Arab Christians

[Arabian Stallion]

Arab Christians



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arab_Christians​

Arabs were the first people in the world, outside of the small number of Jews who adopted Christianity, to adopt Christianity. Later the closely related Semitic Assyrians followed suit. Afterwards Armenians and Greeks.

We as Arabs cannot deny the importance that Arab Christians have played in Arab history. Contemporary as well as past history.

Described very well by an Arab Christian himself:

http://www.alhewar.com/arab_christians_are_arabs.htm

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Nahda

In Latin America alone there are 30-40 million people of Arab descent who in their majority are Christians. They are a hugely successful community in Latin America who have given numerous presidents, prime ministers, businessmen, scientists, writers, poets, thinkers etc.

https://ngcco.wordpress.com/2013/03...-america-has-had-8-presidents-of-arab-origin/

For instance the second richest man in the world is a Christian Arab. Carlos Slim Helu.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlos_Slim

Arab governments, especially those that have sizable Christian minorities, should do more to protect Arab Christians and to help them in every possible way as they are part of our social fabric. Jordan for instance is doing a very good job.

Many of our ancestors were Christians from North Africa to the Arabian Peninsula. History has attested Christian Kingdoms from North Africa to Arabia. In Arabia prominent pre-Islamic personalities from poets, kings to later Christian Saints were Christian. The earliest churches in the world are located in the Arab world. From Arabia to North Africa and everywhere in between.

An example:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jubail_Church

However all this is history. The purpose of this thread is to discuss the in many ways unsatisfactory situation of our Christian Arab brethren and to inform and show people, that outside of the minority of extremists, we harbor no hatred for them rather the opposite.

Pluralism has at various times had it difficult in the Arab world, in particular in more recent times, and that must change and here Arab Christians play a role like any other minority in every single Arab country. This is also contrary to our own Arab Islamic tradition inherited from the Rashidun, Umayyad and Abbasid Caliphates who ruled the Islamic Caliphate for 1000 years, the Arab world and much of the Muslim world. Al-Andalus being a perfect example as well as numerous regions in the Arab world from Iraq to Yemen etc.

We used to have 2-3 Christian Arab brothers on PDF if I recall correctly. One Jordanian brother and @Syrian Lion .

https://www.reddit.com/r/ArabChristianity

Anyway here are some beautiful Arabic Orthodox chants:

The Christian Lord's Prayer in the Semitic Aramaic (the native language of Prophet Isa (as) - (Jesus) ) language. A language closely related to Arabic.

While Assyrians and Copts are not Arabs and are thus not described in this thread, we should not forget that they are fellow Semites and closely related people on all fronts. Many uneducated extremists, like with much else, are completely ignorant of this. Case in point being occasional attacks on Copts in Egypt. In fact they are even ignorant of Islamic and Arab history. Case in point being Prophet Muhammad's marriage to an Christian Copt from Egypt and the migration to Abyssinia to the distantly related Christian Habesha people. Ethiopia is by the way the cradle of civilization in Sub-Saharan Africa.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_al-Qibtiyya

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Migration_to_Abyssinia

Not to forget Prophet Muhammad's (saws) letter to Christian Arabs and non-Arabs.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashtiname_of_Muhammad

The letter is kept in Saint Catherine's Monastery in Sinai, Egypt. A World UNESCO Heritage Site.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Catherine's_Monastery

This is what we need to propagandize in the Arab world. Coexistence.



Yes, KSA and numerous other Arab countries have to work hard on this, I know. No need to point the obvious out however the regimes in place do not represent their people by large and I speak only for myself.

Any idiotic anti-Arab trolling by the usual few inferiority-ridden suspects, who have a habit of destroying constructive threads, will be reported immediately so don't bother.

 

[Arabian Stallion]

@Falcon29

Jordanian Christian Arabs belonging to ancient Arab tribes and clans. Jordan should be the model to follow in this regard.

@BLACKEAGLE @Ahmed Jo

​

 

[Arabian Stallion]

A good documentary in Arabic. From 2008.

During this Ramadan me and my family have decided to help Christian refugees from the Arab world in particular as their plight is sadly not highlighted enough in the Arab media. If nothing will be done we might eventually lose not only an important part of ourselves as a people but an important part of our regions history. This would be a great crime. Therefore I am of the belief that their plight must be highlighted in particular. Not to take sides or ignore other people who have similar grievances and troubles but simply due to the urgent need of highlighting and helping this particular community.

This issue has been raised by Arabs on Facebook, Twitter, various Arab forums, Reddit etc. Seems like the ordinary man and woman want to make a difference here. If just some of the governments followed suit. Well.

