Islamization and Acculturation at the Time of ʻumar II (717-720) Islamización Y Aculturación En La Época De ʻumar II (717-720)

Al-Qanṭara XLII 1, enero-junio 2021, e06 eISSN 1988-2955 | ISSN-L 0211-3589 https://doi.org/10.3989/alqantara.2021.006

Islamization and Acculturation at the Time of ʻUmar II (717-720) Islamización y aculturación en la época de ʻUmar II (717-720)

Yaacov Lev Bar Ilan University ORCID iD: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6723-0538

Abstract ʻUmar II’s vast correspondence with governors is examined for the discussion of Islamization and acculturation. From the caliph’s point of view, these two processes had to be regulated and the dilemma was how to formulate a policy that was both in line with Islamic ethics and, at the same time, controlling Islamization by setting a high entrance bar for the converts. The struggle against acculturation attempted to preserve Muslim political dominance by controlling the administration.

Key words: ʻUmar II; mawālī; “rescript”; “edict”; H. A. R. Gibb; Milka Levy-Rubin; Luke Yarbrough.

Resumen La vasta correspondencia de ʻUmar II con los gobernantes es examinada para la discusión de la islamización y la aculturación. Desde el punto de vista del califa, estos dos procesos tenían que ser regulados y el dilema era cómo formular una política que estuviera en línea con la ética islámica y, al mismo tiempo, controlar la islamización estableciendo un alto nivel de entrada para los conversos. La lucha contra la aculturación intentaba preservar el dominio político musulmán controlando la administración.

Palabras clave: ʻUmar II; mawālī; “rescript”; “edicto”; H. A. R. Gibb; Milka Levy-Rubin; Luke Yarbrough.

Citation / Cómo citar: Lev, Yaacov, “Islamization and Acculturation at the Time of ʻUmar II (717-720)”, Al-Qanṭara, 42, 1 (2021), e06. doi: https://doi.org/10.3989/alqantara.2021.006.

Received: 02/03/2020; Accepted: 08/09/2020; Published: 02/07/2021

I for God and Muḥammad is God’s Messenger”.2 In social terms conversion obliged association The goal of this paper is to examine two un- with Arabs which brought converts to seek related processes that took place in early Islam: affiliation with Arab patrons (powerful indi- conversion to Islam and, concomitantly, Islam- viduals, families or tribes) in order to become ization and acculturation. I perceive conver- their clients (mawlā pl. mawālī), while adopt- sion as the beginning of a long process of reli- ing their patronymics. The relation between gious change that led to Islamization. Recently, clients and their Arab patrons was especially Corisande Fenwick, has referred to Islamization strong in the case of freedmen (i.e. slaves or as a much abused term which is taken as syn- 1 captives who had converted to Islam and were onymous with conversion. I would argue that set free by their masters). 3 The social repercus- Islamization is an elusive term since we mostly sions of the conversion process – the position see its end-result, while its stages remain ob- of the mawālī in Muslim society during the scure. How thorough Islamization was is anoth- seventh-eighth centuries– are frequently men- er difficult question to answer since non-Mus- tioned in the sources and extensively discussed lim communities were a constant feature of the by scholars.4 socio-religious landscape of the medieval Mid- The inner logic of the conversion process, dle East, and submission to Muslim rule did not especially when well-known people were in- render them insignificant. volved, obliged the act to be public. One of the The methodology for the study of Islami- most famous converts to Islam in tenth century zation is still ill defined, and most studies are Egypt was the Jew Yaʻqūb ibn Killis, who con- focused on the presumed indicators of the pro- verted during the rule of Kāfūr (966-968) and cess such as name patterns. In an attempt to in- became his vizier. The conversion took place tegrate sources and studies into a meaningful at Kāfūr’s residence and, subsequently, a great discussion, the first part of the paper consists of crowd accompanied Ibn Killis to his house. The extensive discussion of studies on Islamization procession was witnessed by Sībawayh, a noted and the insights derived from this discussion are constantly referred to in parts two and three. Part two is a case study of Ifrīqiya (Tunisia and north-east Algeria) and ʻUmar II’s policies in the 2 There is ample literature on the sincerity of conver- province, while part three examines the broader sion and its rites, and the most recent publications include scope of the caliph’s policies on both conver- Friedmann, “Conversion, Apostasy and Excommunication”, pp. 107-116; Chrysostomides, “There is no God but God’’, sion and acculturation. My discussion of accul- pp. 118-121; Cooperson, “An Early Conversion Story”, pp. turation relies on sources and is also informed 390-391. The eighth century Syriac Chronicle of Zuqnīn (pp. by recent publications on the subject. 327-328) describes a rite of conversion that took place in the Before any discussion of methodology is region of Edessa (Urfa in Turkey), which involved both ver- attempted, the rites associated with conver- bal renunciation of Christianity and acceptance of Islam that went beyond the formula “There is no god except for God sion to Islam require an explanation. For ex- and Muḥammad is God’s Messenger”. For the Chronicle of ample, the question of whether a conversion to Zuqnīn, see Hoyland, Seeing Islam as Others Saw It, pp. 337- Islam driven by opportunistic motives such as 339. the wish to escape financial hardship or gain 3 For the role of patronage in the conversion process, personal benefits can be considered as genuine see Bulliet, “Conversion-Based Patronage”, pp. 246-263; Nawas, “A Client’s Client”, pp. 143-158. For the legal and was much debated in diverse medieval Arabic social mechanisms that were instrumental for the inclusion writings. The position attributed to the Proph- of slave converts, especially female slaves, into the Jewish et was that the pronouncement of the declara- society of the Geniza period, see Perry, “Conversion as an tion of faith (There is no god except for God) Aspect of Master-Slave Relationships”, pp. 135-160. was enough to accept the conversion of a pa- 4 In the Ifrīqiya context, the shifting policies towards gan Arab. Christians and Jews were, however, the mawālī are illustrated by the events which took place in 102/720-721, during the governorship of Yazīd ibn Abī Mus- also obliged to admit Muḥammad’s status as lim, and the treatment of the mawālī of his predecessor Musā a Prophet. They had to pronounce the double ibn Nuṣayr, who served as his bodyguard (ḥaras). Yazīd, declaration of faith: “There is no god except himself the mawlā of al-Ḥajjāj, the governor of Iraq, tattooed their arms and re-enslaved them. In response, they assassinat- ed him. See al-Yaʻqūbī, vol. II, p. 376; al-Balādhurī, Futūḥ, 1 See, Early Islamic North Africa, p. 129. I owe this ref- p. 325. For the most recent scholar discussion of the mawālī erence to the kindness of one of the anonymous readers on in early Islam, see Urban, Conquered Populations, pp. 20-25, behalf of Al-Qanṭara. and ch. 3.

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contemporary “holy fool”, who was highly crit- not appear in medieval Arabic dictionaries. The ical of the event.5 standard approach has been to adopt Reinhart P. As important as the rites associated with con- A. Dozy’s translation as “nouveau musulman”, version to Islam were, the meaning of adopting which conveys well the basic meaning of the Islam must also be addressed. The attempt to term.8 Elsewhere I have argued that the term re- elucidate this issue at the time of the Prophet fers to converts to Islam who showed no devo- and the caliphs of Medina (632-661) and Da- tion to their new faith. Although such conduct mascus (661-750) is, for example, at the heart of was tolerated, a convert labeled as a muslimānī Harry Munt’s, Jack Tannous’ and Uriel Simon- found it difficult to assimilate into Muslim so- sohn’s discussions of the transformation from ciety since the term had clear pejorative conno- Arab paganism (jāhiliyya) to Islam. Islamiza- tations.9 tion during those periods involved individuals The discussion of the methodological issues and tribal groups and was motivated by convic- involved in the conversion process was brought tions and a myriad of personal and political rea- to the fore of the scholarly debate in 1950 by sons. Munt has emphasized the political aspects Daniel C. Dennett, who provided a summary of of the Islamization process of Arabia during the Julius Wellhausen’s findings (1902), and of sub- Prophet’s lifetime, whose driving force was the sequent studies. Dennett proposed adopting a desire to preserve property. As has been shown regional approach to questions such as the status by Simonsohn, at the time of the Prophet, the of land and taxation and pointed out the need for conversion of certain individuals proved to be precision when terms such as kharāj (land tax) insincere, while Tannous has pointed out that and poll-tax (jizya) are examined and translat- the difference between genuine acceptance of ed. Both Wellhausen and Dennett also discussed Islam on a personal level versus instrumental the policies of ʻUmar II concerning taxation and mass conversion of various social groups had conversion to Islam.10 long term socio-religious consequences well One must bear in mind that since the publica- into the Umayyad period.6 tion of Dennett’s book a significant shift about On the individual and collective levels, the how Islamization is studied has taken place. knowledge of the precepts of the new religion In 1979, Richard W. Bulliet suggested a com- remained rudimentary for many decades and pletely different methodological approach to Is- was characterized by syncretism between pa- lamization, claiming that: “…changes in name ganism and Islam. The mechanism of prop- patterns accurately reflect the general course of agating Islam is illustrated by a unique report religious conversion…” He went on to explain recounted by the Damascus historian Abū Zurʻa the quite complex structure of medieval Arabic (d. 894), which refers to majālis al-dhikr. The names and suggested that the first appearance early meaning of the term alluded to sessions in which the question of what is or is not permissi- 8 Supplément, vol. I, p. 677. This translation has been ble was discussed. The range of issues that fell adopted by Tillier and Vanthieghem, “La rançon du serment”, under these categories was wide and involved pp. 55-56 (line 2, text and trans.). rituals (prayer and pilgrimage), personal status 9 Lev, “Persecutions and Conversion”, pp. 88-89. The (marriage and divorce), and commercial trans- pejorative connotation of the term is also noted by Tillier and 7 Vanthieghem, “La rançon du serment”, p. 63. For the Fatimid actions (sale and purchase). period, the most revealing text is that of al-Musabbiḥī (977- Although the rites associated with conver- 1029) who, in the obituaries of 1025, reports on the killing of sion to Islam were simple, the question of the a person referred to as “Abū Saʻd al-muslimānī, the secretary sincerity of conversion continued to dominate employed in the Office of the Army in Ramla”. In another the medieval discourse on conversion and is report, al-Musabbiḥī refers to the death of a very wealthy person simply described as “al-ʻAdanī al-muslimānī,” meaning a highlighted by the term muslimānī, which does person from Aden who lived in Fusṭāṭ. His address (the street and house) and family connections are fully reported. See Akhbār Miṣr, pp. 94, 109. The unmistakable impression is 5 Ibn Zūlāq, p. 44. For Sῑbawayh, see Tillier, “Un ‘Al- that a person labeled as a muslimānī could live and function ceste musulman’”, pp. 117-139; Lev, “Aspects”, pp. 2-5. For in society but the term had an abusive meaning. See Akhbār a broader discussion of the conversion act, see Simonsohn, Miṣr, pp. 37-38. “Conversion, Apostasy”, pp. 212-213. 10 See, Conversion and the Poll Tax in Early Islam, 6 Munt, “What Did Conversion to Islam Mean?”, pp. pp. 3-11 (Dennett’ summary of earlier scholarship), pp. 11- 89-93; Tannous, The Making of the Medieval Middle East, pp. 13, 83-88 (Dennett’s views on the subject and the policies of 263-278; Simonsohn, “Conversion, Apostasy”, pp. 204-205. ʻUmar II); Wellhausen, The Arab Kingdom and Its Fall, pp. 7 See, vol. I, p. 420. 296-311.

