During the pre-Islamic times, the tribes of Asir were so highly regarded by other tribes, due to their power and strong defenses, that they were able to levy various charges on the Quraysh convoys travelling from Makkah to Yemen.
When the light of Islam began to shine on the Arabian Peninsula, Muslims conquered Makkah, Taif and neighboring areas. They destroyed the idols and did away with the polytheistic state. The Arab tribes started coming forth to embrace the new faith - those of Asir were no exception.
In 10 A.H. (Year of the Delegations), Surad Ibn Abd Allah Al-Azadi headed a delegation of his people to declare their adherence to Islam. They came to the Prophet, peace be upon him, who made Surad ruler of the Muslims among his people, urging him to spread the Islamic faith and fight the polytheists. Surad left the Prophet, heading for the capital of Asir, known then as Mikhlaf Jarash.
When he reached it, he laid siege to it for about a month. Since Jarash was fortified, Surad retreated, feigning defeat. The people of Jarash then came out to pursue him. After letting them follow him as far as the foot of the Shakar Mountain, he turned around, fought fiercely and defeated them. Finally, they made peace with him and agreed to pay a tax. Surad Ibn Abd Allah Al-Azadi took charge of the Jarash area, thus becoming its first Muslim ruler. He remained governor of Jarash until the Prophet's death. Jarash now is a historic site that once flourished near the western skirts of the Shakar Mountain.

During the rule of the Caliph Abu Bakr Al-Siddiq, Abd Allah Ibn Thawr took charge of Jarash. When Al-Siddiq asked Abd Allah to provide him with believers to fight those who had renounced the true faith, Ibn Thawr met his request. He remained governor of Jarash during the caliphates of both Omar and Othman. Later, Asir was attached to Makkah.

During the Ummayyad Dynasty, Asir's tribes took part in the Islamic conquests outside the Arabian Peninsula. When the Islamic conquests ended, and the caliphate moved to the Abbasids, the people of Asir returned to their lands and lived a peaceful life under Muslim rule, maintaining their allegiance to the Caliphs.

With the weakening of the Abbasid Dynasty, small states began to rise; foremost of which was the Tulunid Dynasty. The Islamic state was thus divided into east and west. Asir fell under the rule of the Tulunid Dynasty from 887-905 (274 to 293 A.H.). It was ruled by the Abassids once again from 905-941 (293 to 330 A.H.), by the Ikhsids until 973 (363 A.H.), then by the Fatimids until 1070 (463 A.H,).

In the twelfth century (fifth century A.H.), a Carmathinian civil strife broke out in Arabia, and gained control of parts of the Peninsula. However, the people of Asir resisted them and, after a fierce battle in Bisha, they pushed them back. The Carmathinians then fled to Yemen and most of the army took refuge in Sada in 1060 (452 A.H.).
In 1156 (551 A.H.), Asir and its prince, Sulayman Ibn Musa, stood in the face of the Ghuzz tribes, when the Ghuzz tried to conquer Asir, following their expulsion from Makkah and Jeddah and their arrival in the Bani Shehr area.

Asir was ruled by the Ayyubids from 1171 (567 A.H·) to 1229 (626 A.H.). Later, anarchy prevailed and numerous princes and sheikhs ruled it until the Mamluks seized power in 1517 (923 A.H.).
It is of interest to note that Asir's location is of great importance to the Hijaz and Yemen, since it forms a natural barrier against which the conquerors' ambition were crushed. Because of its difficult mountains and the courage and tenacity of its people, the conquerors of Yemen, and later the Circassians and the Ottomans opted for the coastal route, thus sparing Asir.

At the beginning of the nineteenth century (thirteenth century A.H.), Sarat Asir and Tihama were split among rival princes and sheikhs from their various tribes. It was during the time that Sheikh Muhammad Abdul-Wahhab began his call for religious reform in Najd. In his book, Al-Hayat al-Fikrayh wal Adabyah fi Janoubi al-Bilad al-Saudyah, Dr. Muhammad Husayn Abu Dahesh writes that Sheikh Muhammad's call gained momentum in southwestern Arabia in 1798 (1213 A.H.), when some of the region's princes and reformers embraced it.

