Himyar (the Himyarite Kingdom) was a dominant polity in the southern highlands of Yemen, thriving from 110 BCE until its annexation in the 6th century CE. It began as a territory within the Qatabanian kingdom before gaining independence.
Capitals: Originally Zafar (near modern Yarim); power shifted to Sana'a in the 5th century.
Structure: A confederation of tribes ruled by a monarchy (the dhū-Raydān tribe).
Expansion: Consolidating power by 300 CE, Himyar conquered neighboring states including Saba', Qataban, and Haḍramaut.
Economy and Trade
Himyar was a wealthy hub of international trade, linking the Mediterranean, Middle East, and India. Pliny the Elder described it as one of the "richest nations in the world."
Exports: Major supplier of frankincense and myrrh to the Roman Empire (until Christianization reduced demand).
Network: Controlled trade routes linking East Africa to the Mediterranean; exported African ivory to Rome.
Influence: Exerted cultural and political influence over East African trading cities and maintained friendly diplomatic relations with Rome.
Religious Transformation
The kingdom underwent significant religious shifts, evidenced by inscriptions and historical texts.
Polytheism: Originally worshiped a South Arabian pantheon, with the solar goddess Shams as a favored national deity.
Judaism (c. 380–525 CE):
Adopted as the state religion in the late 4th century, likely to maintain political neutrality against the Christian Byzantine Empire.
Inscriptions shifted from polytheistic gods to Rahmanan ("The Merciful," "Lord of Heaven").
Evidence suggests the presence of priestly families (mishmarot) and synagogues.
Christianity: Became the official religion following the Aksumite conquest in roughly 530 CE.
Conflict and Decline
The kingdom's later years were marked by religious violence and foreign invasion.
Persecution: The Jewish king Dhu Nuwas (r. 510s–530 CE) persecuted Christians, notably massacring the community at Najran in retaliation for Aksumite threats.
Aksumite Conquest: The Christian Kingdom of Aksum (Ethiopia) invaded, deposed Dhu Nuwas, and installed a puppet ruler. The general Abraha later seized power, declaring himself king and building churches.
Sasanian Annexation: Following a request for aid by a Himyarite prince against Aksum, the Sasanian Empire (Persia) intervened, eventually annexing Yemen as a province around 575/578 CE.
Legacy in the Islamic Era
Descendants of Himyar retained influence after the rise of Islam, particularly in Syria.
Conquests: Himyarite nobles led contingents in the Muslim conquest of Homs (638 CE) and Egypt.
Politics: Prominent families (Dhu'l-Kala and Dhu Asbah) supported Mu'awiya against Caliph Ali in the First Muslim Civil War.
Tribal Rivalry: They formed a "Qahtanite" confederation to compete with the Quda'a and Qays tribes, fueling the Qays–Yaman rivalry that persisted through the Umayyad period.
Genealogy and Migration
Ancestral divisions of the Himyarites included major septs that migrated throughout the Arabian Peninsula and the Levant.
Kahlan: A major division that emigrated north due to trade failures (Roman pressure) and the Marib Dam flood. Sub-groups include the Azd (settled in Medina, Oman, and Ghassanid Syria), Lakhm (Al-Hirah), and Kinda.
Banu Quda'a: Settled on the borders of Iraq.
Jordanian Settlement: Many Himyarite Christian royalty reportedly migrated to Al-Karak and Madaba in Jordan.
The conflict between the Christians of Najran and the Himyarite King Yūsuf Dhū Nuwās (c. 523–525 CE) was not merely a local religious persecution; it was a proxy war in the broader "Cold War" between the Byzantine Empire and the Sassanian Empire.
1. The Geopolitical Map: "The Red Sea Front"
In the 6th century, the Arabian Peninsula was a buffer zone and critical trade corridor.1
The Goal: Control of the Red Sea trade route (spices, silk) to bypass the Sassanian-controlled Silk Road.
The Alliances:
Team West (Christian Coalition): Byzantine Empire (Justin I) + Kingdom of Aksum (King Kaleb) + Najran Christians (Miaphysites).2
Team East (Anti-Roman Bloc): Sassanian Empire (Kavadh I) + Lakhmids (Al-Mundhir III) + Himyarite Kingdom (Yūsuf Dhū Nuwās).
2. The Catalyst: The Massacre of Najran (c. 523 CE)3
Yūsuf Dhū Nuwās (Joseph), a convert to Judaism, seized the Himyarite throne (modern Yemen) and sought to break free from Aksumite (Ethiopian) hegemony.
