If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all.
Isaiah 7:9b
Arab Christians of Najran (523)
Stood Firm
In the sixth century, when the Christian kingdom of Abyssinia (Ethiopia) controlled the southern Arabian peninsula (Himyar and Yemen), a Himyarite Jew called Yusuf As’ar staged an armed revolt against Abyssinian rule. He attacked the Christian city of Najran in Arabia; the besieged citizens knew they could not last for long and eventually surrendered to Yusuf As’ar.
In command of his Jewish and Arab soldiers, he entered the city and set about massacring the inhabitants, killing around 2,000 people. In the following week many hundreds more were killed when they refused to renounce Christ. On 25 November 523 Yusuf As’ar slaughtered around 340 followers of Arethas, the leader of the Najran Christians, and further massacres took place when Christians refused to give up their faith. Eventually the Abyssinian king regained control, bringing the bloodshed to an end.
Be our strength in hours of weakness,
in our wanderings be our guide;
through endeavour, failure, danger,
Father, be there at our side.
Love M Willis (1824-1908)