Al Shindaga Magazine carried
in its 66 issue of September/October 2005 an article
by Mr. Raja Mattar, Lebanon, titled “The Christian
Arabs are Arabs”. The purpose of the article was to
respond to the allegations made by some of those who
try to cast doubts on the identity of Christian
Arabs, by alleging that their origin from
Canaanites, Phoenicians, or that they are the
remnants of Crusaders. Mr. Matter was absolutely
right in stressing that the Christians are Arabs. He
reminds of the Christian Arab Poet who said: Mecca
and Jerusalem are both our Kaaba and our passions
are with the Arabs.
In addition
to the facts underlined in the article, I feel that
going quickly to history might be necessary. The
records of history tell us that pre-Islam Arabs were
either Jew, Christian or pagans. We know very well
that the first two spread in Mesopotamia and
Original Syria for obvious reasons. Arabs of the
Peninsula were pagan, except Yemen that had a
majority of followers of the first two religions.
The population of Mesopotamia and Original Syria was
80% Arabs and 20% Assyrians, Urbanites,
Caledonians…. However, all of them shed the same
origin, Semitism as well as closely similar
languages that are derives from Aramaic.
Some of the
Arab Tribes that embraced Christianity before Islam
are:
Kalb that had
a high standing among Arab Tribes. The fourth
Rashidi Khalifa Othman was married to Naela Bint Al
Farafisa, who is a Kalbi.
Taghleb: the
tribe that produced many famous poets, such as Amru
Bin Kalthoum and Al Akhtal, who was the poet of the
Umayyad Caliphs, never changed his religion.
Banu Ghassan who
ruled Syria under the Romans.
The Christian
Arabs of today are the grand children of the old
Christians. They are our brothers who share with us
our vast good and bad heritage. They have the same
rights of the Moslem majority. And, those of them
who claim that they are not Arabs, or who feel
“insulted” to be called Arabs, can not even prove
that they are not!
Our Nation
has the means to stand firmly in the face of the
Zionist poisonous claims. Our Nation might not be in
its best times because of the evil powers facing us,
but this will only act as a strong incentive to
advance forward. |