Ideology as Strategy: He adopted Judaism not just for faith, but as a unifying, anti-imperialist ideology to counter the "Byzantine-Aksumite pincer."4
The "Fifth Column": He viewed the Miaphysite Christians of Najran as agents of Ethiopia and Byzantium.5
The Event: After capturing Najran, he demanded the community renounce Christ. Their refusal led to the mass burning of hundreds (or thousands) in a trench (al-Ukhdud), an event referenced in the Quran (Surah Al-Buruj).
3. The Diplomatic Trigger: The Conference of Ramla (524 CE)
This event turned a local massacre into an international war.
The Letter: Dhū Nuwās sent a boastful letter to Al-Mundhir III (King of the Lakhmids, a Sassanian vassal) and the Sassanian Shah Kavadh I, urging them to exterminate Christians in their domains just as he had.
The Leak: The letter arrived while Al-Mundhir was hosting Byzantine diplomats at the Conference of Ramla. The diplomats were horrified by the news, sparking immediate calls for a crusade.
4. The Response: Operation Red Sea (525 CE)
The Byzantine Emperor Justin I lacked the proximity to invade, so he deputized the Kingdom of Aksum.
Logistics: Byzantium provided the fleet (transport ships from Egypt/Coptos) to ferry Aksumite troops across the Red Sea.
Invasion: King Kaleb of Aksum landed in Yemen with a massive force.
Outcome: Dhū Nuwās was defeated and killed (legend says he rode his horse into the sea). Himyar became an Aksumite vassal state.
5. Strategic Aftermath
Short Term: The Red Sea became a "Christian Lake," securing the Indian Ocean trade for Byzantium and Aksum. A puppet Christian king (Sumyafa Ashwa) was installed.
Long Term (Sassanian Revenge): The Sassanian Empire eventually played the long game. In 570/575 CE, they sent a small expeditionary force (under commander Wahrez) to aid a Himyarite noble against the Aksumites. This successfully expelled the Ethiopians and turned Yemen into a direct Sassanian Satrapy, finally securing the southern flank against Byzantium.
Summary Table: The Proxy War
| Faction | Role | Ideology/Religion | Strategic Goal |
| Najran | Victim / Casus Belli | Miaphysite Christian | Maintain trade links with Byzantium; resist Himyarite nativism. |
| Dhū Nuwās | Aggressor | Jewish (Convert) | Sovereignty for Himyar; break Aksumite influence; align with Persia. |
| Aksum | The Hammer | Miaphysite Christian | Imperial expansion; control Red Sea trade; protect religious kin. |
| Byzantium | The Architect | Chalcedonian Christian | Secure spice/silk route; weaken Sassanian influence without direct troops. |
| Sassanians | The Silent Partner | Zoroastrian | Destabilize Roman trade alliances; eventually conquer Yemen (c. 570 CE). |
Aksumite–Persian wars
Date/Location: 570–578 AD in South Arabia (Yemen).
Belligerents: Sasanian Empire (Persia) and Himyarites vs. Kingdom of Aksum (Ethiopia).
Outcome: Sasanian victory; expulsion of Aksumites; establishment of Sasanian Yemen.
Historical Context
Aksumite Occupation (c. 520): Aksumite King Kaleb conquered the Himyarite Kingdom to stop the persecution of Christians by the Jewish ruler Dhu Nuwas.
Himyarite Resistance: By 570, the subjugated Himyarite leader Sayf ibn Dhi Yazan requested Sasanian military aid from King Khosrow I to end Aksumite hegemony.
Timeline of Invasions
First Invasion (570 AD):
General Wahrez led a Sasanian expedition (estimates range from 800 to 16,000 troops).
Persian forces utilized panjagan technology to secure victory at the Battle of Hadhramaut.
Aksumite King Masruq ibn Abraha was killed; Sayf was installed as a Sasanian vassal.
Interim: Sayf was assassinated by Aksumite servants, allowing Aksum to briefly regain control.
Second Invasion (575–578 AD):
Wahrez returned with 4,000 troops.
Yemen was annexed as a direct Sasanian province with Wahrez as governor.
Sources and Legacy
Historiography: Accounts rely heavily on later Arabic traditions (e.g., Al-Tabari, Ibn Ishaq). The conflict is absent from Sasanian documents and only mentioned briefly in Byzantine sources.
Demographics: The occupation created the Al-Abna', a distinct social group descended from intermarriage between Persian soldiers and local Arabs.
Duration: Sasanian rule continued until the early Muslim conquests.
The word miaphysite derives from the Ancient Greek μία (mía; "one") and φύσις (phúsis; "nature")
Miaphysite Christians are those who hold the theological position of miaphysitism, which asserts that Jesus Christ has a single, united nature that is both fully divine and fully human. This is a key difference from the Chalcedonian view (dyophysitism) of two distinct natures—one divine and one human—in Christ. Churches that follow miaphysitism are the Oriental Orthodox Churches, such as the Coptic, Armenian, and Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Churches.
