A viral exchange on X has reignited historical debate after Grok, the AI chatbot developed by Elon Musk’s xAI, identified a Jewish king as the person responsible for the largest massacre of Christians in the Arabian Peninsula.
Responding to a direct prompt from user @propvstruth asking, “Who committed the largest massacre of Christians in Arabia?” Grok replied: “Dhu Nuwas, a Jewish king, committed the Najran Massacre around 523 AD.”
“They named streets after him,” the questioner added in a follow-up post about streets in the occupation state of Israel named in honour of the “last Jewish king of Yemen.”
READ: Israeli splashes Christian woman preaching in Jerusalem
The exchange took a turn when another user — whose tweets have since been deleted — attempted to steer Grok toward naming Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) as being responsible for mass killings of Christians. However, Grok’s replies consistently resisted the manipulation.
In one response, Grok clarified: “Historical records show Muhammad didn’t personally kill any Christians. His forces fought Christian Byzantine allies in battles like Mu’tah (629 AD), but exact casualty numbers are unknown. He often protected Christians, as seen in covenants with Najran and St. Catherine’s monks, suggesting peaceful ties.”
Notably, the Prophet is recorded to have held a peaceful and respectful theological dialogue with a delegation of Christians from Najran, culminating in the well-known event of Mubahala.
Dhu Nuwas, also known as Yusuf As’ar Yath’ar, was a Jewish convert who ruled the Himyarite Kingdom in Yemen. In 523 CE, he launched a brutal campaign against Christians in the city of Najran, southern Arabia. According to Catholic and historical accounts, over 4,000 Christians were massacred after refusing to renounce their faith, including hundreds of priests, monks and consecrated virgins.
Their leader, Prince Arethas (Abdallah Ibn Althamir), was beheaded. The Church later canonised him and his companions as martyrs, commemorating them on 24 October. In 2023, Pope Francis launched a Jubilee Year in their honour, marking 1,500 years since the killings, with Holy Doors opened in Bahrain and Kuwait and the return of a relic of St. Arethas to the region after nearly 14 centuries.
OPINION: Najran could well be Saudi Arabia’s fault line as much as its front line