The introduction of Persian Rabbinism into Sadducean Arabia
In any event, by the close of the fifth century, the Bani Aus and Khazraj had became masters of Yathrib. During these events, or possibly in coordination with them, Yathrib was host to a noble visitor. In 470 CE, Persian King Firuz was attempting to wipe out the Exilarchate. The Exilarch Huna V's daughter and some of the Exilarch's entourage managed to escape to Arabia and were living in Yathrib.
Around 500 CE, Yathrib was unexpectedly attacked by the King of Himyar, Abu Karib[1]; but whether to punish the Aws and Khazraj for their attack upon the natives, or for what other cause, is not very apparent. The invader sent for the four chief personages of the Bani Aus[2]; and they, expecting to be invested with the command of Yathreb, went to his camp at Uhud[3], where three were put to death. The fourth escaped to his fortified house, and there defied the efforts of the Abu Karib. This Ohaiha became chief of the Bani Aus, as Malik was of the Bani Khazraj. Abu Karib attacked, destroyed the date plantations, and brought his archery to bear upon the fortified houses[4], in which the stumps of the arrows then shot were visible in the early days of Islam.
The siege was about to drag on when Abu Karib fell severely ill. Two of the Exilarch's entourage residing Yathrib, Ka'b and Assad by name, hearing of their enemy's misfortune, called on the king in his camp, and used their knowledge of medicine to restore him to health. While attending the king, they pleaded with him to lift the siege and make peace. They proposed marriage with the daughter the Exilarch to Abu Karib.* The appeal persuaded Abu Karib to call off his attack and also declared alliance to the Persia along with his entire army. At his insistence, the two officials of the Exilarch accompanied the Himyarite king back to his capital and there tried to convince many of his subjects to submit to Persia. There remained, however, many who preferred Rome to Persia.
Abu-Kariba's reign did not last long after his conversion to Judaism. His warlike nature prevented him from maintaining peace and prompted him to engage in bold enterprises. It is uncertain how Abu-Kariba met his death, although some scholars believe that his own soldiers, worn out by constant campaigning, killed him. He left several sons, all of whom were minors at the time. By his wife, the Jewish princess and daughter of the Exilarch, he had Yussuf 'As Ar Yath'ar Dhu-Nuwas.[5] The title Dhu Nuwas means Lord of Sidelocks. He was given this name because the kingdom of Himyar was not accustom to the Persian Rabbinite custom to wear Peot – Sidelocks. Islamic histories claim that this was the introduction of Judaism in Arabia, although it is not ever actually said that Abu Karib converted to Judaism. A more accurate statement would be that this was the introduction of Persian Rabbinism into Sadducean Arabia.
After Abu-Kariba's demise, a pagan usurper named Dhu-Shenstir seized the throne. Dhu-Shenstir's successor, (and according to some versions) the slayer of the tyrant, was Yussuf 'As Ar Yath'ar Dhu-Nuwas (r517-525 CE).[6] It seems the rule of Dhu-Nuwas did not go uncontested. Hints of this resistance can be found in a fantastic story related by Tabari. He writes that when the Himyarite king returned to his capital after becoming a Rabbinite Jew, some of the townspeople shut the gates, would not let him in, and prepared to rebel against him for having abandoned the faith of his ancestors. However, Dhu-Nuwas was able to prove to them that the religion of the Rabbinites was the true faith. It appears that in the capital, there was a cave in which a person who did not speak the truth would die immediately upon entering. His body would burst into flames and be totally consumed. According to al-Tabari, idols and their priests, as well as sages with scrolls of the Torah were then brought into the cave; the fire destroyed the idols and the priests, but did not touch the Rabbinites at all
References
- ↑ Historians and traditionists insist that he is identical with Abu Karib Tibban Asad, King or Yemen, who flourished in the beginning of the third century, or nearly two hundred years before the era of this expedition. From the sketch of the history of Yemen (Sir Walter Muir, "Life of Mohamet" p. clxii), it is evident that the incursion must have taken place about the reign of Dhu Nuwas.
- ↑ Among these were the three Zeids, "chiefs or the Aus", and are called by that name.
- ↑ He pitched below the hill of Uhud, where he dug a well; but its water did not agree with him. It was long after known as "the Tobba's well." The Journal Asiatique, Nov. 1938, p. 439. Burton says that the present tradition of Medina represents this well to be the Bir Ramah, which lies about three miles N.W. of the town; it p. 220.
- ↑ See M. Perron, in the Journal Asiatique, Nov. 1838, p. 443. One of the houses at Medina so bristled with the arrows then shot into it that it received and retained the name of al Ashar, "the hairy." It belonged to the Bani Adi, and was situated near the spot where Mahomet afterwards built his mosque.
- ↑ The chief authority for these facts is the Syriac letter of Simeon of Bet-Arsham, which is found in the histories of John of Asia, Pseudo-Denys of Telmaḥre, and Zacharias, the best edition of which is that of Guidi ("Reale Acad. dei Lincei," 1881). Gretz, Pretorius (1870), George (1883)
- ↑ "The Jewish Kingdom of Himyar", by Joseph Adler