Core beliefs of miaphysitism
One united nature:
Miaphysites believe that Christ's humanity and divinity are united in a single, inseparable nature. This is expressed by the formula "mia physis" (one nature).
Non-Chalcedonian:
Miaphysite churches rejected the decisions of the Council of Chalcedon in 451 AD, which affirmed a dyophysite understanding of Christ's two natures.
Rejection of extreme views:
Miaphysitism is distinct from the extreme view of monophysitism (specifically Eutychianism), which is that Christ's humanity was "swallowed up" by his divinity. Miaphysites maintain that Christ is "truly God and truly man," but these are not two separate natures in the way Chalcedonians describe
Dhū Nuwās (Arabic: ذُو نُوَاس), real name Yūsuf Asʾar Yathʾar (Musnad: 𐩺𐩥𐩪𐩰 𐩱𐩪𐩱𐩧 𐩺𐩻𐩱𐩧, Yws¹f ʾs¹ʾr Yṯʾr), Yosef Nu'as (Hebrew: יוסף נואס), or Yūsuf bin Sharhabil (Arabic: يُوْسُف ٱبْن شَرْحَبِيْل),[4] also known as Masruq in Syriac, and Dounaas (Δουναας) in Medieval Greek, was a Jewish king of Himyar reigning between AD 522–530[5] who became infamous for his persecutions of peoples of other religions, notably Christians, living in his kingdom. He was also known as Zur'ah in the Arab traditions.[6][7]
Names and family
Dhu Nuwas' family is not very well known. There is debate on who his father is; the earlier Arab scholars and the Jewish Encyclopedia believed that Dhu Nuwas was the son of the earlier Himyarite king Abu Karib.[8][9] However, Ibn al-Kalbi disagreed and stated that he was the son of Sharhabil Yakkuf, hence making him the great-grandson of Abu Karib. Ibn Abbas also reported that Dhu Nuwas' real name was Yusuf, son of Sharhabil, which was reported by Ibn al-Kalbi and Al-Baydawi and later on the historian Ibn al-Athir. His mother, however, was said to have been a Jewish slave from Nisibis who was purchased by and then married to an unnamed Himyarite king; this indicates Dhu Nuwas was in fact a Himyarite prince.[10][a] If so, that would place her origins within the Sassanid imperial sphere and would illuminate possible political reasons for his later actions against the Christians of Arabia, who were natural allies of the Byzantine Empire.[10]
As for the real name of Dhu Nuwas, the archeological inscriptions already prove his real name to have been Yusuf As'ar Yath'ar.[11] The Arab historians with the exception of Ibn Abbas all cite his real name as being Zur'ah while the name Yusuf comes later after his conversion to Judaism. Some sources also state his name was Masruq.[10] Either way, it is agreed upon that Dhu Nuwas had the name Yusuf during his rule.
Ethiopian invasion
Ibn Hisham's Sīrah (better known in English as the Life of Muhammad), describes the exploits of Yūsuf Dhū Nuwās. Ibn Hisham explains that Yūsuf was a convert Jew who grew out his sidelocks (nuwās) and became known as "he of sidelocks." According to the Arab traditions, he took power after having killed his supposed predecessor, Dhu Shanatir, with a knife hidden in his shoe.[12] The historicity of Dhū Nuwās is affirmed by Philostorgius and by Procopius (in the latter's Persian War). Procopius writes that in 525, the armies of the Christian Kingdom of Aksum of Ethiopia invaded ancient Yemen at the request of the Byzantine emperor Justin I to take control of the Himyarite Kingdom, then under the leadership of Yūsuf Dhū Nuwās, who rose to power in 522, probably after he assassinated Dhu Shanatir.
