One of her first actions was to move the capital from Sana'a to Jibla in order to be in a better position to destroy the Najahid ruler Sa'id ibn Najar of Zabid and thus avenge her father-in-law's death.
•
Owing to her patronage of missions, an Ismāʿīlī community was established in Gujarat in the second half of the 11th century, which still survives there today as Dawoodi Bohra, Sulaymani and Alavi.
Following the death of Sulayhid dynasty ruler Ali al-Sulayhi in 1067, Arwa al-Sulayhi's husband Ahmad became the de jure ruler of Yemen, but he was unable to rule being paralysed and bedridden.