RISING ABOVE EVENTS
The Arabian Peninsula, in the period immediately preceding the coming of the Prophet Muhammad, was confronted with immense political problems. The two superpowers of the day—the empires of Rome and Persia—lay to the west and east of the Arabian Peninsula, and both had turned the land of the Arabs into their political playground. The most fertile regions of the peninsula were under the direct control of one or the other of these two powers. The Persians had annexed Iraq, while Syria, Jordan, Palestine and Lebanon had become part of the Byzantine Empire. Despite the natural protective boundaries of the Red Sea to the west and the Persian Gulf to the east, the lands bordering these seas were not immune from intrusions by their powerful neighbours. Persian warships had no difficulty crossing the Gulf of Oman and entering Arab territory. The Red Sea also posed no barrier to interference in Arab affairs from Egypt and Ethiopia, both under the control of the Byzantine Empire.
Tribal chieftains had set up states in the inner regions of the Arabian Peninsula, but they, too, enjoyed no real independence. The dominance of Rome and Persia meant that these chieftains could preserve some autonomy by ruling as vassals for these imperial powers. On the borders of Syria lay the state of Ghasasina Arabiya, subject to the Roman Empire was governed by Harith ibn Abi Shimr Ghassani at the time of the Prophet Muhammad’s mission. Then there was Busra which, besides being under the political control of the Romans, had also been subjected to Roman cultural influence, with many of its inhabitants accepting Christianity.
On the Iraq border lay the state of Hirah ‘Arabiyah, which was subject to Iran. There were also several states bordering the Persian Gulf, in which the influence of their Persian neighbour was strongly felt. Foremost among them was Bahrayn, ruled by Mundhir ibn Sawa, where many of the inhabitants had accepted the Zoroastrian religion. Two other states to have come under Persian influence in this way were ‘Amman, ruled by the two sons of Jalandi—Jaifar and ‘Abd—and Yamamah, ruled by Hauzah ibn ‘Ali al-Hanafi. The rivalry between the Persian and Roman empires was intense, and their respective vassals in Arabia would participate in the wars fought between them. Ghasasina, for instance, would side with the Romans and Hirah with the Persians. So it was that Arab blood would flow in pursuit of the superpowers’ aims.
In those times, Yemen was far larger than it is today. It contained several small tribal governments, the largest of which had its capital at Sana’a. It was there that Najran was situated. Foreign rule in Yemen commenced around A.D. 343 when the Romans sent Christian missionaries to the region. These missionaries met with great success in Najran, and most of the country’s inhabitants converted to Christianity.
Though this was a religious event, the Romans’ rivals in Persia perceived it as a political threat. It seemed to them as if the Roman Empire sought to establish a foothold in the southern region of Arabia. So the Persians allied with the Jewish tribes who had settled in Yemen after being expelled from Syria by the Romans in A.D. 70. Yusuf Dhu Nuwas was an Arab by birth but had accepted Judaism. With Persian help, he set up a semi-autonomous government in Sana’a under the sponsorship of the Sasanians. He then set about exterminating the Christians of Najran, many of whom were burnt alive in A.D. 534.
The Romans now took steps to preserve their hold on the region. Ostensibly seeking to protect the Yemenese Christians, they chose the Ethiopian king Najashi, a Christian loyal to the Romans, to fulfil their ends and incited him to rise against Yusuf Dhu Nuwas. Najashi then sent an army to Yemen under the Ethiopian chieftain Aryat. A short battle ensued, which ended with San’a’ being captured by the Ethiopian force and Dhu Nuwas drowning himself in the sea. Before long, however, Abrahah—a soldier in Aryat’s army—killed his commander and, having gained Najashi’s consent, set up his government in San’a’. It was he who, in A.D. 571, set out to attack the Holy Ka’bah in Makkah. He was succeeded by his sons, first Yaksum and then Masruq.
A member of the former royal family of Yemen, Sayf ibn Dhi-Yazan, was then urged to expel foreigners from his country and re-establish his ancestors’ dynasty. He started a freedom movement, but when local support proved insufficient to achieve his aims, he went to the Iranian king Nawshyrwan for military aid. Nawshyrwan quickly seized this golden opportunity: while an Iranian army under Dahraz was being prepared to advance on Yemen, Sayf ibn Dhi-Yazan died, but his son Ma’di Karb completed the arrangement for bringing the Iranian force to his country. Crossing the Gulf of Oman, they landed at Hadhramawt and proceeded to Sana’a. The alliance between Ma’di Karb and Dahraz successfully expelled the Ethiopians from Yemen. Ma’di Karb became king of Sana’a, but an Iranian military presence was retained, turning Yemen into a trans-oceanic Iranian province. There was an Iranian governor there at the time of the advent of Islam. His name was Bazan, and after initial opposition, he later accepted Islam.
All this shows how far Arabian territory had fallen prey to the expansionist designs of Rome and Persia at the time of the Prophet Muhammad’s mission. In such a situation, two paths were open to a reformer like the Prophet. He could have allowed himself to be carried by current events and initiated political agitation against the colonial powers threatening his land. Or he could have concentrated on building up his people’s internal strength to such a degree that, with a slight effort on their part, the imperial edifice would crumble to the ground.
The Prophet chose the second rather than the first course. Abraha’s attack on the Holy Ka’bah is mentioned in the two chapters (105 and 106) of the Quran entitled al-Fil and Quraysh. The Quran explicitly states that such threats should be countered by “worship.” This is the Islamic way. When a political threat is perceived, a solution should be sought—not on a political level—but on a spiritual level, on a level of worship.
