Ba'Alawi Tariqa Founders

wa alaykum as salaam wa rahma!

Thank you for your question! As far as I know the Habaa`ib are Husseini descendants that settled in the Hadramawt valley in Yemen. I don't think that they have any connection to the Zaydiyya except that their descendants were Zaydis more than likely. The Ba Alawis hold to the view that Imam Isa bin Zayd (as) converted to Sunnism after a dream or vision, I think. However, this would leave them in a predicament because if they acknowledge that Imam Ahmed bin Isa converted to Sunnism, that would mean that he wasn't before which would also imply that his ancestors weren't Sunnis. That withstanding, they would be forced to acknowledge that they are following something that the Ahl al-Bayt didn't follow.

Many of the Zaydis in Yemen say that it was actually Faqih al-Muqaddam who converted to Shafi' Sunnism and not Imam Ahmed bin Isa.

And Allah knows best!

IRS