From there, Abu Abdallah joined the annual Hajj caravans of pilgrims to Mecca, and thence followed the returning Yemeni caravans to Yemen.[1] An active branch of the daʿwa had been operating there since 881, under Ibn Hawshab in the west, near Sana'a, and Ali ibn al-Fadl al-Jayshani in the southern part of the country.[2] Abu Abdallah arrived at Yemen in April 892 and joined Ibn Hawshab, but after barely a year, he was ordered to return to Mecca and thence try to establish a new daʿwa among the Kutama Berbers in North Africa.[1]