The ruins of ancient Najran
Introduction
Comprising the modern nations of Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Oman, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates, the Arabian Peninsula is the largest peninsula in the world. Historically it was subdivided into certain distinct regions, such as Najd in the central part of the peninsula, the Hijaz in the west, Hadhramaut in the south, and Hajar in the east. Despite the extreme desert harshness of much of its terrain, it is an ancient seat of civilization, and numerous distinct cultures have thrived over the centuries within its borders.
The Apostle Thomas, depicted in a Syriac illumination
From a religious perspective, this area of the world is best known as the birthplace of Islam. Indeed, so overwhelming has the dominance of Islam been in this region since the time of its founding in the 7th century, that it has all but entirely obscured the rest of the religious history of the Arabian Peninsula. This circumstance was by no means accidental: It was a direct consequence of Islamic theology. Once Islam arose—violently, it should be said, and spread by terror and the sword from the very beginning—it set about eradicating all other faiths from the land of its birth. A hadith attributes the following statement to Muhammad, Islam’s (purported) founder: “Let there not be two religions in Arabia."1 This, of course, meant that everything other than Islam had to go—and its enforcement has been vigorous and effective over the centuries.
So complete has the suppression of other faiths in Arabia been that a Christian of today, having only a casual knowledge of this area’s history, could be excused for not even realizing that a thriving and robust Christian presence existed there long before Islam’s emergence, and continued for some time thereafter. Yet such is precisely the case. There are, in fact, a number of saints of the Orthodox Church directly associated with this region; this essay will take a look at their stories.
A brief note at the outset: This article does not propose to survey the entire phenomenon of Arab Orthodox Christianity, an admittedly vast topic. The Arab contribution to the life and history of the Orthodox Church is immense and of the greatest antiquity, stretching back to the beginning, and it includes some of the Church’s greatest teachers and most illustrious names, such as St. John Damascene). However, geographically it is largely associated with the Levant—places such as Syria and Palestine. (In ancient usage, the term “Arabia” encompassed a much vaster area than the term now usually does). This brief essay is narrower in focus, and only proposes to address some aspects of the Orthodox Christian history of the Arabian Peninsula itself, principally through considering the lives of its saints.
Early History: Foundations
Holy Apostles Bartholomew and Thomas
Tradition credits the first preaching of the Gospel of Christ on Arabian soil to the holy Apostles Sts. Thomas and Bartholomew. Thus, the beginning of a Christian presence on the Arabian Peninsula dates to Apostolic times. The light of Christian doctrine shone there long before the darkness of Muhammadanism all but swept it away centuries later.
The holy Apostle Thomas came to Arabia during his voyage en route to the Malabar Coast from northwestern India around the year AD 52. (It is also possible that he was traveling back from Palestine). Sailing over the Red Sea, he stopped over for a time in Yemen. He then proceeded to an island off the Yemeni coast called Socotra (Suquṭrā). Shortly thereafter he continued on his way over the Arabian Sea to southwestern India, where he performed his greatest apostolic labors. Details of his activities in Arabia appear to be scarce, but the supposition is unavoidable that he was actively engaged in preaching for however long he stayed over. After a life of great missionary labors he was martyred in India around the year AD 72.
The Arapet, or Arabian, icon of the Mother of God
Here it should quickly be noted in relation to the account of St. Thomas’ missionary travels that there is an ancient icon of the Mother of God called the Arapet, or Arabian, icon. While little is known precisely about the icon’s origin, one tradition attributes it to the period of the evangelization of Arabia and India under St. Thomas. The icon’s feast is observed on September 6.
St. Bartholomew is also traditionally connected to the Arabian Peninsula. Like St. Thomas, he, too, helped evangelize parts of India, and his travels seem to have included the historic region of Arabia Felix, which corresponds to present day Yemen. He also is said to have preached in the Hijaz. He apparently left a copy of the Gospel of Matthew (in Hebrew) with a Christian community that he founded in southern Arabia. St. Bartholomew was martyred, around the year AD 70, in either Albanopolis of Armenia or in what is now Azerbaijan.
