History of Arab Christians

= The pre-islamic period =

The earliest Arab Christians belong to the pre-islamic period. There were many Arab tribes which adopted Christianity. These included the Nabateans and the Ghassanids who were of Qahtani origin and spoke Yemeni-Arabic as well as Greek. These tribes received subsidies and protected the south-eastern frontiers of the Roman and Byzantine Empires in north Arabia.

The tribes of Tayy, Abd Al-Qais, and Taghlib were also known to have included a large number of Christians prior to Islam.

The southern Arabian city of Najran was also a center of Arab Christianity. Letters exist in Syriac which record the persecution of believers by the king of Yemen in the 6th century, when the latter had adopted Judaism. Cosmas Indicopleustes records the launch of a punitive expedition from Ethiopia in response. The leader of the Arabs of Najran during the period of persecution, Al-Harith, was canonized by the Roman Catholic Church as St. Aretas.

Unfortunately no literature has been preserved in Arabic from this period.

The islamic period

The rise of Islam led to large areas of the Near-East coming under the rule of Moslem Arabs. This resulted in substantial Christian populations coming under Islamic rule.

Initially the invasions were seen by the occupied as more like a large-scale raid with tribute being paid. Possibly the Arabs saw things in these terms themselves; certainly their policy was to allow the existing administration to continue, but the taxes gathered to be paid to themselves rather than to the Byzantine emperor or the Persian Shah.

Christians did not at first compose in Arabic, but continued to write in Greek, Syriac or Coptic. However over time as conversions occurred, there was a need for works in Arabic. The first to write in Arabic was Theodore Abu-Qurrah and Severus Ibn al-Muqaffa.

Relations with Islam and Judaism

As "People of the Book", Christians in the region are accorded certain rights by theoretical Islamic law (Shari'ah) to practice their religion free from interference or persecution. This was, however, strictly conditional on payment of a special amount of money (tribute) by non-Muslims called 'Jizyah' (pronounced Jiz-ya). This could be paid in form of either cash or goods, usually a wealth of animals, in exchange for their safety and freedom of worship.

In theory those who couldn't afford it were left with two options: either convert to the new-comer religion, or face execution--according to the Shar'iah law. In practise things were less clear, and the obligation was seen as levied on a community rather than individuals. At times this could be no less oppressive; at others, Christians could be found in government and Moslems murmur at the influence they had. At the same time non-Moslems were not allowed to be involved in the army.

In the 9th century Islamic rulers often had Christian or Jewish physicians, such as Hunain Ibn Ishaq.

The History of the Patriarchs of the Coptic Church of Alexandria contains lengthy eye-witness accounts of how Christians in Egypt were treated under various Islamic rulers.

Other issues

Arab Christians have made significant contributions to Arab civilization and still do. Many of Arab literature's finest poets were Arab Christians, and many Arab Christians were physicians, writers, government officials, and men of letters.

References

Further reading

* Twice a Stranger by Bruce Clark Publisher: Granta Books (March 5, 2007)# ISBN-10: 1862079242, # ISBN-13: 978-1862079243 has very limitrd information on Assyrian Christians.
* Not Even My Name: A True Story by Thea Halo Publisher: Picador; 1st Picador USA Pbk. Ed edition (June 2, 2001) ISBN-10: 0312277016, ISBN-13: 978-0312277017
* A History of the Modern Middle East by William L. Cleveland # Publisher: Westview Press; 3 edition (July 1, 2004) ISBN-10: 0813340489, ISBN-13: 978-0813340487
* Sources in the History of the Modern Middle East by Akram Fouad Khater Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Company (April 9, 2003) ISBN-10: 0395980674, ISBN-13: 978-0395980675

External links

* [http://www.al-bushra.org/arbhrtg/0arbhrtg.htm Arab-Christian Heritage]
* [http://www.mepc.org/public_asp/workshops/firstchris.asp Arab World Studies Notebook]
* [http://arabworld.nitle.org/texts.php?module_id=6&reading_id=58 The Arab Christians: From the Eastern Question to the Recent Political Situation of the Minorities] (article)
* [http://arabworld.nitle.org/texts.php?module_id=6&reading_id=63 The Arab Christians of the Middle East: A Demographic Perspective] (article)