ Malik Mu 'izz Isma 'il , attempted to forcibly convert the Jews of Aden , but this process ceased after his death in 1202 . Within the Jewish community , particularly in Egypt and Palestine , there existed a minority of <unk> . 