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of a name drawn from the Arabic onomasticon It must be pointed out that the onomastic serves as an indicator of conversion to Islam. approach is a general methodological tool em- Bulliet’s data are culled from the extensive ployed for the tracing of cultural and religious medieval Arabic biographical literature, which changes and is also extensively applied outside mostly deals with people of the learned class the field of Islamic studies. The most relevant and is presented in the form of graphs depicting case is perhaps the application of this method- the process of Islamization in various regions of ology for the study of Egypt’s conversion from the Middle East.11 Without ever alluding to Den- paganism to Christianity. Explicitly quoting nett, Bulliet makes clear that Islamization must Bulliet, Roger S. Bagnall has used the onomas- be approached regionally. tic approach and postulated that there was a rap- In the context of Islamization in al-Andalus, id Christianization of Egypt between 310 and Mayte Penelas has suggested a modification to 360 and that 90% Christianization was achieved Bulliet’s methodology by asserting that Islam- by the end of the century.14 In 2013, Bagnall’s ization is represented by the name ʻAbd Allāh findings were re-examined and modified by (servant of God) being assigned to the convert’s Mark Depauw and Willy Clarysee and, accord- father and the appearance of the nisba (a part of ing to them, overwhelming Christianization the Arabic name pattern that signifies affiliation, was achieved in about the mid-fifth century.15 ending in ī) al-Islāmī (meaning belonging to Is- In a 2014 publication, David Frankfurter asked lam). David J. Wasserstein has proved both as- what, in the fourth century, constituted “being sertions wrong, indicating how problematic the Christian” and what the demarcation lines be- onomastic approach is.12 Alwyn Harrison, how- tween paganism and Christianity could have ever, has argued that Bulliet’s approach is mis- been.16 In their reply Depauw and Clarysee dealt understood since Bulliet’s graphs represent the with the issues raised by Frankfurter and reaf- process of conversion as derived from the bio- firmed the validity of the onomastic approach.17 graphical data and not the overall proportions of The wide application of the onomastic approach Muslim-non-Muslim populations. He has also has also been demonstrated in Bulliet’s recent shown that in the case of Egypt and Palestine publication but the question about how his find- the literary sources referring to Islamization and ings should be interpreted in the Islamic context Bulliet’s graphs completely diverge.13 remains.18 In a broader comparative framework, the discussion about what constitutes religious identity and the nature of denominational demarcation 11 See Conversion to Islam in the Medieval Period, lines is also relevant in the Islamic context. Lev pp. 4, 10, 19. The name categories that are considered as Weitz, for example has suggested to shift the typically Arabic/Islamic are explained in ch. 6. For the discussion from conversion to Islam and the de- genesis of the book, see Bulliet, “The Conversion Curve Revisited”, pp. 69-72. The notion that religious change is mographic ratio between Muslim and non-Mus- reflected by changes in naming patterns is corroborated by lim populations to “…other meaningful markers Arabic sources. The transition from Arab paganism to Islam of social change…”, which reflected “…the ris- was marked by the change of male and female first names, ing influence of Islamic institutions and norms while conversion from Christianity to Islam involved the of social organization on non-Muslims, with the adoption of Arabic names with Islamic connotations. See Abū Zurʻa, vol. I, p. 453, vol. II, pp. 764-766; Al-Quḍāʻī, emphasis that such influences need not have led 19 ʻUyūn al-Ma‘ārif, p. 129. The change of names and the to conversion”. Weitz’s remarks highlight the registration of converts to Islam is also alluded to in the Chronicle of Zuqnīn. The reference to the registration must be understood as referring to the dīwān system in which 14 See “Religious Conversion and Onomastic Change in mawālī converts were registered along with their Arabic Early Byzantine Egypt”, pp. 105-123. patrons to receive payments from the state. See pp. 329- 15 See “How Christian was Fourth Century Egypt?”, pp. 330. For the kunya Abū Muslim (agnomen, consisting of 407-435. Abū followed by the name of a son) as a marker of converts 16 See “Onomastic Statistics and the Christianization of to Islam, see Ibn Yūnus, Ta’rīkh, vol. II, pp. 236-237. Egypt”, pp. 284-289. 12 Penelas, “Some Remarks on Conversion to Islam in 17 See “Christian Onomastics: A Response to al-Andalus”, pp. 193-200; Wasserstein, “Where Have all the Frankfurter”, pp. 327-329. Converts Gone?”, pp. 325-342. For a completely different 18 See “The Conversion Curve Revisited”, pp. 69-79. approach to the Islamization of al-Andalus, which focuses on 19 See “Islamic Law on the Provincial Margins”, pp. regional differences, see Aillet, “Islamisation et évolution du 5-6. For the complex relations between acculturation and peuplement chrétien”, pp. 151-195. Islamization, see Picard, “Islamisation et arabisation”, pp. 13 See “Behind the Curve”, pp. 35-51, esp. pp. 38, 44-47. 55-56, who refers to literature about the Muslim West.

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complex relations between acculturation and since the extensive epigraphic and documentary Islamization and the fact that these could have record pertaining to Egypt reflects wider social been parallel processes, while in other cases ac- groups than those depicted by the biographi- culturation paved the way to Islamization. cal dictionaries of the learned class (ʻulamāʼ) As innovative as Bulliet’s attempt to write studied by Bulliet. For example, the stelae of quantitative history of the conversion process is, the Muslim cemetery of Aswān in Upper Egypt the more traditional approach focusing on con- (eighth-tenth centuries) bear the names of peo- version stories maintains its allure. Biographical ple from diverse walks of life and, to some ex- literature came to typify medieval Arabic his- tent, Bulliet’s methodology works. Stela 59, torical writings, which offer many stories about for example, dated to 857, bears the name of men and women who converted to Islam during Muḥammad ibn Yūhannis al-Khayyāt. Christian the Prophet’s lifetime. In some cases the polit- Décobert, who has studied those inscriptions, ical aspects of the conversion, or the so-called offers the following commentary on the stela: conversion, come to the fore, while other cases reveal a complex interplay between the old kin- ‘Yūhannis’ est la translittération d’un anthropony- me grec, ‘Iôannis’. Le tailleur Yūhannis s’est con- ship relations and the newly acquired religious 20 verti et a donné à son fils un nom très évidemment identities and freshly forged loyalties. musulman, Muḥammad. Compte tenu de ce que Dennett’s regional approach has its merits l’on tient généralement pour 25 ans l’espace entre and in Egypt, for example, the process of Is- deux générations et que la durée d’une vie peut lamization stretched over several centuries. Its être estimée à 40 ans, la conversion a pu avoir lieu chronological turning points are discussed in a entre 792 et 832. number of studies, which focus on the regional differences between the Fayyūm and the Delta.21 Other inscriptions depict more complex The importance of the regional context is also naming patterns. Stela 216, for instance, dat- illuminated by the case of Palestine in which, ed to 886, bears the name of Muḥammad ibn in contrast to Egypt’s homogeneous population, ʻAbd Allāh ibn Fawtis. Décobert interprets the each one of the socio-religious groups: the Sa- name ʻAbd Allāh as signifying mere adhesion maritans of Samaria, the Melkites (the largest to the new religion and assumes that the con- Christian community in Palestine) and the Jews, version process progressed from adhesion in the must be studied separately. In the context of the first generation to full Islamization in the second Islamization of the Melkite community Milka generation.23 It seems that Décobert’s interpre- Levy-Rubin has drawn attention to the differ- tation of the evidence relies on two hidden as- ence between Islamization and Arabization or, sumptions: the first being that the name ʻAbd to put it differently, acculturation. Arabization/ Allāh (servant of God) is a monotheistic name acculturation involved the acceptance of Ara- without clear Islamic connotations. The second bic culture while adhering to separate religious assumption seems to be derived from Arthur D. identity and, in the context of the Melkites of Nock’s distinction between two forms of reli- Palestine, Arabization meant the adoption of gious change: one that involved a complete re- the Arabic language, Arabic name forms and orientation of the soul of an individual (conver- the Hijrī dating. Levy-Rubin argues that by 980 sion) while the other form was marked by mere full Arabization was achieved, when Arabic re- adhesion to the new religion.24 placed Aramaic in the reading of the Scriptures.22 Certain names engraved on the tombstones In the Egyptian context, however, Bulliet’s of the Aswān cemetery, however, offer no clue and Levy-Rubin’s remarks about the adoption to the religious identity of the deceased. Déco- of Arabic name forms are especially intriguing bert provides two examples of such enigmatic names: Bilāl ibn Andriyā and Isḥāq ibn Ibrāhīm. While Bilāl is a name that could have been used 20 Stern, “The First Women Converts”, pp. 294, 296- 297; Calasso, “Récits de conversion”, pp. 19-47; Hershko- by both Christians and Muslims, Isḥāq and vits, “Kinship”, pp. 303-304, 310. Ibrāhīm are names derived from the Semitic 21 For the Delta, see Lev, “Coptic Rebellions”, pp. 303- monotheistic tradition.25 Décobert’s discussion 345; “The Fatimid Caliphs”, pp. 390-410. For the Fayyūm, see Rapoport, Rural Economy, Ch. 9; Gaubet and Mouton, Hommes et villages, pp. 237-246, 259-264. 23 See, “Sur lʻarabisation et lʼislamisation de lʼÉgypte”, 22 See, “Arabization versus Islamization”, pp. 152-153; pp. 278-279. “New Evidence”, pp. 257-258; “Islamization of Space and 24 See, Conversion, pp. 1-16. People”, p. 370. 25 See, “Sur lʻarabisation et lʼislamisation de lʼÉgypte “,

