The Syrian desert extends from Palmyra in the north to Hauran in the south. It was not all deserted and sparsely populated. It was certainly, from the Roman era until the advent of Islam, “a lush garden in which its owners built prosperous cities, constructed fortresses, strengthened agriculture and farming, and dug wells.” Pagan beliefs spread in the Syrian desert and among its tribes, worshipping Greek, Roman, Phoenician, and Nabataean gods. Christianity was not confined to the urban Arabs of the Levant, but was also embraced by the people of the desert. It is said that the deacon Timon, one of the seven deacons, was the one who preached the gospel to the people of Busra and became its first bishop. Al-Maqrizi, one of the historians of Islam, wrote that the Apostle Matthew was “the first to proclaim the Gospel in Busra.” Suleiman, the Bishop of Basra, mentioned that the Apostle “Jacob bin Halfa preached in Palmyra and its desert.”
We can divide the Arabs before the advent of Islam into four groups: the Arabs of the Levant, the Arabs of Iraq, the Arabs of Yemen, and the Arabs of the Hijaz and Najd. Christianity spread throughout the Arab countries from the Levant to Yemen. We will limit our discussion here to talking about the Christian tribes in the Levantine desert, the most important of which were the Banu Tanukh or Quda’ah (one of the tribes of Yemen) who took over the Levantine desert in the name of the Romans. Al-Yaqubi, one of the historians of Islam, wrote that Quda’ah “were the first Arabs to come to the Levant and it became the property of the Roman kings. The first king was Tanukh bin Malik… They converted to Christianity and the Roman king made them kings over the Arabs in the Levant.” Then the Banu Sulayh tribe prevailed over them, about whom Al-Masudi, one of the historians of Islam, says that they “came to the Levant, prevailed over Tanukh, and converted to Christianity, so the Romans ruled over the Arabs in the Levant. As for those who converted from the Arab tribes, they were people from Quraysh, and from Yemen, Tayy, Bahra, Sulayh, Tanukh, and Lakhm.” The Banu Kinda converted to Christianity in the late fifth century AD, and some of them migrated to the Syrian desert. The Safaites also became famous, as they migrated to the foothills of Jabal al-Arab from the south of the Arabian Peninsula and became civilized.
There is no doubt that the credit for evangelizing the Syrian desert goes to some Christian prisoners and monks. But the greatest credit goes to Saint Simeon the Great Stylite (Aleppo), who attracted large crowds of Arab nomads who came to him to receive his blessing for Orthodox Christianity. It is said that Nonus, Bishop of Baalbek, converted thirty thousand Arabs to Christianity. Patriarch Makarios Al-Zaim mentioned that the Arab priests and their parishioners “would celebrate the holy days in churches made of tents and carry them with them on their travels.” This is a reference to the nomadic life that the Christian Arabs lived, as their tribes would move around the Syrian desert with their bishops, priests, and churches. The Arab bishops participated in various ecumenical, regional, and local councils. Al-Tabari, the great Islamic historian and commentator, mentioned “the bishop of the Ghassanid Arabs.”
Arab Christians, like all Christians, were divided into the various sects and beliefs that were prevalent in their time, the most famous of which were Orthodoxy, Monophysitism (i.e. the heresy of the one nature in Christ) and Nestorianism (which rejected the doctrine of the Mother of God). In the sixth century, the majority of Arab Christians in the Syrian desert embraced the Monophysite doctrine, knowing that some members of the Ghassanid royal family, the official protector of Monophysitism, were Orthodox. As for the Ghassanids, who allied with the Roman Caesar and whose land was the Golan, their princes were workers for the Roman Caesars who entrusted them with the supervision and guardianship of the Arabs living in the Levant, and to them goes the credit for the final sovereignty of Monophysitism in Syria. The Ghassanids are Yemeni Arab tribes who migrated after the explosion of the Ma'rib Dam in Yemen in 120 AD to the Hauran region and the Syrian desert. Then their authority extended from Jerusalem in Palestine in the south to the plains of Aleppo in the north, but they were unable to control the cities of the Levant, as they had Roman governors who managed their affairs.
Arabic was the language of the Ghassanids who took root in Syria, but Syriac was the language of the original inhabitants. The Ghassanids, by virtue of their belonging to the Monophysite sect prevalent among the Syriacs, began to use Arabic in their homes and to use Aramaic in their worship. Thus, the Ghassanids and the Syriacs were linked by a close bond based on a common faith. After the Council of Chalcedon (451), the bishops of the Ghassan dioceses joined the Syriac bishops who rejected the doctrine of this Orthodox council. The Ghassanids remained committed to the doctrine of the One Nature until the thirteenth century AD, and after the extinction of their state, they continued to be united with the Syriac Church, and they preferred to live in the cities of the Levant. The Ghassanid princes ruled for about 432 years, the last of whom was Jabla VI (630-637).
About my parish bulletin
Sunday, September 1, 2002
Issue 35