Another early figure of importance in the Orthodox Christian history of the Arabian Peninsula is St. Pantaenus the Philosopher of Alexandria (†c.200). Like Sts. Thomas and Bartholomew before him, his missionary activity is mostly associated with India. However, he also spent at least some time in southern Arabia, where he encountered the Christian community with a Hebrew copy of the book of Matthew that St. Bartholomew had left with them.
Missionaries had brought the Gospel to the northern shores of the Persian Gulf by the latter half of the 4th century, from the area of present-day Kuwait and then southward. Recently in the Harrat al-Sham desert of northern Arabia, in the area around the Jordanian border, a 4th century inscription was found carved in a rock; the inscription, in the ancient Safaitic script, is a prayer invoking the name of Jesus and calling for His help—an indication of at least some Christian presence in that area by that time.2 Southern Arabia saw established Christian communities from quite early on: A bishopric of Yemen is attested from at least the 3rd century; the first Ecumenical Council in Nicea in 325 lists among its attendees a certain Bishop Marqianos from Yemen. By around this same time or shortly thereafter, a similar situation existed in eastern Arabia, with bishops attested by at least the beginning of the 5th century: A bishop from that area is known to have attended a synod in Seleucia-Ctesiphon in 410. Thus we see well established Church life with an organized ecclesiastical hierarchy in place across the peninsula from early Christian times.
This sketch of the earliest Christian history of the Arabian Peninsula, while brief and cursory, nevertheless sufficiently demonstrates the venerable antiquity of the Christian presence in that land. It dates back to the time of the Apostles themselves, a couple of whom sanctified its soil with their travels and labors for God. And although a Christian presence never became dominant throughout the peninsula, still the seeds they planted bore fruit later on, as will be discussed more below.
St. Arethas the Great-Martyr of Najran and His Companions
St. Arethas
A Christian community existed in the southern Arabian city of Najran (located near the border of present-day Saudi Arabia and Yemen) from at least the 5th century, though it may date all the way back to at least the early 3rd century. Regardless of the exact date of the establishment of the Christian Faith there, Najran is considered the first location in southern Arabia to have a permanent, established Christian community. Despite the fact that, as discussed above, the Gospel had been preached in the area from Apostolic times, the indigenous paganism of the area was deeply entrenched and it took a long time for the Christian Faith to take root. Judaism also had a powerful presence in the area, as will be discussed below.
There seem to be conflicting accounts of how Najran became a center of Christianity in southern Arabia. One source reports that it was already part of a diocese covering the Arabian Gulf in the early 3rd century. A certain Yemeni born Muslim traditionist of the 8th century named Wahb ibn Munabbih attributed the Christianization of the area to the preaching of a certain Phemion, said to have been a bricklayer from the Levant who came to the area and gradually won over the local population with his preaching and miracles. A prominent merchant of the area, named Hayyān, is also said to have been converted to Christianity while journeying in Mesopotamia near Kufa, whereupon he began converting his neighbors on his return to Najran. At any rate, and whatever the precise details of the manner and timeframe of the introduction and establishment of Christianity in Najran, it is certain that by the latter part of the 5th/early 6th century it was thriving in that area. Still, it was surrounded by hostile, non-Christian neighbors, and violent persecutions had occurred before.
In this time a certain illustrious man named Arethas (al-Ḥārith in Arabic) served as prefect, or governor, of the city. He had been born around the year 427 and by the time of the events under discussion here, he was around 95 years old. He was held in great esteem by the people of Najran for his probity and the holiness of his life.
The king of the Himyarites, or South Arabians, in those days was a certain Dunaan, or Dhu Nuwas. (The Himyarite Kingdom, which spanned a large portion of south Arabia roughly corresponding to modern Yemen, ruled over the area from the 2nd century BC to the 6th century AD, with its capital at Zafar, some distance southeast of present-day Sanaa). This King Dunaan was a convert to Judaism and proved to be a militant and ferociously intolerant Judaizer.
