Islamization of Egypt

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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Amr.elmowaled (talk | contribs) at 20:39, 17 November 2022 (It was only against the ummayads and abbasids specifically not ALL the arabs since arabs themselves revolted against the ummayads and abbasids, also arabs were not the only muslim people by that time, as in one of the Bashmurian revolts it was the persian senior general al-Afshīn with a muslim army of different ethnicities, not just the arabs, describing all the islamic empire by saying “arabs” is very inaccurate). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

The Mosque of Amr ibn al-As in modern-day Cairo

The Islamization of Egypt occurred as a result of the Muslim conquest of Egypt by the Arabs led by the prominent Muslim general Amr ibn al-Aas, the military governor of the Holy Land. The masses of locals in Egypt and the rest of the Middle East underwent a large scale gradual conversion from Christianity to Islam, accompanied by jizya for those who refused to convert.[1] This is attested to by John of Nikiû, a coptic bishop who wrote about the conquest, and who was a near contemporary of the events he described. The process of Islamization was accompanied by a simultaneous wave of Arabization. These factors resulted in Islam becoming the dominant faith in Egypt between 10th and 12th century, Egyptians acculturating into an Islamic identity and then replacing Coptic and Greek languages, which were spoken as a result of the Greek and Roman occupation of Egypt, with Arabic as their sole vernacular which became the language of the nation by law.[2]

The Hanging Church in Old Cairo

Islamic links to Coptic Egypt predates its conquest by the Arabs. According to Muslim tradition, Mohammed married a Copt; Maria al-Qibtiyya. In 641 AD, Egypt was invaded by the Arabs who faced off with the Byzantine army. Local resistance by the Egyptians began to materialize during ummayad caliphate and would last until at least the ninth century.[3][4]

The Arabs imposed a special tax, known as jizya, for those who didn't want to accept Islam, the Christians who acquired the protected status of dhimmis, the taxation was justified on protection grounds since local Christians who kept their religion were never drafted to serve in an army. Arab rulers generally preferred not to share the rule with Coptic Christians in their towns and established new colonies, like Fustat. Heavy taxation at times of state hardships was a reason behind Coptic Christians organizing resistance against the new rulers. This resistance mounted to armed rebellions against Ummayads and abbasids in a number of instances, such as during the Bashmurian revolt in the Delta.[citation needed]

The Arabs in the 7th century seldom used the term Agiptous, and used instead an Arabic language version of the term Al Qibt, which was then adopted into English as Copt, to describe the locals in Egypt. They continued to use the term to refer to all Muslim and Christian Egyptians up until the Mamluk rule that legally banned the term on Muslims and associated the native language to paganism. Thus, only Christian Egyptians became known as Copts or Orthodox Copts, and also the non-Chalcedonian Egyptian Church became known as the Coptic Church. The Chalcedonian Church remained known as the Melkite Church. In Coptic, which is written using a Greek alphabet, Coptic Egyptians referred to themselves as ⲛⲓⲣⲉⲙⲛ̀ⲭⲏⲙⲓ (/ni-rem-en-kēmi/ "Egyptians"). Religious life remained largely undisturbed following the establishment of Arab rule, as evidence by the rich output of Coptic Orthodox Christian arts in monastic centers in Old Cairo (Fustat) and throughout Egypt. Conditions, however, worsened shortly after that, and in the eighth and ninth centuries when Muslim rulers banned the use of human forms in art (taking advantage of an iconoclastic conflict in the European ruled Byzantium) and consequently destroyed many Coptic christian paintings mainly of Jesus and frescoes in churches.[5]

The Muslim conquest of Egypt took place in AD 639, during the Byzantine empire. Despite the political upheaval, Egypt remained mainly Christian, but Copts lost their majority status between 10th and 12th century,[2][6] as a result of the intermittent persecution and the destruction of the Christian churches there,[7] and forced conversion to Islam.[8] During the 14th century, the Mamluks used the intermittent persecution and the destruction of the Christian churches there,[9] forced conversion to Islam,[10][11][12][13] and accompanied by jizya for those who refused to convert.[14]

The Fatimid period in Egypt was a time of relative tolerance. The Fatimid rulers employed Copts in the government and participated in Coptic and local Egyptian feasts. Major renovation and reconstruction of churches and monasteries were also undertaken. Coptic arts flourished, reaching new heights in Middle and Upper Egypt.[5]

See also

References

  1. ^ Conversion, Exemption, and Manipulation: Social Benefits and Conversion to Islam in Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages: Forcing taxes on those who refuse to convert (PDF), ʿUmar is depicted as having ordered that "the poll-tax should be taken from all men who would not become Muslims"
  2. ^ a b Clive Holes, Modern Arabic: structures, functions, and varieties, Georgetown University Press, 2004, ISBN 978-1-58901-022-2, M1 Google Print, p. 29.
  3. ^ Mawaiz wa al-'i'tibar bi dhikr al-khitat wa al-'athar (2 vols., Bulaq, 1854), by Al-Maqrizi
  4. ^ Chronicles, by John of Nikiû
  5. ^ a b Kamil 1990, p. 41.
  6. ^ Shea, Nina (June 2017). "Do Copts have a future in Egypt". Foreign Affairs. Archived from the original on 2017-06-20.
  7. ^ Etheredge, Laura S. (2011). Middle East, Region in Transition: Egypt. Britannica Educational Publishing. p. 161. ISBN 9789774160936.
  8. ^ N. Swanson, Mark (2010). The Coptic Papacy in Islamic Egypt (641-1517). American Univ in Cairo Press. p. 54. ISBN 9789774160936.
  9. ^ Etheredge, Laura S. (2011). Middle East, Region in Transition: Egypt. Britannica Educational Publishing. p. 161. ISBN 9789774160936.
  10. ^ Katō, Hiroshi (2011). Islam in the Middle Eastern Studies: Muslims and Minorities. University of California Press. p. 133. ISBN 9784901838023. The Mamluk era, in which many Dhimmīs were forced to convert to Islam, was a time of great turbulence in society.
  11. ^ Naiem, Girgis (2018). Egypt's Identities in Conflict: The Political and Religious Landscape of Copts and Muslims. McFarland. p. 69. ISBN 9781476671208.
  12. ^ Morgan, Robert (2016). History of the Coptic Orthodox People and the Church of Egypt. FriesenPress. p. 342. ISBN 9781460280270.
  13. ^ Documentation Center, Middle East (2006). Mamlūk Studies Review. University of Chicago. p. 73. ISBN 9781460280270.
  14. ^ Conversion, Exemption, and Manipulation: Social Benefits and Conversion to Islam in Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages: Forcing taxes on those who refuse to convert (PDF), ʿUmar is depicted as having ordered that "the poll-tax should be taken from all men who would not become Muslims"

Sources