Ibn Hisham explains the same sequence of events under the name of "Yūsuf Dhū Nuwās." Following this invasion, the supremacy of Judaism in the Kingdom of Ḥimyar, as well as in all of Yemen, came to an abrupt end. Imrū' al-Qays, the famous Yemeni poet from the same period, in his poem Taqūl Lī bint al-Kinda Lammā ‘Azafat, laments the death of two great men of Yemen, one of them being Dhū Nuwās, and regards him as the last of the Himyarite kings:
Art thou not saddened how fate has become an ugly beast,
the betrayer of its generation, he that swalloweth up people? It has removed Dhū Nuwās from the fortresses
who once ruled in the strongholds and over men
[b]
One Syriac source appears to suggest that the mother of Dhū Nuwās may have been a Jew hailing from the Mesopotamian city of Nisibis.[10][c] If so, that would place her origins within the Sassanid imperial sphere and would illuminate possible political reasons for his later actions against the Christians of Arabia, who were natural allies of the Byzantine Empire.[10]
Many modern historians, except for Christopher Haas, have argued that her son's conversion was a matter of tactical opportunism since Judaism would have provided him with an ideological counterweight to the religion of his adversary, the Kingdom of Aksum and it also allowed him to curry favour with the Sasanian emperor.[13]
Persecution of Christians
Based on other contemporary sources, Dhu Nuwas, after seizing the throne of the Ḥimyarites around 518 or 522, attacked Najran and its inhabitants, captured them and, burned their churches. The destruction fell out on Tuesday, during the 15th day of the lunar month Tishri, in the year 835 of the Seleucid era counting (corresponding with AD 524).[14][15] After accepting the city's capitulation, he massacred its inhabitants who would not renounce Christianity. Earlier, the Himyarite monarch had attacked and killed the Abyssinian Christians who had settled in Zafar.[citation needed]
According to the Arab historians, Dhu Nuwas then proceeded to write a letter to the Lakhmid king Al-Mundhir III ibn al-Nu'man of al-Ḥīrah and King Kavadh I of Persia to inform them of his deed and to encourage them to do likewise to the Christians under their dominion. Al-Mundhir received the letter in January 519 [sic], as he was receiving an embassy from Constantinople seeking to forge a peace between the Roman Empire and al-Ḥīrha.[16] He revealed the contents of the letter to the Byzantine ambassadors, who were horrified by its contents. Word of the slaughter quickly spread throughout the Byzantine and Persian realms, and refugees from Najran, including a man named Daws Dhu Tha'laban, even reached the court of Roman Emperor Justin I himself and begged him to avenge the martyred Christians.
In AD 523, Dhu Nawas murdered Arethas, the leader of the Miaphysite Christian community, along with 340 of his followers. News of his execution reached to Roman emperor Justin I and with the help of Kaleb of Axum, the king of Abyssinia, overthrew Dhu Nawas.[17]
Military campaigns
The name Yūsuf 'As'ar Yath'ar, which is believed to mean the same as Yūsūf Dhū Nuwās, appears in an old South Arabian inscription from the 520s.[18] Related inscriptions from the same period were also deciphered by Jamme and Ryckmans and show that in the ensuing wars with his non-Jewish subjects, the combined war booty (excluding deaths) from campaigns waged against the Abyssinians in Ẓafār, the fighters in ’Ašʻarān, Rakbān, Farasān, Muḥwān (Mocha), and the fighters and military units in Najran, amounted to 12,500 war trophies, 11,000 captives and 290,000 camels and bovines and sheep.[19]
According to ‘Irfan Shahid's Martyrs of Najran – New Documents, Dhu Nuwas sent an army of some 120,000 soldiers to lay siege to the city of Najran, which siege lasted for six months, and the city taken and burnt on the 15th day of the seventh month (the lunar month of Tishri). The city had revolted against the king and refused to deliver itself to the king. About 300 of the city’s inhabitants surrendered to the king’s forces under the assurances of an oath that no harm would come to them, and they were later bound. Those remaining in the city were burnt alive within their church. The death toll in that account is said to have reached about 2000. However, the Sabaean inscriptions describing the events report that by the month of Dhu-Madra'an (between July and September), there had been "1000 killed, 1500 prisoners [taken] and 10,000 head of cattle."[20]
Jacques Ryckmans, who deciphered the Sabaean inscriptions, writes in his La persécution des chrétiens himyarites that Sarah'il Yaqbul-Yaz'an of the Dhu Yazan family was both the tribal chief and the lieutenant of King Yusuf during the military campaigns; he was sent out by the king to take the city of Najran, and the king watched for a possible Aksumite incursion along the coastal plains of Yemen near Mokhā (al-Moḫâ) and the strait known as Bāb al-Mandab. The Ethiopian church in Ẓafar, which had been built by the Himyarite King some years earlier after the proselytizing mission of Theophilos the Indian and another church built by him in Aden (see: Ecclesiastical History of Philostorgius, Epitome of Book III, chapter 4), had been seen by Constantius II during the embassage to the land of the Ḥimyarites (Yemen) around AD 340. This church was set on fire and razed to the ground, and its Abyssinian inhabitants killed. Later, foreigners (presumably Christians) living in Hadhramaut were also put to death before the king's army advanced to Najran in the far north and took it.
King Yusuf As'ar Yath'ar, described in an inscription as the "king of all nations," led the major tribes of Yemen (Hamedan, Madh'hij, Kinda, Murad) and successfully defeated the Abyssinian forces in Ẓafâr, Mokhā and Najran.