 

[Kuwaiti Girl]

Great thread!

كويتيون مسيحيون - عن المسيحية بالكويت Christians of Kuwait

 

[ibnabdulfatah]

very power

 

[Arabian Stallion]

60 Minutes' report on Arab Christians in Nazareth and Betlehem.

The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan welcoming Iraqi Christians that fled Mosul from ISIS terrorists.

Great thread!

كويتيون مسيحيون - عن المسيحية بالكويت Christians of Kuwait

Wonderful report. I learnt something new today. Al-Gharib seems like a very nice person.

I thought about posting photos of churches and monasteries across the Arab world but that is a too big project, I believe, given that there are hundreds if not thousands in total. Alone in the GCC there are well over 200 churches (ancient ones, those no longer in service and those in service).

 

[Desertfalcon]

During this Ramadan me and my family have decided to help Christian refugees from the Arab world in particular as their plight is sadly not highlighted enough in the Arab media. If nothing will be done we might eventually lose not only an important part of ourselves as a people but an important part of our regions history. This would be a great crime. Therefore I am of the belief that their plight must be highlighted in particular. Not to take sides or ignore other people who have similar grievances and troubles but simply due to the urgent need of highlighting and helping this particular community.

Allah's (SWT) blessings upon you and your family! Very nice thread with great information, my friend. 'Ramadan kareem', to you and your family and may you have a happy Eid!

 

[Arabian Stallion]

Allah's (SWT) blessings upon you and your family! Very nice thread with great information, my friend. 'Ramadan kareem', to you and your family and may you have a happy Eid!

Thank you for your very kind words, my friend. I wish you and your family all the best as well. I am glad that you enjoyed this thread. I am all about serious exchanges and interesting debates. I obtained new information about the Arab Christian community and their history as well.

What I especially liked were the beautiful Christian Arab religious chants. Arab or not but the Arabic language is really a powerful language. Most people can attest to that being the case.

Those chants reminded me of Arab Muslim Sufi chants (sufism originated in the Arab world and is very strong in most Arab countries) such as this one below for example which is a famous one.

I find such chants very emotional and spiritual and listening to them gives me hope. Especially as the current situation of the region is not ideal to put it mildly.
I got the exact same feeling from listening to the Christian Arab chants despite not being a Christian.

​

Lastly around half of the 3.5 million strong Arab-American population is Christian.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arab_Americans

In fact what many people, Americans included, do not know is the fact that Arabs accompanied Spaniards when the latter built the first permanent settlements in what is today the US. Not to say that the same Spaniards and Portuguese had Arab admixture after 800 years of Arab rule in Iberia. You would be surprised to know how many names of cities, towns and villages in North, Central and South America have an Arabic root or origin.

Of course modern Arab migration to the US can be dated back to the 1870's and mostly consisted of Christian Arabs. Arab Muslim migration to the US is a more recent phenomenon actually.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arab_immigration_to_the_United_States

 

[Desertfalcon]

You're most welcome and thank you for sharing your info.

Very nice! It almost has a modern tempo. Sufi traditions certainly are very interesting. Sort of similar to the Christian mystic traditions.

http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10663b.htm

 

[Kraitcorp]

Not to divert topic: but there are descendants of middle east Christians who moved to Kerala (state in India) who eventually mixed with the local populace. We are mostly called NASRANI's or St. Thomas Christians like me. I am from the Marthoma Syrian church.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Thomas_Christians

All of the church in kerala uses Malayalam as our mother tongue with part Syriac/Hebrew in between.

most of the famous songs in malayalam were composed by a german named Volbrecht Nagel
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volbrecht_Nagel

Few of our churches : Kottakkavu Mar Thoma Pilgrim Church founded by St. Thomas

 

[Arabian Stallion]

You're most welcome and thank you for sharing your info.



Very nice! It almost has a modern tempo. Sufi traditions certainly are very interesting. Sort of similar to the Christian mystic traditions.

http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10663b.htm

There is definitely a similarity. I am familiar with Catholicism since I have Roman Catholic relatives. However I would claim that the similarity is even greater or at least equally as noticeable in regards to Christian Orthodox (of various dominations) chants. Most Christian Arabs are Orthodox however there is a large Roman Catholic minority as well. In the US a sizable percentage of the Christian Arabs have even begun to follow Protestant Churches which is an alien thing for Christian Arabs. In fact there were Protestant European and American missionaries who travelled to the Arab world before WW1 to try and spread their various sects.

I was not aware of that until I saw this video below and listened to what the Christian Arab priest had to say in this regard.