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indicates that name forms are difficult to in- the impact of the Muslim conquest and the poli- terpret and the studies by Marie Legendre and cies of the Umayyad caliphs, especially those of Elinoar Bareket, which rely on different source ʻUmar II. The Byzantine background of North material, elaborate and expand upon these con- Africa is well known and the reader can be re- clusions. Papyri, like tombstones, reflect people ferred, for example, to a recent collection of ar- from all walks of life and a great variety of name ticles that deal with a wide range of pertinent is- forms. Legendre offers a detailed discussion of sues.28 The same applies to the much discussed Coptic and Arabic names depicted in papyri topic of the Muslim conquest of the region and from the Fayyūm, which roughly can be dated one must bear in mind Walter E. Kaegi’s obser- to the second half of the eleventh century. 26% vation that: “A process of Islamization, which of the names used in those documents are un- is not identical or synonymous with North Afri- mistakably Muslim while 38% bear no clear ca’s conquest, would last many centuries”.29 The indication of religious identity and could have significance of this observation is that it goes been used by either a Muslim or by a “chrétien against a main theme found in Arabic sources, arabisé”. Biblical names offer no clue to the reli- which postulates a direct link between conquest gious identity of the person and Legendre draws and Islamization. attention to the practice of giving two names to The Islamization of Ifrīqiya has been ex- be used in different socio-religious settings.26 amined by Allaoua Amara who, authoritatively In the context of the Jewish society of the has combined a discussion of both sources and Geniza period, the practice of giving two names studies. The main thrust of Amara’s arguments to men is noted by Elinoar Bareket. The Hebrew is that the sources depict the Islamization of name served a person in community life while Ifrīqiya as having taken place in two stages: a the Arabic name facilitated blending into street limited Islamization which occurred between life and maintaining social contacts outside the 647 and 701 and a massive Islamization of “… community. 48% of names depicted by the Ge- les confédérations tribales pastorales du Magh- niza documents studied by Bareket are Bibli- reb central et du Sud de lʼIfrīqiya”, which took cal-Koranic names while 36% are Arabic names place between 701 and 718. The second phase unrelated to the Koran that signify abstract pos- is directly linked to the fiscal and religious poli- itive qualities. One of the most significant ob- cies of the Umayyad caliphs, especially those of servations made by Bareket concerns feminine ʻUmar II. Amara also draws attention to the late name patterns of which 92% are Arabic names and retrospective nature of the sources, which composed of the word sitt (mistress) following have been “… élaborés dans des contextes by attributes describing women as having au- idéologique et politique différents”.30 thority over the house, family and other positive The Islamic scene of North Africa was com- qualities and features. She asserts that female plex and variegated and Islamization could have name patterns reflect the fact that women played meant embracing the Sunnī Islam of the ruling no role in synagogue life and, therefore, had no dynastiess – the Umayyad and Abbasid and, need for a Hebrew name.27 in the local context, the Aghlabids – as well as Khawārijī Islam. Equally complex was the eth- II nic-religious scene and any discussion of the Islamization of the Berbers invokes Michael Although occasionally insightful, the limita- Brett’s question: “Why single out the question tions of the onomastic approach are serious and of their (the Berbers) conversion to Islam as for the study of Islamization one must go back distinct from, say, the conversion of all North to the literary sources. The case study of Ifrī- Africans, Latins, and Greeks? And, as a corol- qiya involves several intertwined topics, which lary to this, what were they converted from?”.31 include the Byzantine background of the region, pp. 278-279. 28 See North Africa under Byzantium and Islam. 26 See “Perméabilité l inguistique”, pp. 326-330, esp. 29 See “The Islamic Conquest and the Defense of By- pp. 329-330 (for dating of those documents), pp. 348-351, zantine Africa”, p. 67. esp. pp. 350-351 (for analyzing the meanings of the name 30 See “Lʼislamisation du Maghreb Central”, p. 112. For forms). a more detailed discussion of the Islamization of the Kutāma 27 See, “Note on Jewish Naming Pattern”, pp. 83-86. of the southern Ifrīqiya, see Amara, “Peuplement et arabisa- For broader discussion of women’s names, see Goitein, A tion au Maghreb médiéval”, pp. 270-285. Mediterranean Society, vol. III, pp. 314-319. 31 See “Conversion of the Berbers”, p. 189; “The Isla-

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As significant as these questions are the sources the Islamic identity of the Arab population (ahl and literature exclusively focus on the Berbers. Ifrīqiya) of the province through the personal Amara’s reference to limited Islamization example set by the members of the delegation occurring between 647 and 701 possibly al- and through their teaching of law and religion. ludes to the Kāhina rebellion, which took place Members of the delegation settled in Kairouan, between the late 690s and 703 and still poses a and al-Mālikī is at pains to emphasize the ben- mystery. The rebellion involved the Berbers of eficial aspects of their activity and their impact the Aurès Mountains and the sources claim that on the local scene.34 when Kāhina, the female leader of the uprising, Reading between the lines of al-Mālikī’s ac- realized that the rebellion had failed she exhort- count leaves one with the unmistakable impres- ed her sons to adopt Islam and thousands con- sion that members of the delegation acted as in- verted following the collapse of the rebellion. dividuals, not as a collective. Ismāʻīl ibn ʻUbayd This description of the events is, for example, al-Anṣārī, for example, became involved in the at the fore of al-Raqīq al-Qayrawānī’s account building of a mosque, which later came to be (d. 1033), which remains uncorroborated.32 The known as the al-Zaytūna mosque, which gained account fits the broader context of the- medie fame through North Africa as a center of Islam- val discourse about the process of Islamization ic learning. Another member of the delegation, and, for what it is worth, the theme of “subjec- Abū Masʻūd Saʻd ibn Masʻūd, participated in the tion and persecutions leading to Islamization” is writing of a pamphlet outlining the principles of a common explanatory trope used in medieval faith (a type of writing known as ʻaqīda) at the Coptic historiography.33 This broad conceptu- behest of the governor Ḥanẓala ibn Ṣafwān al- alization of Kāhina’s rebellion, however, says Bakrī who, in 742, faced a Khawārijī rebellion.35 nothing about the validity of the claim that Is- Since the members of the delegation acted as lamization followed the failure of the rebellion. individuals some of them stepped outside their Amara’s discussion of the second stage of mission, so to speak, and became active pros- the Islamization of Ifrīqiya is linked to the poli- elytizers. Ismāʻīl ibn ʻUbayd Allāh ibn Afram cies of ʻUmar II and for that we must turn to the Abū l-Muhājir, a mawlā of Banū l-Makhzūmī, is writings of Abū Bakr al-Mālikī (d.1055) and his describe, for example, as a religious person and biographical dictionary of the ʻulamāʼ of Kair- ascetic who was sent to Ifrīqiya to judge peo- ouan. ʻUmar II sent a delegation of ten tābiʻūn ple according to the Koran and the tradition of to Ifrīqiya with the explicit mission to teach the Prophet. He fulfilled these expectations and law and religion to the people of the province. showed great zeal in spreading Islam among the The term tābiʻūn refers to Muslims who had Berbers. Al-Mālikī’s biography of Ismāʻīl relies met the Companions of the Prophet and were on quotations from three named sources: the thus considered as possessors of authoritative Egyptian biographer Abū Saʻīd ibn Yūnus (894- knowledge about the Prophet’s life, deeds and 958), the famous historian al-Ṭabarī (d. 923), utterances. One gets the impression that the pri- and the renowned literato al-Tanūkhī (939-994). mary motive behind the mission was to enhance The quote attributed to al-Ṭabarī about Ismāʻīl states that “He was a good governor and a good emir” is not to be found in his History of the mization of Egypt and North Africa”, pp. 15-16. 36 32 See pp. 49-50, 51, 52, 61. These accounts refer to Prophets and Kings. Other ninth-tenth cen- both the immediate Islamization in the wake of the rebellion tury works, however, throw important light on and to later events that led to Islamization. For the most re- Ismāʻīl’s appointment as governor. Al-Balād- cent publication on the Kāhina rebellion, see Hendrickx, hurī (d. 892), for example, on the authority of “Al-Kahina”, pp. 47-61. For al-Raqīq al-Qayrawānī’s writings embedded in late medieval historiography, see Amara, “Lʼislamisation du Maghreb central”, p. 109. For al-Raqīq 34 Some members of the delegation are praised for their al-Qayrawānī’s diplomatic mission to al-Ḥākim’s court in personal virtues (al-Mālikī, vol. I, pp. 102, 106, 111) while 998, see al-Maqrīzī, Kitāb al-Muqaffā, vol. I, pp. 256-257. others were jurists (al-Mālikī, vol. I, pp. 100, 110. 112). When Al-Maqrīzī also provides a list of his works and praises him the broader context of the Islamization process is considered, as a historian. ʻulamāʼ served as proponents of Islam. For the discussion 33 History of the Patriarchs of the Egyptian Church, vol. of Balkh and Tukharistan of the seventh-eight centuries, see II, part 1, pp. 4-6 (Arabic), pp. 6-12 (trans.); Lev, “Coptic Azad, “The Beginnings of Islam in Afghanistan”, pp. 50-52. Rebellions”, pp. 326-327. For more complex Coptic percep- 35 A-Mālikī, vol. I, pp. 102-103, 106-107. For the tions of Muslim rule, see Mikhail, From Byzantine to Islamic Khawārijī rebellion, see Savage, A Gateway to Hell, a Gate- Egypt, pp. 61-78; Palombo, “The View from the Monaster- way to Paradise, pp. 43-44. ies”, pp. 327-332. 36 Al-Mālikī, vol. I, p. 116.

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al-Wāqidī (d. 832), reports about Ismāʻīl’s ap- As extensive as al-Mālikī’s biography of pointment as governor and praises his conduct. Ismāʻīl is, he fails to shed light on Ismāʻīl’s life He states that Berbers converted to Islam during before his arrival to Ifrīqiya. For that we must his tenure in office and presents both the caliph turn to Syrian historians such as Ibn ʻAsākir and the governor as the driving force behind the (1105-1176) and Ibn al-ʻAdīm (1192-1262). Ibn process. The caliph’s contribution is vaguely re- ʻAsākir’s account of Ismāʻīl’s life also explains ferred to as a letter sent to the Berbers that was his inclusion in the delegation sent to North Af- read by the governor. The report ends with the rica. Ibn ʻAsākir depicts Ismāʻīl (680-749) as a sweeping statement that: “Islam prevailed in the native of Damascus closely associated with the Maghreb”.37 Umayyad caliphs. He served as a tutor of the A further survey of the sources reveals a wide sons of the caliphs ʻAbd al-Malik (685-705) and range of opinions about ʻUmar II’s delegation to al-Walīd (705-715), and had access to ʻUmar II.43 Ifrīqiya. Omitting any reference to the caliph’s Ibn Asākir extensively dwells upon Ismāʻīl’s role in the endeavor to spread Islam in North role in the circulation of Prophetic ḥadīth and Africa, Khalīfa ibn Khayyāṭ (d. 855) praises his involvement in jihād. Without offering any Ismāʻīl’s conduct and states that the Berbers con- concrete details, Ibn ʻAsākir alludes to his par- verted to Islam during his governorship.38 North ticipation in the summer raids on Byzantium African historiography is in line with Khalīfa and his stay in Beirut as a warrior of the holy ibn Khayyāṭ’s account. Al-Raqīq al-Qayrawānī, war.44 Ibn ʻAsākir portrays Ismāʻīl as living an for example, praises Ismāʻīl for the way he gov- exemplary life, combining learning and militant erned Ifrīqiya (100-101/718-719) and states that piety and as a natural candidate for a delegation, he was zealous in converting the Berbers to Is- which aims was to enhance Islamic values in a lam.39 Ibn ʻIdhārī (late thirteenth century-early remote province. As informative as Ibn Asākir fourteenth century) depicts Ismāʻīl as being an is about the Syrian phase of Ismāʻīl’s life, he has ardent proselytizer and educator who instruct- little to say about the Ifrīqiya phase. He quotes ed the ahl Ifrīqiya about what was permissible Khalīfa ibn Khayyāṭ’s account about Ismāʻīl’s and what was not. He, and the other members of good governorship and his zeal to proselytize.45 ʻUmar II’s delegation, enlightened ahl Ifrīqiya Because of the close relations between Ifrī- with the injunction that wine was a forbidden qiya and Egypt in early Islam, rich information beverage.40 about Ifrīqiya is to be found in the writings of In his biographical dictionary, Ibn Yūnus’s al-Maqrīzī (1364-1442), the famous historian of emphasis is, however, different. He states that: Egypt and Cairo. Al-Maqrīzī also writes about the Islamization of North Africa but the infor- Umar II had installed him (Ismāʻīl) over the peo- mation is second hand. He, for example, echoes ple of Ifrīqiya to judge them according to the Book the reports that the Islamization of the Berbers of God and the Tradition of the Prophet, and to took place following the failure of Kāhina’s re- teach them the laws of religion. He was one of the 46 ten tābiʻūn. He settled in Kairouan, and adminis- bellion. Al-Maqrīzī’s biography of Ismāʻīl is, trated justice among the Muslims and taught them however, completely different from Ibn Yūnus’s traditions.41 short report or al-Mālikī’s fuller account. In addition, through Ismāʻīl’s biography, al-Maqrῑzῑ, Ibn al-Athīr (1160-1233) writes that Ismāʻīl sheds light on the political-administrative prac- and another person named al-Samḥ ibn Mālik tices of the Umayyad period, especially the al-Khawlānī were appointed as governors in wafd (delegation) institution. Tax money sent to 100/718-719, and points out that ʻUmar II was Damascus from the provinces was accompanied much impressed by Ismāʻīl’s conduct.42 by a delegation of eminent people who had to swear that the money had been justly collected 37 Al-Balādhurī, Futūḥ, pp. 323-324. and constituted a surplus after local expenses 38 Khalīfa b. Khayyāṭ, Ta’rīkh, vol. I, p. 330. For other governors of Ifrīqiya immediately prior to Ismāʻīl, see p. 324. 39 Al-Raqīq al-Qayrawānī, Ta’rīkh, p. 61. 43 Ibn ‘Asākir, Ta’rīkh, vol. VIII, pp. 434, 436, 437, 40 See vol. I, p. 48. 441-442. 41 Ibn Yūnus vol. II, p. 37; al-Mālikī, vol. I, p. 116. For 44 Ibn ‘Asākir, Ta’rīkh, vol. VIII, pp. 432, 435. Ibn Yūnus references to other members of the delegation, see 45 Ibn ‘Asākir, Ta’rīkh, vol. VIII, p. 440. Ibn al-ʻAsākir’s vol. I, pp. 88-89, 103-104, vol. II, pp. 37-38. account about Ismāʻīl is echoed by Ibn al-ʻAdīm (vol. IV, pp. 42 Ibn Athīr, Kāmil, vol. IV, pp. 231, 246, which refers 1695-1706). to their dismissal following ʻUmar II’s death. 46 Al-Maqrīzī, Kitāb al-Muqaffā, vol. III, p. 282.

