LESSON 23
THE COMING OF ISLAM TO EGYPT

In Egypt Jews and Greeks in Alexandria embraced Christianity in the first century. In the third century it spread to the indigenous Copts throughout the land. The Church had three advantages: 1) It utilized the Coptic language for liturgy and the Bible. 2) It was supported by communities of monks, originating from the great St. Anthony of the Desert (d. 356). 3) It had the intellectual leadership of several great theologians, such as Clement of Alexandria, Origen, Athanasius and Cyril.

On the other hand, the Egyptian Church was rocked with trouble starting with Arius, a priest of Alexandria who taught that Jesus was less than the Father and not divine. His teaching was condemned through the efforts of St. Athanasius in the Council of Nicaea in 325. Later Cyril, Patriarch of Alexandria, challenged the teaching of Nestorius, the patriarch of Constantinople, for holding that one may not call Mary Mother of God, because the Word did not become flesh but only dwelt in flesh. The Council of Ephesus in 431 condemned Nestorius' teaching and deposed him from his patriarchate. The controversy did not die down, especially as Egyptian and Greek national feeling were involved, and Dioscorus, who succeeded Cyril, got the new patriarch of Constantinople, Flavian, deposed. Pope Leo I, however, overruled Dioscorus' procedure, and the Council of Chalcedon in 451 deposed him for defiance. Mainly because of offended national pride, most of the Egyptian bishops and theologians would not accept Chalcedon and went into schism. At the coming of Islam there were two patriarchs of Alexandria, one schismatic Coptic and the other loyal to Constantinople.

The thirty years preceding the Arab conquest were especially hard times for Egypt. In 609-10 the country was the battleground between the forces loyal to Emperor Phocas and those supporting the coup of Heraclius. Heraclius' success was soon marred by an invasion of the Persians who captured all his eastern territories, including Egypt, in 616-18. The Persian conquest was devastating, but once in control the Persians allowed the Copts to practice their religion freely. Heraclius' control of the sea and his well planned strike at the heartland of Persia led to the Persians' evacuation of Egypt in 627. The restoration of the Byzantines, however, was the occasion of a new bitter persecution of the Copts. The leader of this persecution was Cyrus, known to the Arabs as Muqawqis ("the Caucasian") who was at once the Melkite patriarch of Alexandria and the Byzantine governor of Egypt. Muhammad seems to have been in contact with the Persian rulers who, in January 627, sent four slave girls to Muhammad (See Lesson 9).

Muslim forces, under `Amr ibn-al-`Ās, entered Egyptian territory in December 639. After conquering most of the Delta, the Arabs marched on Alexandria the capital. The emperor Heraclius died in February 641 and his son Constans II (641-648) restored the patriarch-governor Cyrus to Alexandria. The city was impregnable and could have resisted the Arabs indefinitely but for the treachery of Cyrus who secretly negotiated a surrender, which was signed on November 641, with the agreement of the new emperor and the Empress-Mother Martina. When the news of the surrender broke, the people of Alexandria rioted, but the skilful Cyrus persuaded them to accept it.

According to the terms of surrender, the Byzantine garrisons would evacuate Alexandria in September 642 and would not return or attempt to recover Egypt. Furthermore, the Egyptians would pay a tribute (jizya) of two dinars per year, together with a land tax (kharāj) in return for their lives, goods and freedom of religion. On their part, the Muslims would desist from all seizure of churches and not interfere in any way with the Christians. The Jews were also allowed to remain in Alexandria.

Cyrus' personal ambitions were thwarted by his death in March 642. In September the Arabs took possession of Alexandria, as had been agreed. They then proceeded to reduce the remaining Delta towns still holding out, and extended their conquest to the Pentapolis, the five principle cities along the Libyan coast as far as Tripoli.

The Arabs' success can be attributed to their military strength based on good organization and leadership, the fervour of a new nation bent on conquest, the attraction of booty, and finally the religious motivation of waging jihād to spread the rule of God as prescribed in the Qur'ān. Unlike the Byzantines, they were regularly supplied with reinforcements during the capture of the major towns, and also had the advantage of being entirely a cavalry force. All these factors without doubt contributed to the conquest of Egypt. But more important reasons lay with the condition of Byzantine rule in Egypt.

The Byzantines, like their Persian rivals, had become very weak because of the wars which both empires conducted against each other for many generations. To make up for lost revenues and still maintain high military budgets both empires imposed heavy taxes on their citizens, especially the subject peoples, who thereby lost their sense of loyalty to defend their imperial rulers against attackers. This was particularly true in Egypt, where so many years of not only oppressive taxation but also religious persecution had left the people no reason to entertain loyalty to the Byzantine regime. On the other hand, there is no basis for the supposition that the Copts actively cooperated with the Arabs in overthrowing Egyptian rule. The Chronicle of John, the Coptic bishop of Nikiou, shows that the Copts had no sympathy whatever for the invaders. Besides, Cyrus' persecution had left them disorganized and leaderless, incapable of offering any help that would alter the course of the struggle.

In accordance with the wishes of the caliph `Umar, the site on which `Amr pitched his camp became the new capital with the name Fustāt. This remained the Egyptian capital until 969 when the Fātimids made their headquarters at nearby Cairo.

In his policy towards the Copts, after the rigours of conquest, `Amr treated them leniently. There were the usual discriminatory Sharī`a prohibitions, such as of a Christian man marrying a Muslim woman, of Christians' attempting to convert Muslims or forbidding their members to become Muslims, but `Amr retained Copts in administrative posts and allowed the people to enjoy lighter taxes and greater religious freedom than they had under the Byzantines. The caliph `Umar, however, was dissatisfied that the tax revenue from Egypt was far less than what the Byzantines were collecting and he demanded immediate payment of a greater amount. `Amr refused, because this would violate the treaty made with the Copts. `Umar thereupon curtailed `Amr's power by appointing `Abdallāh ibn-Sa`d ibn-abī-Sarh in 644 to govern Upper Egypt and control land-tax as well. In the same year `Umar was assassinated and his successor `Uthmān immediately removed `Amr from Egypt altogether.

In 645 a Byzantine fleet landed at Alexandria, easily retook the city and began advancing towards Fustāt. To meet the emergency `Amr was sent back to Egypt. He defeated the Byzantine army in a battle near Nikiou in 646 and then stormed and recaptured Alexandria and punished the city severely.

In the following centuries Egypt took on an increasingly Islamic and Arab character. Vast numbers of Arabs moved into Egypt, some colonists (muhājirūn), others (mawālî) having lived in the bordering eastern desert for a long time. Before long Arabic replaced Coptic and Greek as the spoken and official language of the country. At first very slowly, the Copts also gave way to the general pressure to become Muslim, so that today only about 10% of the population are still Christian. Very many Copts became Muslim to marry a Muslim wife, for advantages in employment or business, to escape occasional persecutions or oppressive taxation and to emerge from a second-class status in the society.

QUESTIONS

  1. Discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the Egyptian Church before the coming of Islam.
  2. Explain the success of the Arabs in capturing Egypt.
  3. Describe the treatment of Egyptian Christians by the Muslim conquerors.
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