In the year 523 or 524, King Dunaan launched a bloody persecution of the Christians of Najran that would have lasting repercussions for the political landscape of the entire region, provoke widespread indignation, and produce a multitudinous harvest of martyr saints for the Heavenly Kingdom. He advanced on Najran with a huge army, said to have consisted of 120,000 men. Rather than simply launch a direct attack, he promised the besieged inhabitants that he would leave them in peace and not compel them to renounce their faith if they would open the city gates to him and agree to pay a tribute. St. Arethas, who was wise and discerning as well as deeply pious, saw through the ruse and advised the citizens to resist the invaders. However, to their great detriment, they ignored his sound counsel and heeded the blandishments of the invading tyrant. They allowed his army entry, and the bloodbath commenced.
Great Martyr Arethas of Najran
One of the first acts of the invading forces was the desecration of the relics of the much-venerated local bishop, Paul. This Bishop Paul, the first bishop of Najran, had been martyred in Zafar a couple of years before by stoning. His bones were exhumed and unceremoniously burnt in the middle of the local church. Upon hearing of this outrage, the sister of Bishop Paul, the deaconess Elizabeth, who had been in hiding, came rushing out boldly into the church proclaiming that she wished to join her brother with Christ. Fearlessly confessing her faith, she was subjected to horrible tortures. She was bound with ropes tightened around her head and chest. A mock crown of mud was placed on her head, and boiling oil was poured into it. Throughout the ordeal, she continued affirming her Christian faith. Finally, they tied her to the legs of a camel and sent it running out into the desert, dragging her to death over the rough terrain. She was 47 years old at the time.
St. Arethas himself was now dragged before the wicked King Dunaan. Owing to his greatly advanced age and the immense emotional distress of the situation, he had been unable to come on his own power and had to be carried to the place of interrogation. However, once there he regained his boldness and spoke with great courage and eloquence. Under pressure to renounce his faith in order to save his life, he stood firm, saying: “To die for Christ is to find life.” St. Arethas further predicted that Dunaan’s efforts to extirpate Christianity in the region would come to naught, and that the churches would regrow out of the ashes. St. Arethas continued to bravely encourage his fellow Christians to remain firm in their convictions and embrace the crowns of martyrdom being presented to them. With a great many of his companions, he then surrendered his head to the sword, and his soul ascended to Heavenly glory.
In all some 4,300 Christian souls received martyrdom in Najran that day. It is said that large ditches were dug in which bonfires were lit, into which numerous faithful, both laity and clergy, were thrown. The carnage must have been all but inconceivable. Yet there were numerous instances of heroic bravery amidst that atrocity that have been reverently passed down over the centuries. Women and children were among the most outstanding examples of this. A five-year-old boy named Qarazat, upon watching his mother’s death by burning, affirmed to the king himself his own desire to follow her in martyrdom. A noblewoman named Ruhr bunt Azma, with her daughter and granddaughter, fearlessly encouraged her fellow sufferers and embraced her own martyric death. Similarly, Habsa, daughter of the distinguished Hayyān (mentioned above) with her companions fearlessly embraced death for Christ, as did St. Arethas’ maidservant Mahya and another lady named Tanha along with her daughter and servant. And many more, whose names are known only to God, bravely suffered for the Lord that day.
King St. Elesbaan (Caleb) of Ethiopia
The account of the atrocity inflicted upon the Christians of Najran was recorded in a letter by a certain Bishop Symeon of Beth Arsham, and the news subsequently spread far and wide. It reached the Byzantine emperor, who dispatched the Axumite (Ethiopian) king St. Elesbaan-Caleb on a punitive expedition against Dunaan. The Himyarite forces were soundly defeated, and King St. Elesbaan rebuilt churches in the area, dedicating one of them to the martyrs of Najran. His mission accomplished, St. Elesbaan later retired to a life of prayer as a hermit.
Relics of St. Arethas have been preserved; some are kept in the monastery of Dionysiou on Mt. Athos. Najran became for some time thereafter a focal point of Christian pilgrimage. Later, after the rise of Islam, in the year 641 the caliph Umar forcibly relocated the Christians of Najran to Mesopotamia, though some sources record a Christian presence there for some centuries more—this despite the fact that a written covenant had been established by Muhammad with the Christians of Najran. The Orthodox Church commemorates St. Arethas and the martyrs of Najran on October 24/November 6; King St. Elesbaan of Ethiopia is also celebrated on that day.
To be continued…
