People used to engage in farming...

People used to engage in farming, weaving silky cloth, trading hides and weapon making, this city was located at the trade route which extended up to Hirah.[^124] Christianity was prevalent in Yemen until the reign of Dhu-Nuwas who came to power and forced people to put aside their religion.

When Christians refused to do so, they were put in fire-pits and burned alive.[^125] Finally, Dhu-Nuwas was defeated in 525 AD by the intervention of Ethiopia and Christians came to power once again.Christianity in Hirah Another city where Christianity was prevalent was Hirah, to the east of Arabia. This religion had entered the region through Roman slaves. Since the time of Hormoz I, the government of Iran had built some colonies the inhabitants of which were Roman slaves.

Some of them lived in Hirah. In the view of many, the source of Christian influence in this area was these slaves. Christian missionaries used to live in Hirah, promulgating Christianity. They started propagating and spreading Christianity in the Arab markets, discussing the issues of heaven, hell and chastisement. Due to their efforts, some accepted this religion; even Hind, the wife of al-Nu`man X, accepted this religion, building a monastery called Hind's convent.

This building was in existence up to the time of al-tabari. Hanzalah al-ta’i, Qiss ibn Sa`idah and Umayyah ibn al-salt were from Hirah.[^126] Al-Nu`man ibn al-Mundhir, the king of Hirah, due to the encouragement of `Adi ibn Zayd, accepted Christianity.[^127] Numerous Qur'anic verses deal with Christian ideas and the weak points in their beliefs and actions, especially their assumptions concerning Christ's divinity.[^128] This is the best piece of evidence for the existence of this religion in the Arabian Peninsula at the time of the revelation of the Holy Qur'an.

The issue of Mubahalah; mutual cursing, which is well-known in the history of Islam, took place with the Najran priests.[^129] However, Christianity had lost its spirituality and authenticity and had been subject to a lot of distortions. Thus, it could not fill the intellectual and religious vacuum which existed in the mind of people in those days nor could it give any peace of mind anymore. Judaism Many centuries prior to the advent of Islam, Judaism had entered certain regions of Arabia.

Yathrib was one of the most famous of these regions, which later came to be called Medina.