Introduction / History

The Hobyot people are also known as the Hoviyot. They are a tribe that lives in Yemen and Oman in the southern Arabian Peninsula. Though they are a small group, they have retained their own language and culture. Their language is Semitic, but distinct from the form of Arabic spoken in this part of the world. It is an endangered language that may not exist in the decades to come because so few people speak it. There is an effort to preserve their language and culture.

What Are Their Lives Like?

The Hobyot people live in small villages where they practice subsistence agriculture, fishing and livestock herding. They enjoy music, dancing and especially poetry.

What Are Their Beliefs?

The Hobyot people are Sunni Muslims who believe that the supreme God, Allah, spoke through his prophet, Mohammed, and taught mankind how to live a righteous life through the Koran and the Hadith. To live a righteous life, you must utter the Shahada (a statement of faith), pray five times a day facing Mecca, fast from sunup to sundown during the month of Ramadan, give alms to the poor, and make a pilgrimage to Mecca if you have the means. Muslims are prohibited from drinking alcohol, eating pork, gambling, stealing, slandering, and making idols. They gather for corporate prayer on Friday afternoons at a mosque, their place of worship.

The two main holidays for Sunni Muslims are Eid al Fitr, the breaking of the monthly fast and Eid al Adha, the celebration of Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son to Allah.

Sunni religious practices are staid and simple. They believe Allah has pre-determined our fates; they minimize free will.

In most of the Muslim world, common people depend on the spirit world for their daily needs since they regard Allah as too distant. Allah may determine their eternal salvation, but the spirits determine how well they live on a daily basis. For that reason, some Muslims appease spirits using charms and amulets to help them with spiritual forces. More orthodox Muslims consider these practices heretical and un-Islamic.

What Are Their Needs?

The Hobyot people need to put their trust and identity in the hands of the loving God of Creation who sent his son to make it possible for them to enter the Kingdom of God.

Prayer Items

Pray for a "Book of Acts" type of movement to Christ among the Hobyot people.

Pray God will have mercy on the Hobyot, doing whatever it takes to place them in a position to receive him.

Ask God to open the hearts of the Hobyot to the gospel.

Pray for an unstoppable movement to Christ among them.

Scripture Prayers for the Hobyot in Yemen.