Categories: christianity
Date: 11 April 2009 06:30:09
Yemen
Languages: Arabic
In the centuries following Christ's death and resurrection Christianity was strong in the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula, known today as Yemen, and it was ruled by a line of Christian kings. Its Christian heritage did not survive the influx of Islam after Muslim forces conquered the area in the 7th century AD.
There are an estimated 3,000 Christians in Yemen among a population of 20 million. Many of them are foreigners. There is believed to be a very small number of secret Yemeni believers. Although apostasy from Islam is legally punishable by death in Yemen, the penalty is not known to have been carried out in recent years.