{
 "id": "concept/christianity-in-arabia",
 "class": "concept",
 "slug": "christianity-in-arabia",
 "label": {
  "ar": "النصرانية في جزيرة العرب قبل الإسلام",
  "en": "Christianity in Arabia before Islam"
 },
 "summary": {
  "ar": "جاءت النصرانية إلى بلاد العرب عن طريق احتلال الحبشة والرومان في عرض الرحيق المختوم: دخل التبشير المسيحي اليمن في زمن الاحتلال الحبشي الأول، وتنصّر أهل نجران على يد الزاهد فيميون، ونشرها أبرهة بأوفر نشاط حتى بنى الكعبة اليمانية وأراد صرف حج العرب إليها، واعتنقها الغساسنة وتغلب وطيء وبعض ملوك الحيرة لمجاورة الرومان.",
  "en": "Christianity came to Arabia through the Abyssinian and Roman occupations in al-Raheeq al-Makhtum's account: Christian missions entered Yemen during the first Abyssinian occupation, Najran was converted by the ascetic Faymiyun, Abraha spread it vigorously and built the Yemeni Kaaba to divert the Arabs' pilgrimage, and the Ghassanids, Taghlib, Tayy and some kings of al-Hira adopted it from their proximity to the Romans."
 },
 "stub": false,
 "wings": [
  "ideas",
  "people"
 ],
 "regions": [
  "arabia"
 ],
 "periods": [
  "period/pre-islamic-arabia"
 ],
 "tags": [],
 "aliases": [],
 "themes": [
  "non-muslim-minorities-under-muslim-rule"
 ],
 "data": {
  "kind": "belief",
  "provenance": {
   "layer": "own-research",
   "source": "الرحيق المختوم ص35–42 نقلاً عن مختصر سيرة الرسول لمحمد بن عبد الوهاب ص12–54 وصحيح البخاري 1/222 و1/499 وابن هشام 1/20–36 و1/89–90 و1/152–153 و1/199–203 وقلب جزيرة العرب ص151 وتفهيم القرآن 6/297–298 وتاريخ أرض القرآن 2/193–208",
   "generated_by": "Claude Code",
   "model": "claude-fable-5-1",
   "run": "raheeq-prose-batch-3a"
  },
  "sources": [
   "source/mubarakpuri-raheeq",
   "source/tafhim-al-quran",
   "source/ibn-hisham-sira"
  ],
  "status": {
   "review": "draft",
   "completeness": 2,
   "generated_by": "Claude Code (claude-fable-5-1); al-Raheeq al-Makhtum pp. 40–42"
  }
 },
 "prose": {
  "ar": {
   "sections": [
    {
     "heading": "موجز",
     "markdown": "جاءت الديانة النصرانية إلى بلاد العرب عن طريق احتلال [[polity/aksumite-kingdom|الحبشة]] و[[polity/byzantine-empire|الرومان]] في عرض الرحيق المختوم {cite:mubarakpuri-raheeq p.40} {cite:tafhim-al-quran 6/297}."
    },
    {
     "heading": "اليمن ونجران",
     "markdown": "كان أول احتلال الحبشة لليمن سنة 340م واستمر إلى سنة 378م، وفي ذلك الزمان دخل التبشير المسيحي في ربوع اليمن {cite:mubarakpuri-raheeq p.40} {cite:tafhim-al-quran 6/297}. وبالقرب من هذا الزمان دخل رجل زاهد مستجاب الدعوات وصاحب كرامات يسمى [[person/faymiyun|فيميون]] إلى [[place/najran|نجران]]، ودعاهم إلى الدين المسيحي، ورأى أهل نجران من أمارات صدقه وصدق دينه ما لبّوا لأجله المسيحية واعتنقوها {cite:mubarakpuri-raheeq p.40} {cite:mubarakpuri-raheeq p.41} {cite:ibn-hisham-sira 1/31-34}. انظر [[group/christians-of-najran|نصارى نجران]] و[[event/massacre-of-najran|الأخدود]]."
    },
    {
     "heading": "أبرهة والكعبة اليمانية",
     "markdown": "لما احتلت الأحباش اليمن كردّ فعل لما أتاه ذو نواس وتمكن [[person/abraha|أبرهة]] من حكومتها، أخذ ينشر الديانة المسيحية بأوفر نشاط وأوسع نطاق، حتى بنى كنيسة باليمن كانت تسمى الكعبة اليمانية ([[building/al-qullays|القُلّيس]])، وأراد أن يصرف حج العرب إليها ويهدم بيت الله الذي بمكة {cite:mubarakpuri-raheeq p.41}."
    },
    {
     "heading": "عرب الشمال",
     "markdown": "اعتنق النصرانية العرب [[group/ghassan|الغساسنة]] وقبائل [[group/banu-taghlib|تغلب]] و[[group/tayy|طيء]] وغيرهما لمجاورة الرومان، بل اعتنقها بعض ملوك [[polity/lakhmid-kingdom|الحيرة]] {cite:mubarakpuri-raheeq p.41}."
    },
    {
     "heading": "تقدير المؤلف",
     "markdown": "يرى المؤلف أن النصرانية حين جاء الإسلام كانت قد عادت وثنية عسرة الفهم وأوجدت خلطاً بين الله والإنسان، ولم يكن لها في نفوس العرب المتدينين بها تأثير حقيقي لبعد تعاليمها عن طراز المعيشة التي ألفوها {cite:mubarakpuri-raheeq p.42}."