Not to divert topic: but there are descendants of middle east Christians who moved to Kerala (state in India) who eventually mixed with the local populace. We are mostly called NASRANI's or St. Thomas Christians like me. I am from the Marthoma Syrian church.

On the contrary you are most welcome.

You are on topic as the Christians who settled in Kerala and intermarried with locals were Christian Arabs from Syria.

Nasrani simply means Christian in Arabic.

You probably know this yourself but Arabs have had millennia long trade ties with South Asia, including Kerala, and Arab merchants, sailors, businessmen etc. have been intermarrying with locals millennia before Islam and during the islamic era. Intermarriages even take place to this day. For instance the first mosques built in the world outside of the Arabian Peninsula were built in Southern India by Arabs.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islam_in_India

Trade and cultural links between ancient Arabia and ancient India date back to third millennium BC.[1]​

Heptulla, Nejma. Indo-West Asian relations: the Nehru era. Allied Publishers, 1991. ISBN 9788170233404.​

It has been said that the Mappila people are the "Muslim version" of the Christian "Nasranis".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mappila

There is a similar community in Sri Lanka called "Sri Lankan Moors".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sri_Lankan_Moors

I know several Indians from Kerala as there are a lot of people from that part of India in KSA and the GCC as a whole. Relations between Arabs and people from Kerala in KSA and the GCC are good. I for instance have had many good discussions with a few Indian users here and in person and common for all of them (almost) were that they were from either Southern India or Rajasthan and Gujarat. Ironically those regions of India have had the closest ties to the Arab world. I found that very interesting and funny at the same time.

 

[Kraitcorp]

I know several Indians from Kerala as there are a lot of people from that part of India in KSA and the GCC as a whole. Relations between Arabs and people from Kerala in KSA and the GCC are good. I for instance have had many good discussions with a few Indian users here and in person and common for all of them (almost) were that they were from either Southern India or Rajasthan and Gujarat. Ironically those regions of India have had the closest ties to the Arab world. I found that very interesting and funny at the same time.

In fact I studied in Dubai and my whole family are in Dubai. I studied in a Muslim school

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Indian_Model_School

The chairman was my classmate who is from Kerala too.

Our Church Bishops

 

[Kraitcorp]

Interesting. Is the Bishop in the middle from Kerala as well or is he an local or from another Arab country (Syria for example) other than UAE?

Yes, He is from Kerala, he is a Metropolitan Bishop ( top among the Bishops).

We were once part of the Syrian orthodox church (split in the year between 1665-1772 from the image above) but we have our own worship order. Its a purely orthodox independent church. We don't have connections with Roman catholic churches but the ones which says 'Catholics' have split part from Roman Catholic churches and mostly orthodox but still follow some traditions of catholic churches.

For example :
1) Jacobite Syrian church and Malankarara Orthodox church have part sermons in Syriac/Herbrew in between similar to roman Catholic's plus they have statues of mother Mary and few saint who they admire/revere.

Jacobite Syrian Cristian Chruch Bishop

Jacobite Syrian Cristian Chruch Tabernacle (mother mary)

Malankara Orthodox Church Bishop

Their tabernacle and priest adorned in worship

2) Marthoma Syrian church and St. Thomas evangelical church dont have sermons in Syriac/Herbrew and dont have statues of mother Mary and Saints , These two churches only use Cross inside the tabernacle. Basically we are reformed orthodox churches and mixed with less use of Gold , precious stones etc in churches.

Our culture and bishops

http://marthoma.in/bishop/

Marthoma Syrian church priest

Mar Thoma Syrian Church consecration

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mar_Thoma_Syrian_Church members 1 million members+
Headquarters Tiruvalla, Kerala, India
Territory : Universal , Churches located in :Australia, Canada, Germany, Middle East (Gulf Region), Ireland, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, South Africa, United States, United Kingdom, Switzerland.

Our first Bishop of independent marthoma church
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mar_Thoma_I

 

[Kraitcorp]

Thank you for the detailed reply. You explained a complicated topic well and I learnt something new. That I can always appreciate.

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Here is very informative video showing Arab Christian personalities from all across the Arab world. Ancient as well as modern ones.

You will be surprised to know that one of the largest Christian prayer convention in Asia, is held at Maramon, Pathanamthitta, Kerala, India by the marthoma Church from the year 1895.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maramon_Convention

 

[Sinnerman108]

You're most welcome and thank you for sharing your info.



Very nice! It almost has a modern tempo. Sufi traditions certainly are very interesting. Sort of similar to the Christian mystic traditions.

http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10663b.htm

Even more similar to Kabala.