Islamization of Palestine - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Islamization of Palestine occurred as a result of the Islamic conquest of Palestine in 640 CE/A.D. It was a long process by which Islam

Islam

Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...

was gradually accepted by the majority of the indigenous Christian

Christian

A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...

, Samaritan

Samaritan

The Samaritans are an ethnoreligious group of the Levant. Religiously, they are the adherents to Samaritanism, an Abrahamic religion closely related to Judaism...

and Jewish population of the area. Islam did not become the majority religion of Palestine until at least the 9th century and possibly even as late as the Mamluk era

Mamluk Sultanate (Cairo)

The Mamluk Sultanate of Egypt was the final independent Egyptian state prior to the establishment of the Muhammad Ali Dynasty in 1805. It lasted from the overthrow of the Ayyubid Dynasty until the Ottoman conquest of Egypt in 1517. The sultanate's ruling caste was composed of Mamluks, Arabised...

( 1250 - 1516 CE/AD ). This occurred simultaneously with acculturation of the locals into Arab

Arab

Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...

identity and the establishment of Arabic as the lingua franca, which eventually became their sole vernacular.

Historical overview

The Muslim Arab army attacked Jerusalem, held by the Byzantine Romans, in November, 636 A.D. For four months the siege continued. Ultimately, the Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem, Sophronius, agreed to surrender Jerusalem to Caliph Umar in person. Caliph Umar, then at Medina, agreed to these terms and traveled to Jerusalem to sign the capitulation in the spring of 637 A.D. Sophronius also negotiated a pact with Caliph Umar, known as the Umariyya Covenant or Covenant of Omar, allowing for religious freedom for Christians in exchange for "jizya," a tax to be paid by conquered non-Muslims, called "dhimmis." Under Muslim Rule, the Christian and Jewish population of Jerusalem in this period enjoyed the usual tolerance given to non-Muslim theists.
Having accepted the surrender, Caliph Umar then entered Jerusalem with Sophronius "and courteously discoursed with the patriarch concerning its religious antiquities".[14] When the hour for his prayer came, Umar was in the Anastasis, but refused to pray there, lest in the future the Muslims should use that as an excuse to break the treaty and confiscate the church. The Mosque of Omar,opposite the doors of the Anastasis, with the tall minaret, is known as the place to which he retired for his prayer.

According to the historian James William Parkes, during the first century after the Arab conquest ( 640-740 CE/AD ), the caliph and governors of Syria and the Holy Land ruled entirely over Christian and Jewish subjects. He further states that apart from the Bedouin

Bedouin

The Bedouin are a part of a predominantly desert-dwelling Arab ethnic group traditionally divided into tribes or clans, known in Arabic as ..-Etymology:...

in the earliest days, the only Arabs west of the Jordan were the garrisons.

Bishop Arculf, who's account of his pilgrimage to the Holy Land in the 7th century,De Locis Sanctis,written down by the monk Adamnan, described reasonably pleasant living conditions of Christians in Palestine in the first period of Muslim rule. The caliphs of Damascus (661-750 A.D.) were tolerant princes who were on generally good terms with their Christian subjects. Many Christians (e.g. St. John Damascene) held important offices at their court. The Abbaside caliphs at Baghdad (753-1242 A.D.), as long as they ruled Syria, were also tolerant of the Christians. Harun Abu-Ja-'afar, (786-809 A.D.) sent the keys of the Holy Sepulchre to Charlemagne, who built a hospice for Latin pilgrims near the shrine.[12]

Rival dynasties and revolutions led to the eventual disunion of the Muslim world. In the 9th century, Palestine was conquered by the Fatimid dynasty out of North Africa. Palestine once again became a battleground as the various enemies of the Fatimids attacked. At the same time, the Byzantine Romans continued to attempt to regain their lost territories, including Jerusalem. Christians in Jerusalem who sided with the Romans were put to death for high treason by the ruling Muslims. In 969 A.D.,the Patriarch of Jerusalem, John VII, was put to death for treasonable correspondence with the Romans. As Jerusalem grew in importance to Muslims and pilgrimages increased, tolerance for other religions declined. Christians were persecuted. Churches were destroyed. The sixth Fatimid caliph, Caliph Al-Hakim,996-1021 A.D., who was believed to be "God made manifest" by the Druze, destroyed the Holy Sepulcher in 1009 A.D. This powerful provocation helped ignite the flame of fury that led to the First Crusade.

The 10th century Arab geographer from Jerusalem, Al-Muqaddasi

Al-Muqaddasi

Muhammad ibn Ahmad Shams al-Din Al-Muqaddasi , also transliterated as Al-Maqdisi and el-Mukaddasi, was a medieval Arab geographer, author of Ahsan at-Taqasim fi Ma`rifat il-Aqalim .-Biography:Al-Muqaddasi, "the Hierosolomite" was born in Jerusalem in 946 AD...

stated in his writings that in Jerusalem at the time there were almost no Muslims: “The mosques are empty and the Muslim holy books are not taught. Most of the population of Jerusalem are Jews and Christians who feel like the lords (of the land) and behave with insolence.”

Historical overview

See also