    },
    {
     "heading": "ما لم يُذكر هنا",
     "markdown": "الفقرة الأخيرة حكم المؤلف من داخل الإطار السني؛ لم تُضف بعد نظرة الدراسات الحديثة والنصرانية نفسها إلى نصارى الجزيرة ومذاهبهم. انظر أيضاً [[concept/kutub-al-nasara|كتب النصارى]]."
    },
    {
     "heading": "للزوار الصغار",
     "markdown": "كان في اليمن ونجران وشمال الجزيرة عرب نصارى قبل الإسلام، جاءهم الدين من الحبشة والروم."
    }
   ],
   "frontmatter": {
    "id": "concept/christianity-in-arabia",
    "lang": "ar",
    "source_lang": "ar",
    "translators": []
   }
  },
  "en": {
   "sections": [
    {
     "heading": "Overview",
     "markdown": "In *al-Rahiq al-Makhtum*, Christianity came to the lands of the Arabs through the occupation of [[polity/aksumite-kingdom|Abyssinia]] and of [[polity/byzantine-empire|the Romans]]. {cite:mubarakpuri-raheeq p.40} {cite:tafhim-al-quran 6/297}"
    },
    {
     "heading": "Yemen and Najran",
     "markdown": "The first Abyssinian occupation of Yemen was in 340 CE and lasted until 378 CE, and in that time Christian missionary activity entered the lands of Yemen. {cite:mubarakpuri-raheeq p.40} {cite:tafhim-al-quran 6/297} Around this time an ascetic man whose prayers were answered and who had miracles, called [[person/faymiyun|Faymiyun]], entered [[place/najran|Najran]], invited them to the Christian faith, and the people of Najran saw in him signs of his truthfulness and of the truth of his religion, so that they responded to Christianity and adopted it. {cite:mubarakpuri-raheeq p.40} {cite:mubarakpuri-raheeq p.41} {cite:ibn-hisham-sira 1/31-34} See [[group/christians-of-najran|the Christians of Najran]] and [[event/massacre-of-najran|the trench]]."
    },
    {
     "heading": "Abraha and the Yemeni Ka'ba",
     "markdown": "When the Abyssinians occupied Yemen in reaction to what Dhu Nuwas had done, and [[person/abraha|Abraha]] established his rule over it, he began spreading Christianity with the greatest energy and on the widest scale. He built a church in Yemen called the Yemeni Ka'ba ([[building/al-qullays|al-Qullays]]), and he wanted to divert the pilgrimage of the Arabs to it and to demolish the House of God in Mecca. {cite:mubarakpuri-raheeq p.41}"
    },
    {
     "heading": "The Arabs of the north",
     "markdown": "The Arabs of [[group/ghassan|the Ghassanids]], the tribes of [[group/banu-taghlib|Taghlib]] and [[group/tayy|Tayy]], and others adopted Christianity because of their proximity to the Romans, and some kings of [[polity/lakhmid-kingdom|al-Hira]] also adopted it. {cite:mubarakpuri-raheeq p.41}"
    },
    {
     "heading": "The author's assessment",
     "markdown": "The author holds that when Islam came, Christianity had reverted to a paganism that was hard to understand, and had created confusion between God and man. It had no real influence in the souls of the Arabs who professed it, because its teachings were distant from the way of life they were accustomed to. {cite:mubarakpuri-raheeq p.42}"
    },
    {
     "heading": "What is not recorded here",
     "markdown": "The last paragraph is the author's judgement from within the Sunni framework. The views of modern scholarship, and of the Christians themselves, on the Christians of the Peninsula and their sects have not yet been added. See also [[concept/kutub-al-nasara|the books of the Christians]]."
    },
    {
     "heading": "For young visitors",
     "markdown": "Before Islam there were Arab Christians in Yemen, Najran, and the north of the Peninsula. Their religion came to them from Abyssinia and from the Romans."
    }
   ],
   "frontmatter": {
    "id": "concept/christianity-in-arabia",
    "lang": "en",
    "source_lang": "ar",
    "translators": [
     "Claude Haiku 5.5 (claude-haiku-5-5), draft translation"
    ]
   }
  }
 },
 "degree": 10,
 "contemporaries": [],
 "connections": [
  {
   "to": "place/najran",
   "type": "practiced_in",
   "inverse": false,
   "sources": [
    "source/mubarakpuri-raheeq",
    "source/ibn-hisham-sira"
   ]
  },
  {
   "to": "place/yemen",
   "type": "practiced_in",
   "inverse": false,
   "sources": [
    "source/mubarakpuri-raheeq",
    "source/tafhim-al-quran"
   ]
  },
  {
   "to": "group/ghassan",
   "type": "practiced_in",
   "inverse": false,
   "sources": [
    "source/mubarakpuri-raheeq"
   ]
  },
  {
   "to": "group/banu-taghlib",
   "type": "practiced_in",
   "inverse": false,
   "sources": [
    "source/mubarakpuri-raheeq"
   ]
  },
  {
   "to": "group/tayy",
   "type": "practiced_in",
   "inverse": false,
   "sources": [
    "source/mubarakpuri-raheeq"
   ]
  }
 ],
 "related": [
  "event/harith-ghassani-taghlib-war",
  "concept/judaism-in-arabia",
  "group/christians-of-najran",
  "event/abyssinian-occupation-of-yemen",
  "event/ali-expeditions-to-yemen",
  "event/capture-and-release-of-hatims-daughter",
  "event/delegation-of-tayy",
  "event/expulsion-of-najran"
 ],
 "license": {
  "prose": "CC BY-SA 4.0",
  "data": "CC0 1.0"
 }
}