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such as paying the troops and their families had for example, had sent Nāfiʻ on a similar mission been met. The Treasury in Damascus was strict to Egypt. about accepting provincial tax money only af- Ninth century sources are unclear about ter such oaths were taken. For example, when Nāfiʻ’s mission to Egypt. Ibn Saʻd (d. 845), for a delegation from Ifrīqiya arrived in Damascus example, writes that he was sent to teach tradi- during Sulaymān’s reign (715-717), two of its tions (sunan). Nāfiʻ was a Persian freedman of members,a certain Ismāʻīl ibn ʻUbayd [Allāh ?] ʻAbd Allāh, the son of the caliph ʻUmar I (634- and al-Samḥ ibn Mālik al-Khawlānī, refused to 644), and is described as his protégé (mawlā). take the oath. Consequently, the caliph refused He lived in Medina but met ʻUmar II in Damas- to accept the money. cus. Because of Nāfiʻ’s encounter with the ca- However, two of al-Maqrīzī’s statements liph, Ibn ʻAsākir included Nāfiʻ in his biograph- about Ismāʻīl’s life cannot be accepted. Al- ical dictionary of the people connected with Maqrīzī writes that Ismāʻīl lived (sakana) in the history of Damascus. Although Ibn ʻAsākir Ifrīqiya. There is no reason to assume that he was a twelfth century author, his narrative of had lived in Ifrīqiya prior to his appointment the encounter sheds light on the mood of that as the governor of the province. Therefore, al- formative period of Islam. On the authority of Maqrīzī’s vague allusion to Ismāʻīl’s arrival in ʻUmar I’s son, Nāfiʻ related the following epi- Damascus with the wafd from Ifrīqiya must also sode to ‘Umar II. When the Prophet inspected be rejected. Al-Maqrīzī, nonetheless, offers one the troops before the Battle of Uḥud, he forbade important detail about Ismāʻīl’s range of respon- the fourteen year old ʻAbd Allāh from partici- sibilities as the governor of the province, which pating in the battle but when ʻAbd Allāh was also included the collection of the kharāj (land- fifteen years old the Prophet allowed him to take tax) and ṣadaqāt (i.e. the Islamic alms-tax, also part in the Battle of the Khandaq. Relying on the known as zakat), levied on both rural and urban tale, which in the terminology of the period was Muslim populations. Al-Maqrīzī praises Ismāʻīl considered as a ḥadīth, ʻUmar II ruled that the for the way he executed his duties and repeats age threshold dividing between someone who is the remark that during his term in office the Ber- boy (ṣaghīr) from someone who is an adult (ka- bers converted to Islam. Ismāʻīl’s governorship bīr) should be fifteen. The caliph conveyed the ended with the death of ʻUmar II.47 instruction to his governors and ordered them The question that must be asked is why to consider fourteen year olds as minors who Ismāʻīl was successful in converting the Ber- were part of the family group.49 Ibn ʻAsākir pro- bers to Islam. The simplest answer would be vides no additional details about Nāfiʻ’s mission that, as noted by al-Maqrīzī, he put ʻUmar II’s to Egypt, which is reported on the authority of policies into practice and made use of the fiscal Nāfiʻ himself who also asserted that ʻUmar II responsibilities vested in him to promote con- had appointed him to collect the ṣadaqāt taxes version. The caliph’s policy toward Islamization in Yemen.50 was, however, ambivalent and why his gover- ʻUmar II’s involvement with the inculcation nor in Ifrīqiya was successful in converting the of Islamic values comes to the fore through al- Berbers remains a puzzle.48 Perhaps personal Maqrīzī’s long quote from al-Kindī’s lost Kitāb circumstances rather than state policies provide al-Mawālī. The quote from al-Kindī (897-961), the key for understanding Ismāʻīl’s proselytiz- the famous historian of Egypt and its governors ing zeal since he himself was a convert, a client and cadis, begins with the statement that Yazīd of Banū l-Makhzūm. Leaving aside the question ibn Abū Ḥabīb was the first who expressed his of Ismāʻīl’s efforts to convert the Berbers to Is- thoughts about what was permissible and for- lam, ʻUmar II’s delegation to Ifrīqiya was not an bidden in Fusṭāṭ (Miṣr). He was also one of isolated attempt on the part of the caliph who, 49 Ibn ʻAsākir, Ta’rīkh, vol. LXI, p. 422. Although Nāfiʻ prominently figures in theḥadīth literature, he remains an elu- 47 Al-Maqrīzī, Kitāb al-Muqaffā, vol. II, pp. 125-126. sive personality. For a critical approach to Nāfiʻ’s eminence, 48 In the distant Bukhara, the governor Qutayba ibn see Juynboll, “Nāfiʻ, the Mawlā of Ibn ʻUmar”, pp. 217, 219- Muslim (d. 715-716) pursued a policy of active Islamization 221. Juynboll is also skeptical about the historical feasibility by building a mosque and destroying Zoroastrian places of of the purported isnād strand Nāfiʻ/Ibn ʼUmar/Prophet. See worship. He also handed out money to the poor for attending pp. 240-241. the Friday prayer. In the wider Iranian context, the case of 50 Ibn Saʻd, Kitāb al-Ṭabaqāt, vol. VII, p. 423; Ibn Bukhara was exceptional. Kennedy, “The Coming of Islam to ʻAsākir, Ta’rīkh, vol. LXI, pp. 424, 432, 434; Juynboll, Bukhara”, pp. 88-90. “Nāfiʻ, the Mawlā of Ibn ʻUmar”, p. 217.

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three persons authorized by ʻUmar II to issue ṣadaqāt taxes levied from Muslims and re-im- religious/legal opinions. The task was delegated posed the khums (the fifth) on Berbers who had to two mawālī (the aforementioned Yazīd and converted to Islam.54 ʻUbayd Allāh ibn Abū Jaʻfar) and an Arab, Jaʻ- Another motive that appears as an explana- far ibn Rabīʻ. The caliph dismissed a complaint tory trope for the Islamization of North Africa raised by the Arabs, saying that it was not his goes back to the events of the Kāhina rebellion fault that the mawālī exceeded the Arabs in this and postulates a link between a military victo- domain. To illustrate the prominent position ry and the subjection of people and territories held by these two mawālī in Egypt, one of al- to Islamization. The Islamization of the region Kindī’s main authorities (Ibn Qadīd) is quoted known as Sūs al-Adnā, between Tangier and Fez as saying that they were the first to offer the oath (Fās), is explained in that way and dated to the of allegiance to the new caliph and the people governorship of Musā ibn Nuṣayr who was ap- followed them.51 pointed in 705 and vanquished the Berbers who, The notion that during the Umayyad period subsequently, accepted Islam and devotedly ad- certain people in the provinces were recognized hered to their new faith. Musā also installed a as being towering figures in the world of ʻilm group of 27 people in Tangier to teach the Ber- is clearly borne out by al-Maqrīzī’s biography bers the Koran and law and instructed the local of the famous ḥadīth transmitter Ibn Shihāb al- governor to supervise the educational mission.55 Zuhrī (671-724). He is described as being the In late medieval Egyptian and North Afri- first who recorded and put down ʻilm, which can historiography, the link between a military must be understood as broadly referring to victory and Islamization became prominent and knowledge and particularly to religious knowl- repetitive. Like al-Maqrῑzῑ the Mamlūk histori- edge or, in a narrow sense, to ḥadīth.52 These ac- an Ibn Taghrī Birdī (1409-1470), was well- in- counts provide a broader context for ʻUmar II’s formed about early Islamic North Africa and delegation to Ifrīqiya but the Islamization of the how its affairs were interwoven with the his- province remains unexplained, especially as the tory of Egypt. He portrays the Islamization of literature offers little information about the pos- Ifrīqiya as having taken place during the reign sible link between taxation and the Islamization of ʻUthmān (644-656) and being related to the of Ifrīqiya. Although Mohamed Hassen has stat- campaigns of Ibn Abī Sarḥ, but is somewhat ed that: “Lʼévolution des structures foncières contradictory about whether Islam indeed be- est considérée comme un aspect fondamental de came deeply rooted among the Berbers. He is lʼislamisation de lʼIfrīqiya at de la Sicile au haut also vague about the geographical context of Moyen Âge”, the study fails to show a direct these events and refers to the Mediterranean link between the two.53 As a general observa- coast (saḥl) and inland hilly country (jabal).56 tion, Hassen’s remark fits the drift of the sourc- Ibn ʻIdhārī, who was better informed about the es, which perceive a linkage between taxation history of North Africa, is more cautious about and Islamization. The notions that Berber con- the paradigm that Islamization came in the wake verts to Islam enjoyed tax exemptions is empha- of military victories. He, for instance, attributes sized by what is described as the misdeeds of to ʻUqba ibn Nāfiʻ the observation that defeat- ʻAmr ibn ʻUbayd Allāh al-Murādī, the governor ing the Christians was not enough since they of Tangier (Ṭanja) on behalf of ʻUbayd Allāh al- reverted to their former religion once the Mus- Ḥabḥāb (finance director in Egypt, 724-734, and lim armies had withdrawn. ʻUqba explained governor of Ifrīqiya, 734-741). He increased the the foundation of Kairouan (670) as driven by the desire to establish a permanent stronghold for Islam in the region. Ibn ʻIdhārī summarizes 51 Al-Maqrīzī, Musawwadat Kitāb al-Mawāʻiẓ, p. 327. Al-Kindī’s Kitāb al-Mawālī was composed for the qāḍī ʻUqba’s exploits by stating that he was a good Muḥammad ibn Badr (878-942), whose father was a convert to Islam and a mawlā. See al-Maqrīzī, Kitāb al-Muqaffā, vol. V, p. 425. 52 Al-Maqrīzī, Kitāb al-Muqaffā, vol. VII, pp. 244, 245, 246. 54 Ta’rīkh, p. 67. For Ṭanja, see Cornu, Atlas, p. 118, 53 See “Genèse et évolution du système foncier en Ifrīqi- Map, XII. ya”, p. 309. Amara has made the general observation that the 55 Al-Raqīq al-Qayrawānī, Ta’rīkh, pp. 51-52. For the lands of the Berbers who had converted to Islam were sub- geography of the region, see Cornu, Atlas, pp. 111, 117, Map jected to the tithe. See “Lʼorganisation foncière du Maghreb XII. central”, p. 55. 56 Ibn Taghrī Birdī, Nujūm, vol. I, pp. 79-80, 85.

