Christianity in the city of Aden, Yemen, and in southwestern Arabia in general, has a rich history dating back to the 4th century AD. Despite restrictions, Christianity continued to thrive and expand, becoming the most widespread religion in the city before the rise of Islam. Recently, with the growth of radical religious thought, the remaining small community of Christians there is living under difficult conditions.
Badour, a Catholic Yemeni woman born in the 1980s and living in Aden, shares her life story through "Asia Mina." She states, preferring not to reveal her full identity: "I didn’t realize that we were a minority as Christians until I reached middle school, when I felt the harsh challenges to our faith, accompanied by the loss of our rights."
She explains: "Although some small churches were nationalized in the 1970s, before 1994, Christians enjoyed the right to education in schools and to work in government jobs, and women had the freedom to dress as they wished. Religiously, we were allowed to pray in churches, which were exempt from taxes like mosques. The state provided visas and residency for foreign priests. No one pressured us to change our religion." Badour continues: "With the arrival of the Muslim Brotherhood to power, the hijab was imposed on us, and we were officially banned from celebrating nighttime masses on Christmas and New Year’s. Christians resigned themselves to the situation and did not raise their voices. Some emigrated, while others converted out of fear of losing their homes and jobs; many maintained their Christianity in secret, at a time when the church did not support the youth or work on family development."