Death
According to Ibn Ishaq, Dhu Nuwas chose to commit suicide by drowning in the sea, after the Aksumites had invaded Yemen as a retaliation for his persecutions of Christians. Unwilling to accept defeat after the capture of his queen and bounty along with the town of Zafar, he deliberately rode his horse into the Red Sea.[21][22]
Inscriptions regarding Dhu Nuwas
Najran inscription (AD 518):[23][24]
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The first line :
Sabaean: ليبركن الن ذ لهو سمين وارضين ملكن يوسف اسار يثار ملك كل اشعبن وليبركن اقولن
Arabic: ليبارك الله الذي له (ملك) السماوات والأرض الملك يوسف أسار يثأر ملك كل الشعوب وليبارك الأقيال
- God who owns the heavens and the earth bless king Yusuf Asar Yathar, king of all nations and bless the Aqials
Third line:
Sabaean: خصرو مراهمو ملكن يوسف اسار يثار كدهر قلسن وهرج احبشن بظفر وعلي حرب اشعرن وركبن وفرسن
Arabic: الذين ناصروا سيدهم الملك يوسف أسأر يثأر عندما أحرق الكنيسة وقتل الأحباش في ظفار وعلى حرب الأشاعرة وركبان وفرسان
- Who they stand with their master, King Yusuf Asar Yathar, when he burned the church and killed the Abyssinians Dhofar and war on (Habashah) in Ash'aran and Rakban (regions) and Farasan
Fifth line:
Sabaean: وكذه فلح لهفان ملكن بهيت سباتن خمس ماتو عثني عشر االفم مهرجتم واحد عشر االفم سبيم وتسعي
Arabic: وقد أفلح الملك في هذه المعركة في قتل 12500 اثناعشر الف وخمسمائة قتيل و11090 أحد عشر ألف وتسعين اسير
- The king has succeeded in these battles in the killing of 12,500 and capturing 11,090
Sixth line:
Sabaean: وثتي ماتن االفن ابلم وبقرم وضانم وتسطرو ذن مسندن قيل شرحال ذي يزن اقرن بعلي نجرن
Arabic: وغنم مئتي الف رأس من الابل والبقر والضان وقد كتب هذه المسند القيل شرحال ذي يزن عندما رابط في نجران
- Booty of two hundred thousand camels, cows, sheep, and this inscription was written by Sharaḥ'īl Yaqbul dhu Yaz'an when camped in Najran
Seventh line:
Sabaean: بشعب ذ همدن هجرن وعربن ونقرم بن ازانن واعرب كدت ومردم ومذحجم واقولن اخوتهو بعم ملكن قرنم
Arabic: مع شعب همدان والعرب والمقاتلين اليزنيين وأعراب كندة ومراد ومذحج واخوته الأقيال الذين رابطوا مع الملك
- With the nation of Hamedan and the Arabs and the Yazaniin fighters and the A'rab ('nomads') of Kinda and Murad and Madh'hij and his brothers the Aqials who camped with the king
Eighth and ninth lines:
Sabaean: ببحرن بن حبشت ويصنعنن سسلت مدبن وككل ذذكرو بذل مسندن مهرجتم وغنمم ومقرنتم فكسباتم
Arabic: على
البحر من جهة الحبشة واقاموا سلسلة من التحصينات في باب المندب وجميع
الذين ذكروا بهذا المسند قاتلوا وغنموا ورابطوا في هذه المهمة
- On the sea from the side of Habashah (Abyssinia) And they set up a series of fortifications in the Bab al-Mandab and all who mentioned in this Musnad they fought and took booty and camped in this mission
Sabaean: اوده ذ قفلو ابتهمو بثلثت عشر اورخم وليبركن رحمنن بنيهمو شرحبال يكمل وهعن اسار بني لحيعت
Arabic: وعادوا في تاريخ ثلاثة عشر وليبارك الرحمن ابناء شرحبال يكمل وهعن واسار بني لحيعت
- And they returned in the history of thirteen and Rahman (god) bless Sharhabil Akmal and Wh'an and Asar Bni Lhi't
Irfan Shahid, in the Introduction to his book, Martyrs of Najran (published in 1971), quotes from the Nestorian Chronicle from Saard (Séert) edited by Addai Scher (see: Patrologia Orientalis vol. IV, V and VII), compiled shortly after 1036 from extracts of old Syriac historical works no longer extant, saying: "… In later times there reigned over this country a Jewish king, whose name was Masrūq. His mother was a Jewess, of the inhabitants of Nisibis, who had been made a captive. Then one of the kings of Yaman had bought her and she had given birth to Masrūq and instructed him in Judaism. He reigned after his father and killed a number of the Christians. Bar Sāhde has told his history in his Chronicle."
