The house that stood alone

By Yusuf Bulafu

Assalam alaykum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh

Long before the rise of Quraysh or the birth of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), the southern Arabian region of Yemen was the cultural, economic, and political jewel of the Arabian Peninsula. It was a land of abundance, agriculture, and ancient civilization — home to kingdoms that rivaled the empires of Rome and Persia in organization and influence. The most celebrated among these civilizations was the Kingdom of Sabaʾ (Sheba), a polity mentioned in both Islamic and Biblical traditions.

The kingdom’s prosperity was anchored in its mastery of water management. The centerpiece of this ingenuity was the legendary Maʾrib Dam, a feat of engineering that allowed Sabaʾ to control the seasonal rains and create fertile agricultural lands in an otherwise arid climate. Through this system, the region produced an abundance of crops, especially spices, frankincense, and myrrh, which were in high demand across the known world.

In addition to its agricultural wealth, Yemen served as a critical junction of trade between India, Africa, and the Mediterranean. It formed the southern terminus of the incense route, with goods traveling north through Arabia to the Levant and across the seas to Abyssinia and India.

The Sabaeans established strong commercial and diplomatic links with other nations, and their society exhibited remarkable urban sophistication, including multi-story buildings, temples, paved roads, and fortified cities.

But wealth often breeds complacency and ingratitude. The people of Sabaʾ, instead of showing gratitude to Allah for their blessings, turned away in arrogance. Their wealth led them to forget the Source of their sustenance. As punishment, Allah caused the Maʾrib Dam to rupture, resulting in widespread flooding that decimated the agricultural system and crippled the economy.

As the Qur’an recounts in Surat Sabaʾ (34:15–16): “Indeed there was for Sabaʾ in their dwelling place a sign: two gardens on the right and the left. [They were told:] ‘Eat from the provision of your Lord and be grateful to Him.’ But they turned away, so We sent upon them the flood of the dam and replaced their two gardens with gardens of bitter fruit, tamarisks, and a few sparse lote trees.”

The event, known historically and in Islamic tradition as Sayl al-ʿArim, forced mass migrations. Major tribes like Ghassan, Lakhm, Judham, Kindah, and Aws and Khazraj left their ancestral homes in Yemen and moved northward. These migrations reshaped the demography of the Arabian Peninsula and played a key role in setting the stage for later developments, including the formation of the tribal configurations that the Prophet would later encounter in the Hijaz.

Politically, the weakening of Yemen invited foreign interference. The Himyarite Kingdom, a successor to the Sabaeans, tried to maintain control but was soon embroiled in religious strife. Around the beginning of the 6th century CE, a Himyarite king named Dhu Nuwas converted to Judaism and began persecuting Christians living in his domain.

The most notorious incident was the massacre of the Christians of Najran, where scores of believers were burned alive in trenches — an atrocity memorialized in Surat al-Buruj (85:4–8): “Cursed were the companions of the trench — the fire full of fuel — when they were sitting by it, and they witnessed what they were doing to the believers.”

The news of this massacre reached the Christian world, particularly Abyssinia, whose king, Kaleb, ruled under the spiritual authority of Byzantium. Kaleb, with both religious outrage and political opportunity at play, launched a retaliatory military expedition. His forces sailed across the Red Sea and, with ease, overthrew Dhu Nuwas and brought Yemen under Abyssinian control.

Thus, the ancient and proud Yemeni civilization — once the marvel of the peninsula — became a vassal of a foreign empire. Although this ended Jewish rule in Yemen, it introduced a new chapter of subjugation.

The Abyssinians appointed a Christian general, Abraha al-Ashram, as governor. Though he began as a representative of Abyssinia, Abraha quickly consolidated power and began to rule with increasing autonomy, eventually defying Kaleb and declaring himself king.

Under Abraha, Yemen remained a shadow of its former self. While he attempted to restore stability and strengthen Christian influence, the moral and cultural vigor of Sabaʾ was gone. The fertile gardens had withered, the dams lay broken, and the trade routes were gradually shifting. The glory of Yemen — once the pride of southern Arabia — now served as the backdrop for a new power that was rising in the central Hijaz: the Quraysh of Makkah.

To be continued …