Judaism found its place in the Arabian Peninsula by immigration of Jews, which took place mainly during six periods: • After the collapse of the
Kingdom of Judah in 587 BCE. • After the
Roman conquest of Judea. • After the Jewish rebellion in 66 CE, and the destruction of
Jerusalem by
Titus in 70 CE, exiles found a home in the desert. • Survivors of the
Bar Kochba Revolt, in 135 CE, who sought religious freedom in the Arabian desert rather than live under the yoke of the Romans. • Immigration, around 300 CE, by people who are known in Islamic literature as the Banu Aus and the
Banu Khazraj who fled the
Ghassanids in Syria. • Migration from Judea into the southern Arabian Peninsula to ride the ascent of the
Himyarite Kingdom around 380 CE.
South Arabia (Yemen) The
Sanaite Jews have a tradition that their ancestors settled in Yemen forty-two years before the destruction of the
First Temple. One tradition, shared with northern Yemenite Jews, states that under the prophet
Jeremiah some 75,000 Jews, including priests and
Levites, traveled to Yemen. The
Banu Habban in southern Yemen have a tradition that they are the descendants of Judeans who settled in the area before the destruction of the
Second Temple. These Judeans supposedly belonged to a brigade dispatched by King Herod to assist the Roman legions fighting in the region.
Judaized Arabs and the Himyarite Kingdom In about 400 CE,
Himyarite King ''tubba Abu Karib As'ad Kamil'' (385-420 CE), a convert to Judaism, led military expeditions into central Arabia and expanded his empire to encompass most of the Arabian Peninsula. His army had marched north to battle the
Aksumites who had been fighting for control of Yemen for a hundred years. The Aksumites were only expelled from the region when the newly-Jewish king rallied Jews together from all over Arabia with pagan allies. The relationship between the Himyarite Kings and the polytheistic Arab tribes strengthened when, under the royal permission of Tubba' Abu Karib As'ad,
Qusai ibn Kilab (400–480 CE) reconstructed the
Ka'aba from a state of decay, and had the Arab al-Kahinan (
Cohanim) build their houses around it. Qusai ibn Kilab was the great-great- grandfather of
Shaiba ibn Hashim (Abdul-Mutallib). Shaiba ibn Hashim was fifth in the line of descent to Muhammad, and attained supreme power at Mecca. Qusai ibn Kilab is among the ancestors of
Sahaba and the progenitor of the
Banu Quraish. When Qusai came of age, a man from the tribe of
Banu Khuza'a named Hulail (Hillel) was the trustee of the Kaaba, and the Na'sa (Nasi)—authorized to calculate the calendar. Qusai married his daughter and, according to Hulail's will, obtained Hulail's rights to the Ka'aba. Hulail, according to Arabian tradition was a member of the
Banu Jurhum. Banu Jurhum was a sub-group of the Banu
Qahtani from whom the
Himyarites originally descend. Around 455 CE, the last Himyarite King is born, ''Zur'ah Yusuf Ibn Tuban As'ad Abu Kaleb Dhu Nuwas'' or
Dhu Nuwas. He died in 510. His zeal for Judaism brought about his fall. Having heard of the persecutions of Jews by Byzantine emperors, Dhu Nuwas retaliated by putting to death some Byzantine merchants who were traveling on business through Himyara. He didn't simply kill them with hanging—he burned them in large pits—earning him the title "King of the burning pit". These killings destroyed the trade of Yemen with Europe and involved Dhu Nuwas in a war with the heathen King Aidug, whose commercial interests were injured by these killings. Dhu Nuwas was defeated, then he made war against the Christian city
Najran in Yemen, which was a dependency of his kingdom. After its surrender, he offered the citizens the alternative of embracing Judaism, under coercion, or being put to death. As they refused to renounce their faith, he executed their chief, Harith ibn Kaleb, and three hundred and forty chosen men. ==Rise of Islam==