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military leader and a good governor who was verts (musālima, the plural form of maslama). keen to spread Islam (daʻwa).57 Al-Balādhurī, referring to al-Muʻtaṣim’s reign The question of the superficiality of conver- (833-842), states that Islam prevailed in Tran- sion to Islam is another issue mentioned by Ibn soxiana. 59 ʻIdhārī and appears as a central motive in his Al-Ṭabarī provides a long account of ʻUmar account of the rebellion (685-688) of the Berber II’s tax policies in Khurāsān. The governor of leader Kasīla (or Kusayla). ʻUqba ibn Nāfiʻ was Khurāsān, al-Jarrāḥ ibn ʻAbd Allāh al-Ḥakamī, warned by the former governor Abū l-Muhājir sent a delegation to Damascus and one of its that Kasīla’s conversion was shallow but he members, a mawlā named Ṣāliḥ ibn Ṭarīf, told mistreated him and brought about his rebellion. the caliph the bitter truth about the situation in As informative as Ibn ʻIdhārī is about the histo- the province. Mawālī and converts were dis- ry of North Africa, he provides no valuable in- criminated against: the mawālī participated in formation about the Islamization of the region. raids but received no pay while the kharāj was He, for example, states that the establishment of levied from the converts. Furthermore, the gov- Muslim rule in Tangier in 704 brought about the ernor publicly declared his uncompromising Islamization of al-Maghrib al-Aqṣā.58 Evident- preference for the Arabs. The caliph was im- ly, the topic was not his top priority and he was pressed with the messenger’s candidness and unable, or unwilling, to go beyond his sourc- took measures to remedy the situation. He or- es. The unavoidable conclusion is that literary dered the governor to lift the jizya from the con- sources provide no satisfactory explanation for verts and many converted in order to avoid the the Islamization of North Africa and whether tax. The governor, however, began to inquiry there are other more promising lines of inquiry into whether they had undergone circumcision, is beyond the scope of this paper. and wrote about this to the caliph who replied: I would argue that we are at the limit of what “God sent Muḥammad as summoner (to Islam) the sources and studies have to offer about the and not as a circumciser”.60 historical aspects of the Islamization of Ifrīqiya. In Ibn Saʻd’s version of these events the ca- For reasons that are beyond our grasp, medieval liph was the one who set the Islamization pro- authors provide no information on the mecha- cess in Khurāsān in motion. He wrote to al-Jar- nism, the scope and the tempo of the process. rāḥ ibn ʻAbd Allāh al-Ḥakamī and ordered him They present the process as driven by conquest to summon people to Islam and to cancel the and taxation without establishing direct explan- jizya from converts. ʻUmar II also ruled that atory link between the two. Beyond the case converts should receive what Muslims receive study of Ifrīqiya, the theme “conquest, taxation and be subjugated to what Muslims were subju- and Islamization” surfaces in many contexts but gated. A Khurāsāni notable asked the caliph to it appears to be a literary motif rather than an impose circumcision on the converts but ʻUmar explanatory model. Al-Balādhurī, for example, II refused. According to Ibn Saʻd, the caliph’s depicts ʻUmar II as having been an active pros- success with conversion was modest, only 4,000 elytizer who invited the rulers of Transoxiana people converted following the caliph’s letter. to embrace Islam but few had responded posi- Ibn Saʻd also states that ʻUmar II ordered equal tively. In Khurāsān, where Umayyad rule was remuneration for the Arabs and the mawālī and in the process of consolidation, he exempted the provided special payment to freedmen i.e. slaves converts from the kharāj. The link between Is- and captives who embraced Islam and were set lamization and taxation came to the fore during free.61 The Islamization of Transoxiana was far the reign of al-Hishām (724-743), who appoint- more complex than the accounts of al-Balādhurī ed Ashras ibn ʻAbd Allāh al-Sulamī on the fi- nances of Khurāsān. He reissued the call to the 59 Al-Balādhurī, Futūḥ, pp. 599-600, 602-603; El-Hous- rulers of Transoxiana to embrace Islam while, seini, “The Umayyad Policy in Khorasan”, pp. 1-21, esp. p. 8; in Khurāsān, he exempted the converts from the Athamina, “Taxation Reforms”, pp. 337-338. jizya, which was an inducement that appealed 60 Al-Ṭabarī, Ta’rīkh, vol. VI, p. 559; trans. Powers, to many. Consequently, the tax income (kharāj) p. 83. Al-Yaʻqūbī’s version of these events (vol. II, p. 362) dropped and he re-imposed taxes on fresh con- is terse and the governor’s advocacy of Arab superiority is alluded to by the term ʻaṣabīya (partisanship, zealotry). See also Urban, Conquered Populations, p. 176. For the wide range of views concerning circumcision in Islam, see Kister, 57 Ibn ‘Idhārī, Kitāb al-Bayān, vol. I, pp. 19, 31. “…And He was Born Circumcised…”, pp. 10-30. 58 See vol. I, pp. 39, 43. 61 Ibn Sa‘d, Kitāb al-Ṭabaqāt, vol. VII, pp. 366, 375.

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and al-Ṭabarī depict and whether their remarks understood as meaning provincial governors, about Khurāsān offer any valuable insight into while ‘ummāl can indicate provincial fiscal ad- the Islamization of the province is beyond the ministrators but the use of these terms is impre- scope of this paper. cise. The broader question that must be asked is The question of how ʻUmar II’s letters were whether the linkage between taxation (poll- preserved and accessed by Ibn ʻAbd al-Ḥakam tax) and Islamization, repetitively stated by the and other historians is an issue that must be dis- sources, withstands the test of evidence. A pow- cussed. The existence of archives in early and erful argument for the link between the two has late medieval Muslim Middle East has been been made by Yossef Rapoport in the case of firmly established by modern scholarship. One the Fayyūm. During the late Ayyubid period, the might argue that the caliph’s letters were depos- imposition of a flat rate of jizya of two dīnārs ited in the archive of the Chancery in Damascus per person, irrespective of his circumstances, as well as in the archives of the provincial gov- triggered the conversion process in the prov- ernors and, therefore, widely available. Further- ince. 62 The overall significance of Rapoport’s more, old archives were sold as scrap paper and findings is not clear yet and has no necessarily the historians incorporated fragments of state bearing on the subsequent section of the paper, documents in their writings.64 In this context, dealing with the policies of ʻUmar II. one must take notice of Wadād al-Qāḍī’s detailed study of the authenticity and transmission of the III letters of ʻAbd al-Ḥamīd ibn Yaḥyā, the kātib of the caliph Marwān II (both of whom were killed The sources provide ample information on in 750 in Egypt). She lists fourteen literary sourc- ʻUmar II’s policies, which have also attracted es spanning six centuries (9th-15th) in which some considerable scholarly attention. These pol- of these letters have been preserved.65 The main icies are described as having been promulgat- question is why ʻAbd al-Ḥamīd ibn Yaḥyā’s let- ed through a “Fiscal Rescript” and a “ghiyār ters have been preserved and the answer seems edict”. A main source for the caliph’s policies to be that they were considered to have intrinsic is the Sīra (caliph’s biography) written by Ibn value. Most likely, this explanation also applies ʻAbd al-Ḥakam (d. 871), which consists of re- to the fragmentary preservation of ʻUmar II’s let- ports about his deeds and fragments of corre- ters in the Sīra, the aim being to extol the mer- spondence but not a “rescript” or an “edict”, in itorious qualities of the caliph’s personality and the strict technical sense of these terms. In some policies and to depict him as a model Muslim cases, the author informs his readers to whom ruler. In the Arabic sources, the caliph is pre- ʻUmar II’s letters were addressed but many let- sented as one who followed the deeds of ʻUmar ters in the Sīra are presented in the following ibn al-Khaṭṭāb (ʻUmar I 634-644). According to manner: “ʻUmar ibn ʻAbd al-ʻAzῑz wrote: From the servant of God, Commander of the Faithful, to ʻumarāʼ al-ajnād…”. On the same page of al-Razzāq al-Ṣanʻānī in the Muṣannaf. See “Califes”, p. 172. the printed text there is another fragment: “ʻU- 64 According to Bravmann archives had existed alre- mar ibn ʻAbd al-ʻAzīz wrote: From the serv- ady by time of the caliph ʻUthmān. See “State Archives”, pp. ant of God, Commander of the Faithful, to the 87-89. For Abbasid administrative archives, see van Berkel, ‘ummāl…”.63 The term ʻumarāʼ al-ajnād can be “Reconstructing Archival Practices”, pp. 12-14. For archives and the sale of documents as scrap paper, see Sijpesteijn, “The Archival Mind”, pp. 163-167; “Multilingual Archives and Documents”, pp. 105-124. For an allusion to the archi- 62 Rapoport, Rural Economy, pp. 215-219, 245, 248. val practices of ʻUmar I, see Ibn ʻAbd al-Ḥakam, Futūḥ, p. 63 Ibn ʻAbd al-Ḥakam, Sīra, p. 91. Ibn ʻAbd al-Ḥakam’ 89. Khalīfa ibn Khayyāṭ’s lists of state officials, from 705, sources are enigmatic and have not been studied. Some of his 717 and 734 contain references to kātib al-rasāʼil (the clerk reports begin with phrases like: “he wrote about…”, and “he responsible for the writing of letters). The Abbasid caliph al- wrote to…”. See, for example, pp. 37, 38, 65, 68. For two ad- Manṣūr added a new position that of kātib rasāʼil al-futūḥ ditional short fragments addressed to umarāʼ al-ajnād, see Ibn (the clerk responsible for the writing of letters announcing Saʼd, vol. VII, pp. 349, 366. One of Ibn Saʻd’s informants stated conquests). Khalīfa b. Khayyāṭ, Ta’rīkh, vol. I, pp. 302, 325, that he was at a mosque in Kūfa when ʻUmar II’s letter was pub- 379. The usual tendency in medieval Muslim historiography licly read. See vol. VII, p. 365. Another of Ibn Saʻd’s informants was to credit ʻUmar I with the establishment of administra- stated that he read a risāla of ʻUmar II, which was sent to the tive offices. See, for example, al-Quḍāʼi,Taʼrīkh , p. 89; Kitāb governor Yazīd ibn al-Muhallab. See vol. VII, pp. 369-370. Till- al-Inbāʼ, p. 180. ier provides a list of recipients, including umarāʼ al-ajnād, that 65 Al-Qāḍī, “Early Islamic State Letters”, pp. 277-317, appear in the caliph’s letters, which were transmitted by ʻAbd esp. pp. 232-234.