The Christians of Najran were the most notable community of Christians in pre-Islamic Arabia. Christianity appears to have spread into the region by the fifth century, if not earlier. In some Islamic tradition, Najran is thought to have been the site that allowed Christianity to first get a foothold in South Arabia. Najran was the home of several Christian bishops as well, including the legendary Quss Ibn Sa'ida al-Iyadi, a contemporary of and possible influence on Muhammad. Some traditions suggest the existence of a Kaaba of Najran, which had a similar architectural style to the Kaaba of Mecca.
The Christians of Najran are best known for having been persecuted and massacred during the reign of the Jewish Himyarite king, Dhu Nuwas. The outrage that followed in the international Christian community made this what has described as "the most widely broadcast episode of the early sixth century,"[1] with the works written on it now forming an important source for the history of the community. The massacre also instigated an invasion of the Himyarite Kingdom by its Christian neighbour, the Ethiopian Aksumite Kingdom, ushering in an era of Christian rule over South Arabia during much of the sixth century. The Christians of Najran persisted, and are said to have sent a delegation that met with the Islamic prophet Muhammad, who allowed them to worship in his mosque, and their interaction is believed to be the occasion in which Surah 112 of the Quran was revealed. The Quranic story of the People of the Ditch in Surah 85 is also often interpreted as recounting the massacre of Najran's Christians.
Primary sources
The Christian sources that talk about the Christian community at Najran primarily revolve around the persecutions of this community in the early sixth century by Dhu Nuwas. These sources include two letters attributed to Simeon of Beth Arsham,[2][3] Jacob of Serugh's Letter to the Himyarites,[4] the Book of the Himyarites, and the Martyrdom of Arethas.[5]
Introduction of Christianity
Christianity may have been introduced into Najran in the fifth century, possibly through trade routes. Several late sources suggest different beginnings for the Christians of Najran. According to the Chronicle of Seert, Christianity was introduced into the area around 450 when a Christian merchant from the city named Hannan travelled to Constantinople, and then Al-Hira, where he converted and was baptised. Upon returning to Najran, he began sharing his faith with others in the community, who also began to convert. Ibn Ishaq offers a different story: a Christian Syrian named Fimiyyun ended up as a slave in Najran. His manner of praying shocked the Najran community, leading to a mass conversion. Other versions of the story also permeated the Arab-Islamic tradition, some focusing on the miracles of a man named Abdallah ibn Tahmir, to whom Fimiyyun ministered, and another centered on the secret conversion of a Himyarite king. Though the details about Christianity's introduction into the area are unclear, it is possible that it was passed along the trade routes of Al-Hira. Several explicitly Christian inscriptions are known from the Hima Paleo-Arabic inscriptions, located at a site near Najran, with the texts dates covering the late fourth to early fifth centuries.[6]
Bishops and holy sites
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The first mention of bishops of Najran is in a letter from Simeon, the bishop of Beth Arsham, written in 524. According to Simeon, Philoxenus of Mabbug consecrated two bishops, both called Mar Pawlos (Paul). Both died during the massacre, the first during the siege of Zafar, and the second in Najran before its final surrender to Dhu Nuwas.[7] The consecration being done by Philoxenus, a leading member of the Syrian Orthodox Church, indicates a Miaphysite, non-Chalcedonian Christianity at Najran.[8][9] Other bishops are mentioned in Islamic sources, including the legendary Quss Ibn Sa'ida al-Iyadi, a contemporary of Muhammad, who came to preach the great market of Mina and the Sūq ʿUkāẓ.[10]
The Church of Najran was called the Kaaba of Najran. This Kaaba drew worshippers for some 40 years during Pre-Islamic Arabia. The Arabian sources single out Khath'am, a Christian tribe which used to perform the pilgrimage to the site.