In 1810 (1226 A.H.), Najd suffered the raids of Muhammad Ali Pasha, the governor of Egypt. While the Al Saud were engaged in defending the region, some of the tribal sheikhs seized the opportunity to proclaim themselves princes. Some areas in Asir and Tihama declared their allegiance to them. The sheikhs also fought the Turks several times and won.

For almost a hundred year, neither Sarat Asir nor Tihama knew any stability. Muhammad Ibn Ali Al-Idrisi launched a new campaign against the Turks in Tihama in 1818 (1234 A.H.). He fought them in the city of Abu Arish, east of Jizan in the area of the Mikhlaf al-Sulaymani, defeated them and captured the sheikhs who had opposed him. He then handed Tihama over to those who pledged allegiance to him. Nevertheless this Emirate was not spared from the raids of Asir's princes and Yam Tribes.
During this time, Muhammad Ibn Ali Al-Idrisi rebelled against the Ottoman Empire in the town of Sabya, near the city of Abu Arish, and extended his power in the area. He was helped by the considerable spiritual position of his grandfather, Ahmad Ibn Idris, in Tihama, and the military support he received from Britain and Italy. In 1908 (1326 A.H.) such support enabled him to announce his revolt against the Turks. Soon after war broke out between the Ottoman Empire and Italy in 1911 (1329 A.H.), Muhammad Ibn Ali Al-Idrisi declared his independence from the Ot-
tomans. Upon his death his son, Ali Ibn Muhammad Al-Idrisi, negotiated with the Italians in Musawa, with the British in Aden, and with Imam Yahya in Yemen. He then sent his relative, Marghani Al-Idrisi, to Makkah to conclude a treaty with the government of King Abdul-Aziz Ibn Abdul Rahman Al Saud. In 1930 (1349 A.H.), Tihama became a part of the Saudi nation.

As for Asir, it came for a time under Al Saud's control in 1800 (1215 A.H.) and was linked to al-Diriyya, headquarters of the reformer Sheikh Abdul-Wahhab,
near al-Riyadh. At that time Asir was ruled by princes from Al Mathami, until 1817 (1233 A.H.). Then AlSharif Muhammad Ibn Awn, leading an Egyptian army, seized Asir and brought in under the sway of Muhammad Ali Pasha, the governor of Egypt, and his supporters among Makkah's princes.

In 1822 (1238 A.H.) Said ibn Musallat Al-Mughaidi, one of Asir's princes, marched to Al-Sharif Muhammad Ibn Awn's garrison in the Tabab valley, expelled its leader and declared his government's independence. As a result, the tribe of Bani Mughaid controlled Asir for nearly a century. Ali Ibn Mujathil Al-Mughaidi, who was known for his support and service to Islam, was one of this tribe's most prominent men. After his death, other princes from Al Meri Al-Mughaidi ruled Asir in the Ottoman's name.

Asir remained an Ottoman province until 1917 (1336 A.H.). It was then ruled by Hasan Ali Ibn Aid, the prince  of  Abha,  who  continued  to  fight  with Muhammad Ibn Ali Al-Idrisi until 1919 (1338 A.H.). The same year, King Abdul-Aziz Ibn Abdul Rahman Al Saud sent an army to Asir and seized it. But Hasan Ibn Aid rebelled once again in 1921 (1340 A.H.) Prince Faisal Ibn Abdul-Aziz Al Saud led an army to Abha and, when it fell, Hasan Ibn Aid surrendered without resistance. After Prince Faisal secured the area, Hasan Ibn Aid was appointed its ruling prince. Since that time Asir has been part of the Saudi state.

In summary, for a century and a half Asir, together with the whole southwestern region of the Peninsula, remained an arena for tribal feuds which undermined its economic, intellectual and educational effort. It experienced no stability until it was incorporated into the Saudi state in 1932 (1351 A.H.). It was in this year that authority over Najd and its dependencies, over the the Hijazi Kingdom,  Tihama,  Asir and Najran was integrated . One nation, under the name of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, was born.