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Yemen is a land in the south of Arabia with a very old history. It held old civilizations like Sheba, which the Qur'an mentions, and the famous dam of Ma'rib. The Prophet sent letters and envoys to its people, and some of them accepted Islam in delegations.

Yemen is a land in southern Arabia famous in antiquity for the kingdoms of Sheba, Himyar, Ma'in and Hadramawt, and it reached fame through the dam of Ma'rib, which the Qur'an mentions in the story of Sheba. Successive powers ruled it, from Abyssinia to Persia; then the Prophet ﷺ sent letters and envoys to its people — Ali ibn Abi Talib (may God be pleased with him), Mu'adh ibn Jabal and al-Bara' ibn Azib on different occasions — and Yemen's delegations accepted Islam, among them al-Ash'ath ibn Qays. Within Islam Yemen joined the conquests: families and armies went out from it, and among the seats of its towns are Sanaa, Zabid, Ta'izz and Aden.

Storytellers (10–12) read the Explorers text, then cross to the Scholars text.

Yemen is the region of southern Arabia with the deepest pre-Islamic civilizational record in the peninsula: the kingdoms of Sheba, Ma'in, Hadramawt, Qataban and Himyar, and an agricultural prosperity built on the Ma'rib dam and others. It is bound to early mythology in the Qur'an (the story of Sheba) and in the historical sources, and the Aksumite and Sasanian powers ruled it before Islam. In the sira Yemen appears as senders, emigrants and converts: the Prophet ﷺ's letter to its rulers, its people's Islam at the hands of Ali ibn Abi Talib (may God be pleased with him), Mu'adh ibn Jabal and others, and delegations in the Year of Delegations including al-Ash'ath ibn Qays al-Kindi. After the conquests it entered the Islamic expanse: among its towns Sanaa, Zabid, Ta'izz, Aden and Abiyan; its later Zaydi imamate formed a historic entity, and its schools include Zaydi and Shafi'i fiqh. Historians read Yemen as a bridge between Arabia and the Horn of Africa and a centre of seafaring, aromatics and copper.

Summary

Yemen was the cradle of the original Qahtanite Arabs and the stage of the kingdoms of Saba and Himyar. Before Islam it also suffered the Abyssinian and Persian occupations, as The Sealed Nectar presents it ¹ ².

Peoples and kingdoms

Among the earliest peoples known in Yemen were the people of Saba. Their mention was found in excavations at Ur, about twenty-five centuries before Christ. The flowering of their civilisation began about eleven centuries before Christ ². Rule over Yemen passed to the Mukarrib kings of Sirwah and then to the kings of Saba at Marib. Around 115 BCE Himyar prevailed and took Zafar as its capital ² ³. The author counts the kings of Yemen among the crowned kings who were not independent when Islam dawned ².

Migrations from it

The clans of Kahlan left Yemen before the Flood of al-Arim, when their trade failed, and spread through the peninsula ¹ ⁴. In the author's estimate, the failure of Yemen's trade, caused by Nabataean control of northern Hijaz, Roman dominance of the sea routes and tribal rivalry, is what scattered the Qahtanites ³.

The age of upheaval

From 300 CE, upheavals and coups followed one another. The Romans entered Aden, and with their help the Abyssinians occupied Yemen for the first time, from 340 to 378 CE (the first occupation). Then came the Flood of al-Arim around 450 CE, then the Ditch of Najran in 523 CE, then the second Abyssinian occupation in 525 CE (its beginning). Independence followed under Sayf ibn Dhi Yazan in 575 CE, and then Persian rule until the conversion of Badhan (its beginning) ³ ⁵.

Religions

Judaism entered Yemen through Tubban As'ad Abu Karib. Christianity arrived through the Abyssinian occupation and at the hands of Faymiyun in Najran. Some men of Yemen adopted Zoroastrianism during the Persian occupation, and Sabianism was the religion of many of Yemen's people in ancient times ⁶ ⁷.

Crafts

The author notes that most of the crafts found among the Arabs, such as weaving, tanning and others, were in Yemen, al-Hira and the outskirts of Syria ⁸.

For young visitors

Yemen is an ancient land in the south of the peninsula. Many tribes left it for every direction, and kingdoms followed one another there before Islam.

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Sources

al-Raheeq al-Makhtum — Safi al-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri , p.16

al-Raheeq al-Makhtum — Safi al-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri , p.23

al-Raheeq al-Makhtum — Safi al-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri , p.24

al-Raheeq al-Makhtum — Safi al-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri , p.17

al-Raheeq al-Makhtum — Safi al-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri , p.25

al-Raheeq al-Makhtum — Safi al-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri , p.40

al-Raheeq al-Makhtum — Safi al-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri , p.41

al-Raheeq al-Makhtum — Safi al-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri , p.46

Tarikh Ard al-Quran — Sulayman al-Nadwi

Tafhim al-Quran — Abu al-A'la al-Mawdudi

Yemen

At a glance

Summary

Peoples and kingdoms

Migrations from it

The age of upheaval

Religions

Crafts

Connections

People and things also explored

Sources

Place

Muhammad