Persecutions and massacre
The Christians had suffered a brief stint of persecution with the advent of the new dynasty under the Himyarite ruler Sharhabil Yakkuf.[11] In the Martyrdom of Azqir, a missionary known as Azqir tried to convert the king, and was instead ordered executed for "introducing a new religion."[12] After concluding the story of Azqir's life and execution, the Martyrdom reports that around 40 other Christians had also been martyred, including bishops, priests, monks, and lay people.[13]
After the death of the king, Yusuf As'ar Yath'ar (known as Dhu Nuwas for his sidelocks) was appointed to the throne. In a reversal of policy, Yusuf launched a campaign which massacred an Aksumite garrison in Zafar, where a church was set on fire, then invaded the Tihāma coastal lowlands and he took over key centres as far as the Bab el-Mandeb. He sent one of his generals, a Jewish prince, north to Najran in order to impose an economic blockade on the oasis by cutting off the trade route to Qaryat al-Faw in eastern Arabia.[14]
In 523, Dhu Nuwas killed nearly hundred thousand Christians in Najran, reportedly in retribution for the burning of a synagogue.[15] Dhu Nuwas killed nearly hundred thousand Christians[failed verification] These circumstances had a geopolitical dimension as well; Jewish communities and Nestorian Christians had connections with the Iranian Sassanid kingdom, while the Miaphysite Christians were linked to Byzantine and Aksumite interests.[15] When Dhu Nuwas ordered the Himyarites to provide him troops, the Miaphysite Christians of Najran refused.[12] Dhu Nuwas sent out officials to offer a truce in exchange for voluntary surrender. Instead, once the representatives for the community identified themselves, Dhu Nuwas ordered the execution of the rebels and their families. Their bodies were piled in a church and burned.[16] The prefect of Najran, Arethas, was among those killed. He is remembered as a saint in the Catholic tradition and as a martyr in Islam.[17] There are three Sabaic inscriptions which refer to the event: Ry 507, Ry 508, and Ja 1028.[18]
The details of this incident are debated, and the event itself has been heavily mythologized.[19] This effect can be seen in the death toll, which varies widely from 200, as recorded shortly afterward, to 70,000 in sources written centuries later.[20] Popular religious narratives purport that Dhu Nuwas gave the Christians of Najran the choice of conversion to Judaism or death, and that when they refused to renounce their faith, they were burned alive. Modern scholarship questions both the religious motive and the manner of execution. It is possible that those killed were executed by sword and their bodies burned afterward.[19] Inscriptions written Himyarite military officers make no reference to the religion of the Najranites.[12] 21st century scholars have understood this massacre as an episode of brutal political repression, rather than religious persecution.[12][16]
Fall of Dhu Nuwas
Dhu Nuwas's military campaign against the Byzantine-allied Christians of Najran brought swift retribution. The emperor of Byzantium, Justin I, requested his ally, the Abyssinian ruler Kaleb of Axum, to invade Najran, kill Dhu Nuwas, and annex Himyar.[21] According to the Book of the Himyarites, Najrani Christian refugees (including one by the name of Umayyah) arrived in Aksum and requested aid from its king. In either case, the Abyssinians sent an army of 7,000 men led by Abraha, the Christian viceroy of the Negus of Axum, defeated Himyarite forces. Dhu Nuwas is said to have ridden his horse into the sea rather than be killed by Byzantine forces. The seizure of the throne by Abraha signified a return to Christian rule in Najran, and with it a period of retaliatory persecution against Himyar's Jews.[16]
Memory and legacy
The persecution of Christians in Najran has left a legacy in both Christian literature as well as in the Quran.
Simeon of Beth Arsham's second letter on the Najran massacre is unique for its focus on the women martyrs, who he says rushed to join "our parents and brothers and sisters who have died for the sake of Christ our lord."[22] According to one memorably gruesome episode mentioned in it, after seeing her Christian kinsmen burned alive, Ruhm, a great noblewoman of Najran, brings her daughter before the Himyarite king and instructs him: "Cut off our heads, so that we may go join our brothers and my daughter's father." The executioners comply, slaughtering her daughter and granddaughter before Ruhm's eyes and forcing her to drink her blood. The king then asks, "How does your daughter's blood taste to you?" The woman replies, "Like a pure spotless offering: that is what it tasted like in my mouth and in my soul."[23]
In one exchange, reminiscent of the Acts of Marta and her father Pusai, a freeborn woman of Najran named Habsa bint Hayyan taunts Dhu Nuwas with the memory of her father:[24]
Habsa told him, "I am the daughter of Hayyan, of the family of Hayyan, the teacher by whose hand our lord sowed Christianity in this land. My father is Hayyan who once burned your synagogues". Masruq the Crucifier (Dhu Nuwas), said to her, "So, you have the same ideas as your father? I suppose you too would be ready to burn our synagogues just as your father did." Habsa told him, "No! I am not going to burn it down because I am prepared to follow quickly this path of martyrdom in the footsteps of my brothers in Christ. But we have confidence in the justice of Jesus Christ our Lord and our God, that he will swiftly bring an end to your rule and make it disappear from amongst mankind: he will bring low your pride and your life, and he will uproot your synagogues from our lands, and build there holy churches. Christianity will increase and rule here, through the grace of our Lord and through the prayers of our parents and brothers and sisters who have died for the sake of Christ our Lord. Whereas you and all who belong to your people will become a byword that will cause future generations to wonder, because of all that you, a godless and merciless man, have wrought upon the holy churches and upon those who worship Christ God."