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al-Balādhurī, the caliph asked Sālim ibn ʻAbd akhbār in historical writings was widespread Allāh ibn ʻAmr to compose a biography of ʻU- and is extensively discussed in modern schol- mar I for him and the designated author point- arship. It is important to bear in mind some of ed out that ʻUmar I’s age and the people of his Stefan Leder’s remarks about this method and time bore no resemblance to ʻUmar II’s epoch. especially the fact that: “Akhbār in general are He assured the caliph that if he would be able characterized by an intense and complex pro- to imitate ʻUmar I’s deeds, he would surpass cess of ‘reactive transmission’, including unad- him.66 The traditional depiction of ʻUmar II as mitted authorship and fundamental reshaping of an unusual caliph is echoed by modern scholar- the ‘original” narrations’. Two other character- ship but Patricia Crone and Martin Hinds have istics of the akhbār genre must be pointed out: questioned the authenticity of his vast corre- typically akhbār lack context and in the medi- spondence some of which they regard as “apoc- eval texts they are juxtaposed one to another.70 ryphal” and “super-apocryphal”.67 Mathieu Tilli- One of al-Kindī’s historical writings, which er finds no reason to doubt the extent of ʻUmar did survive is the history of the Egyptian qāḍīs II’s correspondence and its preservation because and it contains fragments of the correspondence of his special status while the degree of ʻUmar between ʻUmar II and the qāḍī ʻIyāḍ ibn ʻUbayd II’s entanglement in legal matters is revealed Allāh. Six such fragments are quoted, including by Tillier’ study of ʻAbd al-Razzāq al-Ṣanʻānī’s information on specific cases and the caliph’s in- Muṣannaf, which is considered to be one of the structions how they should be handled. Because earliest preserved compilations of mainly legal of its length and complexity, however, one frag- traditions dating from the eighth century. The ca- ment must have been copied from the original liph usually corresponded with governors but, in letter kept in an archive or preserved in another the case of Egypt, he wrote directly to the qāḍī.68 way. The possibility that the letter was kept in the ʻUmar II’s Chancery is discussed by Elizabeth qāḍī’s archive in Fusṭāṭ must not be ruled out.71 Urban, who has pointed out that the caliph em- The caliph’s letter begins with an introductory ployed eight scribes of whom six were mawālī. phrase: “In the name of God, the Merciful and Apparently, he had dictated his letters.69 Compassionate. From the servant of God, the Ibn ʻAbd al-Ḥakam and other historians refer Commander of the Faithful, to ʻIyāḍ ibn ʻUbayd to ʻUmar II’s letters not as documentary frag- Allāh”. The fragment ends with al-Kindī’s statements but as reports (khabar pl. akhbār) whose ment that the letter was written on Thursday transmission was modeled on the way ḥadīths morning 4 Dhū l-Ḥijja 99 (7 July 718)”.72 were recorded, including the names of the in- The discussion about how the caliph’s let- formants responsible for each khabar – in oth- ters were transmitted and Leder’s remarks about er words with isnād strands for each khabar. It the akhbār genre must be taken into account seems that Ibn ʻAbd al-Ḥakam’s knowledge of when the fragment described by Hamilton A. the letters was not derived from seeing the orig- R. Gibb as “The Fiscal Rescript of ʻUmar II”, inal texts but from hearing them narrated and, is examined. In the printed edition of the Sīra possibly, recorded in the way that ḥadīths were the section in question begins in the following put down. This might explain why the context way: “ʻUmar ibn ʻAbd al-ʻAzīz wrote: From the of ʻUmar II’s letters has been lost. The use of servant of God, Commander of the Faithful, to the ʻummāl…”. While it can be argued that the 66 Al-Balādhurī, Ansāb, vol. VIII, p. 169. The motif text is subdivided into paragraphs beginning that ʻUmar II faced greater challenges than ʻUmar I and, with introductory phrases, the coherence of the potentially, could surpass him is prominent in Ibn ʻAsākir’s text is loose.73 The main question is what the biography of the Umayyad caliph. See Khalek, “Early Islam- ic History Reimagined”, pp. 447-448. 67 Crone, God’s Caliph, p. 77. For the authors critical 70 Leder, “The Literary Use of the Khabar”, pp. 278- approach to ʻUmar II’s rulings and his alleged imitation of 279. ʻUmar I, see pp. 78-80. For ʻUmar II’s depiction as an exem- 71 For the qādī’s archives, see Hallaq, “The Qāḍī’s Dīwān”, plary caliph in line with the rightly guided caliphs of Medina, pp. 415-436; Tillier, “Le statut et la conservation des archives see Borrut, “Entre tradition et histoire”, pp. 329-345. I owe judiciaires”, pp. 263-277. this reference to the kindness of one of the anonymous read- 72 Al-Kindī, The Governors and Judges of Egypt, pp. ers on behalf of Al-Qanṭara. 333-337, esp. pp. 336-337. For annotated French translation, 68 Tillier, “Califes”, pp. 168-170, 172-175. For the see Tillier, Histoire des cadis Égyptiens, pp. 87-92. text, see Motzki, “The Author and His Work”, p. 176; “The 73 Ibn ʻAbd al-Ḥakam, Sīra, pp. 93-99. In Gibb’s trans- Muṣannaf of ʻAbd al-Razzāq al-Ṣanʻānī”, pp. 1-21. lation the internal division of the text is marked by Roman 69 Urban, Conquered Populations, p. 165. numerals I to XX.

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text known as “The Fiscal Rescript” represents how converts should be treated shed no light on and how it was put together. Did it exist as one the motive behind the conversion process.76 long letter written by the caliph in unknown cir- Reports about ʻUmar II’s directives concern- cumstances or is it a collage of fragments from ing how converts to Islam should be treated are the caliph’s correspondence put together by Ibn also presented in Ibn ʻAbd al-Ḥakam’s Futūḥ ʻAbd al-Ḥakam? Even if one accepts Gibb’s as- Miṣr, a book about the conquest of Egypt and sumption that it was an organic text, and not a the Islamic west. These reports do not pretend to sequence of juxtaposed akhbār, the question of be fragments from the caliph’s correspondence whether it was a “Fiscal Rescript” remains.74 but are rather summaries of his sayings present- The so-called “Fiscal Rescript” is available ed through short chains of transmitters. One of in both English and French translations. The these reports attributed to ʻUmar II states that section of the text, immediately following the the meaning of conversion is that the convert gains protection for his māl (money/property) phrase: “ʻUmar ibn ʻAbd al-ʻAzīz wrote: From but his arḍ (land) becomes fayʼ Allāh in favor of the servant of God, Commander of the Faithful, the Muslims. Another contradictory report (also to the ʻummāl…”, was labelled by Gibb as the attributed to ʻUmar II) states that when a com- Preamble. It states that the nature of the pro- munity (qawm) reached a ṣulḥ agreement for the phetic mission was to bring a universal message payment of the poll-tax and one of the parties of guidance and the religion of truth, and quotes has converted, his land and house remain in the Koran 9:34, 2:108 and 7:157. For the topic of community.77 The term ṣulḥ refers to the surren- Islamization, the most pertinent passage seems der agreements made during the Muslim con- to be the following one: Paragraph II (Gibb’s quest of the Middle East between Arab generals pagination and translation): and the local population. Given the purpose of Futūḥ Miṣr, which discusses the link between Wherefore, whosoever accepts Islam, whether Christian or Jew or Magian, of those who are the status of the lands conquered by the Mus- now subject to the jizya and who joins himself to lims and taxation, the impression is that the use the body of the Muslims in their abode (dār), and of the reports attributed to ʻUmar II was manip- who forsakes his abode wherein he was before, ulative and thus their authenticity must be sus- he shall enjoy all the privileges of the Muslims pect. The author explicitly says that a letter of and shall be subject to all the duties laid upon the caliph, supposedly claiming that the poll-tax them; and it is their duty to associate with him of dead Copts should be imposed on their broth- and to treat him as one of themselves. But as for ers, testifies to the fact that the caliph considered 78 his land and his dwelling, they are of the booty Egypt to be a land conquered by force. (fayʼ) which God has given to the Muslims co- In contrast to Futūḥ Miṣr, the text of the Sīra llectively; and had these persons accepted Islam can be perceived as reflecting internal Muslim thereon before God should give the conquest to discours about how to harmonize Koranic eth- the Muslims, it would remain their property; but ics with taxation and the contentious issue was it is now the booty given by God to the Muslims the collection of the jizya from the converts. The collectively.75 76 Some of the information about ʻUmar II’s tax policies The policy announced by the caliph can be is ambiguous. The governor of Egypt, for example, received summarized as follows: the converts are, or a letter from the caliph, stating that the threshold for taxing a rather should be, exempted from the poll tax. Muslim should be 40 dīnārs, while for a Christian or a Jew it Fiscally they should be treated on equal terms should be 20 dīnārs. The report can be understood as stating that the threshold for the Islamic alms-tax levied from Muslims with Muslims although they have to fulfill cer- was 40 dīnārs, while the threshold for the payment of the poll- tain conditions. It can be fairly said that the de- tax was 20 dīnārs. The practical implications, if any, of this di- mands outweighed any tax exemption offered. rective are difficult to interpret. See Ibn Yūnus, Ta’rīkh, vol. I, One can argue that the caliph’s directives as to pp. 54-55. In another report, it is stated that ʻUmar II abolished custom duties and jizya. See Ibn Saʻd, vol. VII, p. 339. 77 Ibn ʻAbd al-Ḥakam, Futūḥ, p. 154. The author also 74 As has been pointed out by Crone and Hinds, in Ro- quotes other more detailed accounts, not directly on the au- man law, rescript meant the emperor’s answer to a question thority of ʻUmar II, about the rights and obligations of the addressed to him. See God’s Caliph, p. 46, n. 23, 47. converts. 75 Gibb, “The Fiscal Rescript of ʻUmar II”, p. 3. For a 78 Ibn ʻAbd al-Ḥakam, Futūḥ, pp. 154-155. In another French translation, see Guessous, “Le rescrit fiscal de ʻUmar report, it is explicitly stated that the caliph considered Egypt b. ʻAbd al-ʻAzīz “, p. 4. as a land conquered by force. See p. 90.

