St Thomas Tradition On Socotra

Christianity was the predominant religion on the island of Socotra off the coast of Yemen until the 16th century, and for centuries its people belonged to the Church of the East and were known as Thomas Christians. According to a long-standing pre-Islamic tradition, the Apostle Thomas was shipwrecked there on his way to India in the 1st century, used the wreckage to build a church, and converted the native Soqotri to Christianity. This community kept its Christian identity for over a thousand years before Islam became dominant and Christianity on Socotra largely disappeared, leaving only traces in later records and ruins.

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