Islamic Conquests

and

Integration into the Near East

The Conquerors Arrive• 628 CE Persian governor of Yemen

converts to Islam• 636 Syria conquered• 642 Iran fully subdued• 650 Merv in central Asia captured• 711 Sind and Andalusia invaded• 751 Muslims meet the armies of the

Tang Chinese at Talas in Central Asia• 758-Muslims raid Canton and become

regular residents in Chinese ports • 846 Muslims sack Rome map

What Drove the Conquests?• Ecological Thesis?• Nationalist Thesis?• Accidental Thesis?• Faith and Money:

– Radical new faith united Arab tribes and inflamed spirits… ‘jihad’ in God’s path in the ‘Days of God.’

– Spoils of War: ‘Umar establishes the diwan, a list that divides the spoils of conquest up among the armies according to seniority in conversion

– Question of Centralization: centralized on a strategic but not tactical level

Why were the Islamic Conquests so Successful?

• 602-628 Byzantine-Sassanian War: exhaustion

• 6th Century had seen population decline and scarcity of resources in the NE in general

• Religious tension: 632 forced conversion of Jews

• Highly stratified society of Near East vs. egalitarian Islam?

• Islam as layman’s version of Nestorian Christianity? What about Monophysites and Zoroastrians?

• Belief and a Will to Power

Islam and Taxes: the Religion of the Conquerors

• Muslim Isolation: – Misr/Amsar: garrison cities– Laws for non-Muslims: religious freedom, separate

dress, no weapons

• Non-Muslims & Taxes:– The jizya (poll tax) is ‘compensation’ for religious

freedom… but no charity tax!– In the 690's the Syrian Nestorian John of Phenek

writes about Arab occupation: all they want is taxes, no interest in religion of masses

• Result: Conversion is Slow– In Iraq in 800 CE, only 18% Muslim– Majority of Egypt is not Muslim until the 11th century

Conversion to Islam• Mawali: the ‘clients’

– Under the Umayyads they are not given full rights as Muslims until about 720 CE

• Do people really know what ‘Islam’ is?– No Qu’ran teachers in Naysabur until

the 3rd or 4th generation– 728 CE: order given to head of taxation

in Samarqand that jizya exemption to be given only to Muslims who are circumcised (ie. as opposed to those who had converted and not done this)

Where Does Islam Fit?• Jerusalem: center of prophecy,

destination of Muhammad’s ‘Night Journey’ and first Muslim direction of prayer

• The Dome of the Rock: built by Abd al-Malik in 692 on the Temple Mount– Abrogates Judaism– Rejects Christianity

Leadership and Authority• Succession to Muhammad: religious and/or political

authority?• Caliph: ‘khalifat Allah’ or ‘khalifat Rasul Allah’ – Vicegerent of God

or Successor to the Prophet

• Ridda Wars: is Islam over with Muhammad?

• The Partisans of ‘Ali• First Civil War 656-660

– ‘Aisha and Co. (defeated at Battle of the Camel by Ali in 656)– Mu’awiya and the Umayyads– Ali and his partisans (face-off with Ali at Siffin in 657)– The Kharijites: the first radicals (defeated by Ali, assassinate him)

• Second Civil War 680-692– The Umayyads under Yazid and the Marwanid House– Zubayrids (led by the Companion Abdallah b. al-Zubayr d. 692)– Kharijites:– The Radical Shiites: the Kaysaniyya and the notion of an infallible

ruler