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fact that the issue was high on the caliph’s agen- sūra from the Koran. Having done this, the jizya da is also attested to in the chronicle of The- should be lifted from him.81 ophilus of Edessa, who was in the service of the Ibn Saʻd offers a different context for the caliph al-Mahdī (775-785). He explicitly states caliph’s statement about the prophetic mission that many Christians converted but he paints a of Muḥammad according to which it was the complex picture of the caliph’s religious poli- governor of Egypt who informed the caliph that cies, which can be described as a stiffening of people were hastening to embrace Islam and the permeable religious boundaries between Is- stop paying jizya. In response the caliph stated lam and Christianity. According to Theophilus that: “God sent the Prophet as summoner (to Is- of Edessa, ʻUmar II forbade wine and ferment- lam) and not as a tax collector”, and declared ed drinks to Muslims and declared that a Chris- that he was fine with the process.82 tian’s testimony against a Muslim was invalid.79 In the source material, the caliph’s letters to In Byzantine sources, which draw on Theophi- the governors are presented as following a sim- lus of Edessa, ʻUmar II is described as a perse- ple format, which included stating the conceptu- cutor of Christians who used tax exemptions as al (religious) underpinnings of his policies and a tool to force them to convert to Islam.80 specific instructions on what should be done. A rich source for ʻUmar II’s policies is Another letter to an unnamed governor begins al-Balādhurī’s account of the caliph’s reign in with the declaration that God honored his people Ansāb al-Ashrāf, which sheds light on many with Islam and through Islam alleviated them issues discussed so far. The text, for example, from an ignominious existence. On the practi- offers insights into the caliph’s perception of the cal level, the caliph instructed the governors to rites of conversion and into the deeper mean- make sure that a person who proclaimed Islam ing of embracing Islam. The caliph’s governor should declare: “There is no god but God and of Baṣra, ‘Adī ibn Arṭāt, wrote to ʻUmar II, Muḥammad is His Prophet”. The convert also asking for his opinion about the fact that many had to state that he believes in God, His angels non-Muslims “…seek the protection of Islam and His messengers. Additional statements of being afraid of the jizya”. The caliph’s response belief were required from Christians and Jews. begins with the statement: “God sent the Prophet A Christian had to declare that: “ʻIsā is a servant as summoner (to Islam) and not as a tax collec- of God, the word of God and His messenger”, tor”. The caliph also declared that a convert was while a Jew had to declare that: “ʻUzayr is a entitled to what Muslims got (māl) and should servant of God.” All converts were supposed to be subjugated to what Muslims were subjugated perform the prescribed number of daily prayers to. On the one hand, the reference to māl can be at the right times, to read at least the opening understood as alluding to the payments rendered sūra of the Koran and to scrupulously perform to Muslims by the dīwān system. On the other the ablution. The governors were also instructed hand, one can also argue that by declaring that to check that a convert underwent circumcision. the converts should be subjugated to what Mus- The fulfillment of all these requirements earned lims were subjugated, the caliph was alluding the convert exemption from the jizya.83 to the levy of the compulsory alms tax imposed Al-Balādhurī’s reference to the caliph’s in- on the Muslims. The caliph sent very specific sistence on circumcision as a requirement for instructions about how his policies should be conversion invokes the question of the letter’s implemented: the governor was ordered to make authenticity, especially as al-Ṭabarī attributes sure that a person who had converted (aẓhara a completely different stand on the issue to the al-Islam) underwent circumcision and read a caliph. I see no reason to doubt that Ibn ʻAbd al-Ḥakam, al-Kindī, al-Balādhurῑ, al-Ṭabarī and 79 For the reconstruction of the text and translation, others had knowledge of ʻUmar II’s correspond- see Hoyland, Seeing Islam as Others Saw It, p. 654. From ence but what they presented to their readers is a doctrinal point of view, the acceptance of a non-Muslim’s an edited selection of the letters written by the testimony against Muslims contravened the notion of the ex- caliph.84 The editorial process was shaped by altedness of Islam. For a broad discussion of the subject, see Friedmann, Tolerance and Coercion in Islam, pp. 34-38, esp. pp. 35-36. 81 Al-Balādhurī, Ansāb, vol. VIII, p. 146. 80 The Chronicle of Theophanes Confessor, p. 550. For 82 See vol. VII, p. 373. broader discussion of permeable religious boundaries and the 83 Al-Balādhurī, Ansāb, vol. VIII, p. 162. attitudes of religious leaders, see Simonsohn, “The Pact of 84 The same can be said about Ibn Saʻd, who presents ʻUmar”, pp. 35-57. condensed short fragments of these letters.

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their perception of Islam, or what it should be, threatening process. If indeed acculturation was in terms of practice and beliefs. In some cases the decisive social process that took place in the (to be discussed later) we are able to ascertain urban centers of the caliphate, one can under- what ʻUmar II’s views on certain issues were. stand why the caliph firmly objected to the ap- In other cases, the editorial process partially or pointment of non-Muslims officials. The com- completely distorted the caliph’s views on dif- bination of acculturation and the integration of ferent issues and the case of circumcision be- non-Muslims into the administrative structure longs to this category. We do not know what the of the state was perceived as undermining Mus- caliph’s thoughts on circumcision were and it lim predominance and identity.88 can be argued that al-Balādhurῑ and al-Ṭabarī The question of whether ʻUmar II issued an projected their own contradictory views about edict ordering the dismissal of non-Muslim of- the subject on the caliph and edited his letters ficials has been discussed by Luke Yarbrough. accordingly.85 I would argue that the use of the term “edict” The caliph’s justification for the jizya is ar- should be avoided and one has to closely exam- ticulated in another letter sent to the governor ine Ibn ʻAbd al-Ḥakam’s text, which contains a of Baṣra, which begins with the statement that letter, devoid of context, written by the caliph God imposed the jizya on those who erred and to one his ʻummāl. Referring to the Koran, the shunned Islam. The operative part of the letter, letter begins with a conceptual justification for however, takes a completely different direction. the idea that non-Muslims should be kept in the The governor is instructed to pay attention to position of al-dhull wa-l-ṣaghār (humiliation elderly non-Muslims and to provide them with and abasement) and, therefore, non-Muslim nourishment from the Treasury. In another letter officials should be dismissed.89 The caliph also with identical instructions, the caliph justifies asked the addressee to report on the implemen- his directive by invoking the deeds of ʻUmar I. tation of the instruction. Oddly, the text contin- Allegedly ʻUmar I once saw an old non-Mus- ues with a further set of instructions concerning lim beggar and told him: “We have not provided what kind of saddles Christian men and women justice to you. When you were young we took should use. This section of the text ends with a from you the kharāj and in your old age we have demand from the addressee to forward the in- forsaken you”. The caliph consequently gave structions to his subordinate ʻummāl and to see orders to supply him with nourishment from the that these regulations were strictly enforced.90 Treasury.86 On purely stylistic grounds, the disjointed for- One can argue that al-Balādhurī, like others, mat of the text indicates that it is not an organic sheds no light on the mechanism of the conver- text but rather juxtaposition of fragments. sion and what drove the process. The fragments One of ʻUmar II’s letters reported by quoted by al-Balādhurī do provide, however, al-Balādhurī seems to present another, more significant insight into the acculturation process cohesive version of the same letter in which he and the desire to blend into street life. Although provides the names of two of his informants a certain letter addressed to one of the ʻummāl lacks context, the caliph states that he was in- 88 The caliph’s letter illustrates only one aspect of the formed that many non-Muslims resemble Mus- acculturation process: the desire of the non-Muslims to blend lims in their clothes and turbans. The governor into the culture and street life of the urban centers of the caliphate. At the other end of the process was the Islamic doc- was instructed to strictly prevent this and was trine of lā tashabbū, which opposed imitation of non-Mus- also ordered to make sure that non-Muslims lims by Muslims. It represented a wider conceptual drive to shave the middle of their heads.87 One is in- distinguish Islam from Christianity and Judaism. See, for clined to conclude that acculturation was swifter example, Kister, “Lā Tashabbū”, pp. 321-371. For turbans as than Islamization and was considered as a more a marker of Muslim men, see Kister, “The Crowns of this Community”, pp. 217-245. For more recent publications, see Patel, “Whoever Imitates a People”, pp. 359-426; “The Is- 85 In a broader historiographical perspective, al-Balād- lamic Treatises against Imitation”, pp. 597-639. hurῑ and al-Ṭabarī reached different conclusions about the de- 89 The word ṣaghār that became a technical term for mise of the Umayyad regime. Although, in this case, they re- humiliation of non-Muslims invokes the Koranic verse 9:29, lied on a common source (al-Madāʼinῑ d. ca. 840). See Judd, which states the jizya should be paid out of hand in humilia- “Narratives and Character Development”, pp. 209-227. tion (ṣāghirūn). Strangely, this specific verse is never alluded 86 Al-Balādhurī, Ansāb, vol. VIII, pp. 147, 204. in the letters referring to the payment of the jizya. 87 Al-Balādhurī, Ansāb, vol. VIII, p. 151; Yarbrough, 90 Ibn ʻAbd al-Ḥakam, Sīra, pp. 158-159; Yarbrough, “Origins of the ghiyār”, p. 117. “Did ʻUmar b. ʻAbd al-ʻAzīz Issue an Edict”, p. 176.

