In 1067, during the pilgrimage to Mecca, the Banu Najah clan under Sa'id Ibn Najah, the prince of Zabid, attacked the travel party of Ali and Asma bint Shihab, killed Ali and took Asma prisoner. She was sequestered in a secret prison in Zabid, and reportedly, the severed head of her spouse was planted on a pole visible from her cell. After a year's imprisonment, she managed to get a message through to her son and daughter-in-law in Sa'na, and her son stormed Zabid and freed her.