Historical Data Surah 85 · Ayah 5
About Yūsuf Dhū Nuwas "Sadducee King"-
About Yūsuf Dhū Nuwas "Sadducee King"-
The actual name of Dhu Nuwas (this being a nickname or cognomen), of the family of Yaz'an, emerges from an inscription dated June-July 523CE. His name is given in the inscription as Yusuf As'ar Yath'ar, with the title "king of all the tribes" a much more modest one than the usual grandiose ones of the Himyarite kings, such as "king of Saba', Dhu Raydan, Hadramawt, and Yamanat, together with the Arabs of the Tawd and the Tihamat”. This change of title reflects the fact, that while claiming the descent from the rulers of Himyar, Dhu Nuwas’ rule had taken a different direction, one with a greater emphasis on unity than territorial expansion.
Unlike any of the Tubba’ rulers before him, Yosef Asher Dhu Nuwas is believed to have had a connection to rabbinic Judaism.
He is known in Arabic literature by the descriptive nickname Dhu-Nuwas (Lord Sidelocks) because of the long curly locks he wore in accordance with Rabbinical Judaism, which forbids removal of hair from the corners of the head. This practice was not kept among the Sadducees, hence it made such a strong impression on the population that it became is cognomen. Dhu-Nuwas also used an additional Hebrew name - Yussuf Asar (Joseph Asher). His mother being the daughter of the Exilarch Huna V, gave him great reason to embrace Rabbinical as opposed to Sadducean Judaism. It is also believed that he was formally connected to Patriarch in Tiberias before he acceded to the throne.
Ibn Hisham says that he was the last of the kings of Himyar. This is because all the other descendants, Dhu Yazan, came from Abu Kariba’s younger son Sharhib Il Ya’fire (‘Amr Tubba) who had adopted Christianity. Dhu Nuwas, on the other had had embraced rabinnic Judaism (tahawwada), and the Himyarites followed him in this path.
Christian sources, notably the Syrian Book of the Himyarites and The History of the Nestorians, give his name as Masrug, which is a corruption of the word mushreqoon, which means polytheist or easterner. It seems that Dhu Nuwas was all these things, a Sadducean King with Rabbinic Sidelocks, who tolerated the polytheists, Kahins (Cohens, soothsayers), and astrologers. He abandoned the bombastic and territorial titles of his predecessors, and took the title “Prince of all the Tribes [of Israel]”. He was prince and ruler of the syncretic kingdom of Yuha-illiya, which means “the Land of the LORD”, which later Islamic historians would call Jahiliyya “the land of ignorance”.