Yemeni Arabs in Yemen

Yemeni: by Richard Messenger

“If anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.”  1 John 2:1b-2

Among the myriad of differences between Western and Yemeni culture is the contrasting object of legal and judicial settlements.¹  The Western court system typically seeks to identify the offense and the offender and deliver an appropriate sentence.  The Yemeni court system, on the other hand, like most Islamic courts, typically seeks to restore lost objects or property, lost power or status, lost resources because these represent broken relationships.  Because of this emphasis on relationship, what Westerners view as “justice” may seemingly be bypassed for the sake of a relationship.  In other words, an offender may not receive a guilty sentence as a result of an advocate‘s intercession.  This advocate would be a person related to both the offender and either the offended or the judge and would use the weight of those relationships to gain acquittal of the guilty party.  Is this not a useful analogy of the advocacy of Christ on our behalf described in 1 John 2?  What is wonderful about Jesus Christ the Advocate is that He speaks on behalf of the offended based on His undergoing our punishment for us and attributing His righteousness to us!  Thus, He satisfies both mercy and justice!  Pray that the Yemeni Arabs will see this picture in their own legal system and discover their spiritual Advocate in Christ. 

More facts:

• Yemeni Arabs make up 89% of Yemen’s population.
• Yemeni Arabs are also scattered in over 15 other countries worldwide:
  Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Jordan, Kuwait, Madagascar, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States