The Himyarite Kingdom

Summary

The kingdom of Himyar was the ruler of Yemen after Saba. Himyar prevailed over the kingdom of Saba in the period that The Sealed Nectar dates from 115 BCE, and took Raydan as its capital instead of Marib. Raydan was then called Zafar, and its ruins lie on Mount Mudawwar near Yarim ¹ ².

The decline

In this period they began to fall and decline. Their trade largely failed: first because the Nabataeans extended their control over northern Hijaz; second because the Romans came to dominate the sea trade routes after extending their power over Egypt, Syria and northern Hijaz; and third because of rivalry between the tribes. These factors caused the dispersal and migration of the Qahtanites ¹.

The age of upheaval (from 300 CE)

Upheavals, coups and civil wars followed one another in Yemen, leaving it open to foreigners until they ended its independence. The Romans entered Aden, and with their help the Abyssinians occupied Yemen for the first time in 340 CE, exploiting the rivalry between Hamdan and Himyar. Their occupation lasted until 378 CE (the first Abyssinian occupation) ¹. Then Yemen regained its independence, but breaches began to appear in the Marib dam, until the Flood of al-Arim in 450 or 451 CE ¹. In 523 CE, Dhu Nuwas, the Jewish ruler, led his campaign against the Christians of Najran (the Ditch). As a result, the Roman emperors incited the Abyssinians, who occupied Yemen again in 525 CE (the second Abyssinian occupation) ¹ ³. After the Battle of the Elephant, the Yemenis called on the Persians and gained independence in 575 CE, led by Ma'dikarib ibn Sayf Dhi Yazan al-Himyari. He was then assassinated, the kingship passed away from the house of Dhi Yazan, and Yemen became a Persian governorship (the Persian rule) ³.

Religion

Judaism entered Yemen through Tubban As'ad Abu Karib ⁴. Some men of Yemen adopted Zoroastrianism during the Persian occupation ⁵.

Notes for researchers

The dates are the author's estimates. He points out the wide disagreement among the sources over the years ³.

For young visitors

Himyar ruled Yemen after Saba. Then it weakened, the Abyssinians occupied its lands twice, and the Persians ruled it until Islam came.

Sources

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

Tafhim al-Quran — Abu al-A'la al-Mawdudi , 4/195-198

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

Tarikh Ard al-Quran — Sulayman al-Nadwi

Ahl al-Harb (the people at war with the Muslims, their status and the rules that govern dealings with them)

Ahl al-harb are non-Muslims who have not entered a covenant of protection and enjoy neither the safe-conduct nor the treaty of the Muslims. They are distinguished from the protected people, the rebels, those with a treaty and those under safe-conduct; a protected person, a treaty-holder or a holder of safe-conduct becomes a combatant by joining the land of war or by breaking the covenant. Their blood and property are lawful to take where there is no covenant, and are protected where there is one. The Muslim may not betray them once they have granted him safe-conduct; the destruction of their property is allowed by agreement where it serves the Muslims, and the jurists differ where it serves no purpose. Gifts and alms to them are allowed by the majority, a will in favour of a named person is allowed by the Shafi'is and Hanbalis but not by the Hanafis and Malikis, and an endowment in their favour is void by agreement. Food and similar goods may be exported to them; arms may not be exported in war. A Muslim man may marry a Christian or Jewish woman of the land of war, as of the protected people.

At a glance

In time