The martyrs of Najran are often thought to be mentioned in the Quran (85:4–8):[25]
...slain were the men of the pit (Al-Ukhdood),
the fire abounding in fuel, when they were seated over it, and were themselves witnesses of what they did with the believers. They took revenge on them because they believed in God
the All-mighty, the All-laudable...
The stories of the Najran deaths spread quickly to other Christian realms, where they were recounted in terms of heroic martyrdom for the cause of Christ. Their martyrdom led to Najran becoming a major pilgrimage centre that, for a time, rivaled Mecca to the north. The leader of the Arabs of Najran who was executed during the period of persecution, Al-Harith, was canonized by the Roman Catholic Church as St. Aretas.[26]
The Martyrdom of the Christians of Najran is celebrated in the Roman Calendar on 24 October; in the Jacobite Menologies on 31 December; in the Arabic Feasts of the Melkites on 2 October; in the Armenian Synaxarium on 20 October, and in the Ethiopian Senkesar on 22 November.
Islamic era
Starting in the 7th century, Islam spread in Arabia. The Christians of Najran would interact with Muhammad and later Muslims.
Delegation to Muhammad
Around 631, Muhammad began sending letters to various communities, inviting them to convert to Islam. Such a letter was also sent to the Christians of Najran; it was delivered by Khaled ibn al-Walid and Ali ibn Abi Talib. When the Christians did not convert, Muhammad sent Al-Mughira to explain Islam further to the Christians of Najran. In response, the Christians sent a delegation of 60 people (including 45 scholars) to visit Muhammad in Medina.[27] Among them were Abdul Masih of Bani Kinda, their chief, and Abdul Harith, bishop of Bani Harith. Muhammad permitted Christians to pray in his mosque, which they did, turning towards the east.[28]
When the delegation arrived, Muhammad allowed them to pray in his mosque.[28] Some Muslims were reportedly uncomfortable with Muhammad allowing the Christians to pray in a mosque.[29] The Christians are said to have prayed facing the East. Muhammad also provided them with a place to stay.[27]
The Christians delegation tried to convert Muhammad to Christianity and the two sides entered into a debate.[29] Muhammad concluded that some Christian teachings were incompatible with Islam and that Islam was the true religion.[30] Though both sides failed to convince the other, they nevertheless worked out a mutually acceptable relationship,[29] and entered a treaty of peace.
The Treaty of Najran guaranteed to the Christians security for "their lives, their religion and their property".[31] It gave Christians freedom of religion,[32] stipulating that there would be no interference in the practice of Christianity, nor would any cross be destroyed.[31] While the Christians were required to pay a tax (jizya) they would not have to pay a tithe (ushr).[33] The tax on them was not to exceed the means of a Christian.[34] Muhammad also stated "The Muslims must not abandon the Christians, neglect them, and leave them without help and assistance since I have made this pact with them on behalf of Allah."[34]
The treaty was significant politically and economically. By leaving local leaders intact, Muhammad cultivated new allies and facilitated tax collection.[33]
Expulsion under Umar
There are reports that the second Caliph Umar ibn al-Khattab ordered Christians of Najran to vacate the city and emigrate out of the Arabian peninsula, based on Muhammad's orders.[35] However, the historicity of this is disputed, and there is historical evidence that Christians continued to live in the area for at least 200 more years.[35] It may be that the orders of Umar were not carried out or might have applied only to Christians living in Najran itself, not to those settled round about. Some migrated to Syria, likely in the district of Trachonitis (the Lajat plain) and around the extant city of Najran, Syria; but the greater part settled in the vicinity of Al-Kufa in predominantly Christian Southern Iraq, where the colony of Al-Najraniyyah long maintained the memory of their expatriation.
Najran accord of 897
The Christian community of Najran still had considerable political weight in the late ninth century.[35] According to a Yemeni Arab source, the first Zaydite Imam of Yemen, al-Hadi Ila l-Haqq Yahya ibn al-Hussain (897–911) concluded an accord with the Christians and the Jews of the oasis on 897, at the time of the foundation of the Zaydite principality.[36]
A second Yemeni source alludes to the Christians of Najran in muharram 390 (999–1000). The oasis was still one-third Christian and one-third Jewish, according to the testimony of the Persian traveller, Ibn al-Mujawir.[37]
Decline
Eventually, the Old Najran, which was Christian, disappeared, and is now represented by Al-Ukhdood, a desolate village. At the same time, another Najran, which is Islamic, has now appeared in its vicinity.[38]