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but offers no context. With no references to the a haphazardly put together collage of instruc- Koran, the caliph states his philosophy about tions taken from different letters. what the position of non-Muslims should be. Other fragments of ʻUmar II’s letters provide The caliph’s thinking was dominated by the insights into the caliph’s broader vision of so- perception that policies must be in harmony cial relations and policies, which have not been with God’s deeds, and the insistence on dhull studied so far.95 Although the caliph had a clear wa-l-ṣaghār is actually an act that creates har- vision about the relations between Muslims and mony between God and human actions. The non-Muslims, it cannot be said that his world- dismissal of non-Muslim officials and the im- view was dominated by this issue. As stern as position of distinctive clothing and riding on the caliph’s views about Muslim superiority pack saddles are policies which follow God’s were, his world-view also accentuated the need example.91 The caliph’s letters as reported by for the just treatment of non-Muslims and a both Ibn ʻAbd al-Ḥakam and al-Balādhurī al- charitable attitude toward their needs. Two var- low conceptualization of the caliph’s policies iants in al-Ṭabarī’s edited monumental History but fall short on contextualization.92 In one of the Prophets and Kings shed light on the issue case, however, the context is provided: the and highlight the editorial process that the caliph’s letters underwent. According to one ver- governor of Baṣra dismissed two officials and sion of the text, ʻUmar II sent instructions that was specifically ordered to dismiss a third one.93 non-Muslim houses of worship, such as church- It can be argued that in the caliph’s thinking es, synagogues and fire temples, and the pasture acculturation stood in stark contrast to the dhull lands (thinna) belonging to churches and fire wa-l-ṣaghār paradigm and the caliph’s policies temples whose existence had been confirmed on the subject were promulgated through the by ṣulḥ treaties, should not be tampered with. ghiyār edict, i.e. an edict, which specified what Another version of the text contains the addi- distinctive clothes the non-Muslims should tion that no new non-Muslim houses of wor- wear, how they should ride and what shape their ship should be built but omits the reference to haircuts should be. A short letter reproduced by the pasture lands of these institutions.96 Ibn ʻAbd al-Ḥakam supposedly constitutes the A strong case for the basic authenticity ghiyār edict. The text is presented in the fol- of ṣulḥ agreements has been made by Mil- lowing way: “ʻUmar ibn ʻAbd al-ʻAzīz wrote ka Levy-Rubin.97 The two different versions to the regions of the land (āfāq)…”. In three of the text seem to represent two stages in lines of text, the instructions about clothing, the development of Muslim attitudes toward riding and the hairdos of Christians are spelled non-Muslim houses of worship. The first ver- out, and the text ends with the warning that no sion appears to preserve ʻUmar II’s genuine weapons should be found in their homes. In the letter which echoes the original stipulations printed edition of Ibn ʻAbd al-Ḥakam’s text, of those agreements in which the local popu- the letter is juxtaposed with the so-called edict lation asked to maintain their institutions and concerning non-Muslim officials.94 Even by the endowed properties and the conquerors had Ibn ʻAbd al-Ḥakam’ slack standards of textual agreed to these demands. The second version transmission this fragment stands out as being of the text represents evolving Muslim legal thinking about these agreements, which bind- 91 Al-Balādhurī, Ansāb, vol. VIII, p. 196; Yarbrough, ing legality was reconfirmed but new stipula- “Did ʻUmar b. ʻAbd al-ʻAzīz Issue an Edict”, p. 177. tions were added. At the time of the conquest, 92 See, for example, al-Balādhurī, Ansāb, vol. VIII, the question of building new houses of worship p. 164; Yarbrough, “Did ʻUmar b. ʻAbd al-ʻAzīz Issue an was not an issue but it became later. The sec- Edict”, p. 177. For ʻUmar II’s propensity to rely on the Koran, see Tillier, “Califes”, p. 166. 93 Al-Balādhurī, Ansāb, vol. VIII, p. 164. For the iden- 95 For accounts relating to legal/social justice, see tity of these officials, see Yarbrough, “Did ʻUmar b. ʻAbd Al-Balādhurī, Ansāb, vol. VIII, pp. 137, 140, 149, 177, 182- al-ʻAzīz Issue an Edict”, pp. 178, 185-6. Non-Muslims and 184. conversion figure prominently in ʻUmar II’s letters transmit- 96 Al-Ṭabarī, (ed) Abū l-Faḍl Ibrāhīm, vol. VI, p. 572. ted by ʻAbd al-Razzāq al-Ṣanʻānī in the Muṣannaf. See Tillier The addition is to be found in De Goeje’s edition, Second “Califes”, p. 168. Series, vol. III, pp. 1371-1372; trans. Powers, p. 101, who 94 Ibn ʻAbd al-Ḥakam, Sīra, p. 159; Levy-Rubin, follows De Goeje’s edition. Non-Muslims in the Early Islamic Empire, p. 90; “ʻUmar II’s 97 Levy-Rubin. Non-Muslims in the Early Islamic Em- ghiyār Edict”, p. 161. pire, Ch. 1.

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ond version is an amended text, which reveals The caliph did write to governors but this an unknown editorial hand at work and reflects does not mean that instructions sent to a certain ninth-tenth century developments in Islamic governor had any wider relevance and were law. The obligation that non-Muslims should widely implemented. The caliphate was vast not build new houses of worship is, for example, and diverse and many problems were particu- attested to in Qāḍī ibn Zabr’ Shurūṭ al-Naṣāra. lar and local. Regionalism should be taken into The author (870-940) was an Egyptian jurist and account but not exaggerated since Islamization his booklet (the Stipulations [Concerning] the and acculturation were sweeping processes tak- Christians) contains utterances attributed to ing place across the region. From the caliph’s the Prophet and ʻUmar I about the prohibition point of view, these processes posed great chal- to build new non-Muslim houses of worship or lenges since they undermined Arab superiority. to restore decaying ones.98 In Khurāsān there was a specific problem in The assumed authenticity of the first ver- which Arab predominance in the military and sion of al-Ṭabarī’s text is corroborated by Ibn their privileges based on military service were Saʻd’s fragments of ʻUmar II’s letters and in- jeopardized by the mawālī. Islamization under- structions. One of these reports states that the mined Arab predominance in Islam across the caliph allowed people to make bequests in fa- geographical divide and, because of ist broad vor of churches and permitted Christians and implications, the process had to be regulated. Jews to establish endowments.99 At the risk of It seems that the caliph’s dilemma was how to making a broader generalization, it seems that formulate a policy that was both in line with the caliph valued social peace, fiscal justice Islamic ethics and, at the same time, to control and urged others to adhere to original practices the process by setting a high entrance bar for that governed the relations between Muslims the converts. The struggle against accultura- and non-Muslims. The caliph’s pragmatic ap- tion was an attempt to preserve Muslim polit- proach, even in potentially inflammatory situ- ical dominance by controlling the administra- ations, can be discerned in the case of a per- tion and barring non-Muslims from its ranks.102 son who had renounced Islam in Kūfa. Prior to On both fronts (Islamization and acculturation) writing to the caliph, the governor had asked the caliph was fighting a lost cause. Eventually people for an opinion on the matter and was Islamization would create multi-ethnic Mus- advised to execute the offender. He also wrote lim society in which Arabic would hold prom- to the caliph who instructed him to impose the inent place. Acculturation, meaning the ability jizya on the person and to leave him alone.100 of non-Muslims to function in Muslim society and to take part in the affairs of the state, had Conclusions many manifestations. This integration would never be smooth, sometimes revoked, and its The notion that ʻUmar II ruled through “re- boundaries would have to be repeatedly rene- scripts” and “edicts” is not borne out by the gotiated.103 The history of acculturation and its sources. I have adopted Luke Yarbrough’s stand manifestations is currently being written and, I that the origin of the so-called ghiyār edict, would argue, that Weitz’ study of the use of Is- or regulations, is intractable.101 Furthermore, lamic courts by the Copts reflects a facet of the I would also argue that the literary depiction acculturation process, which has its parallels in of ʻUmar II’s short reign remains impermea- the Jewish society of the Geniza period.104 ble and that the format in which the story of his rule is cast is misleading. We are informed 102 The opposition to the employment of non-Muslims about his instructions and motives but left in in the state administration typified the whole span of medieval the dark about whether his policies were ever Islam. Its origins can perhaps be traced to mid-to-late eighth implemented. century Kūfa. See Yarbrough, “Upholding God’s Rule”, pp. 57-59, 68-71. 103 See, for example, the persecutions of the Abbasid ca- 98 See (ed) Cohen, “What was the Pact of ʻUmar?”, pp. liph al-Mutawakkil (847-861), which involved the barring of 133-136, 138, and passim. For the author and the text, see pp. non-Muslim children from Muslim primary education (kut- 110-116. Significantly, the text contains four versions of the tāb) and interdiction from teaching non-Muslim children in Pact of ʻUmar, each with a different chain of transmitters. Arabic. Lev, “Coptic Rebellions”, pp. 327-328. For broader 99 See vol. VII, p. 349. discussion of these events, see Levy-Rubin, Non-Muslims in 100 Al-Balādhurī, Ansāb, vol. VIII, p. 189. the Early Islamic Empire, pp. 103-112. 101 See “Origins of the ghiyār”, p. 113. 104 See, for example, Rustow, “At the Limits of Com-

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Acknowledgment Ibn al-ʻAdīm, Kamāl al-Dīn, Bughyat al-Ṭalab fī Taʼrīkh Ḥalab, Suhīl Zakkār (ed.), Beirut, Dār In 2018, an early version of the paper was al-Fikr, 1988, vol. IV. presented at two international conferences in Ibn ʻAsākir, Abū l-Qāsim ʻAlī, Taʼrīkh Madīnat Dimas- Paris and Beer-Sheva. I am grateful to the or- hq, ʻUmar ibn Gharāmah al-ʻAmrawῑ (ed.), Beirut, ganizers – Isabelle Poutrin and Claire Sot- Dār al-Fikr, 1998, vols. VIII, LXI. inel in Paris, and The Center for the Study of Ibn al-Athīr, ʻIzz al-Dīn, Al-Kāmil fī l-Taʼrīkh, ʻAlī Conversion and Inter-Religious Encounters in Shīrī (ed.), Beirut, Dār Iḥyāʼ al-Turāth al-ʻArabī, Beer-Sheva – for the acceptance of my paper 2004, vol. IV. and to the participants of both conferences for Ibn ʻIdhārī, al-Marrākushī, Kitāb al-Bayān al-Mughrib, their feedback. Gratitude is also due to the two G. S. Colin and É. Lévi-Provençal (eds.), Leiden, anonymous readers on behalf of Al-Qanṭara for Brill, 1948, 2 vols. their corrections, suggestions and references to Ibn Saʻd, Muḥammad, Kitāb al-Ṭabaqāt al-Kabīr, ʻAlī studies. Muḥammad ʻUmar (ed.), Cairo, 2001, Maktabat al-Khānajī bi-l-Qāhira, vol. VII. Bibliography Ibn Taghrī Birdī, Jamāl al-Dīn, Al-Nujūm al-Zāhira fī Mulūk Miṣr wa-l-Qāhira, Beirut, Dār al-Kutub Reference Works al-ʻIlmiyya, 1992, vol. I. Ibn Yūnus, al-Ṣadafī al-Miṣrī, Taʻrīkh, Fatḥī ʻAbd Cornu, Georgette, Atlas du monde arabo-islamique al-Fattāḥ (ed.), Beirut, Dār al-Kutub al-ʻIlmiyya, à lʼépoque classique IXe-Xe siècles, Leiden, Brill, 2000, 2 vols. 1985. Ibn Zūlāq, al-Ḥasan ibn Ibrāhīm, Kitāb Akhbār Sī- Dozy, Reinhart P. A. Supplément aux dictionnaires ara- bawayh al-Miṣrī, Muḥammad Ibrāhīm Saʻd and bes, Leiden, Brill, 1967, 2 vols. (reprint). Ḥusayn Dīb (eds.), Cairo, 1933. Khalīfa ibn Khayyāṭ, Taʼrīkh, Ḍiyāʼ al-ʻUmarī (ed.), Sources Baghdad, al-Majmaʻ al-ʻIlmī l-ʻIrāqī, 1967, 2 vols. Al-Kindī, Muḥammad ibn Yūsuf, The Governors and Abū Zurʻa, al-Dimashqī, Kitāb al-Taʼrīkh, Laṭīf Judges of Egypt, Rhuvon Guest (ed.), Leiden, Brill, Maḥmūd Manṣūr (ed.), Ammān, Dār al-Fikr, 2008, 1912. 2 vols. Al-Maqrīzī, Taqī al-Dīn, Kitāb al-Muqaffā al-Kabīr, Al-Balādhurī, Yaḥyā ibn Jābr, Futūḥ al-Buldān, ʻAbd Mohammed Yalaoui (ed.), Beirut, Dār al-Gharb Allāh Inīs al-Ṭabbāʻ and ʻAmr Inīs al-Ṭabbāʻ (eds.), al-Islāmī, 1991, 8 vols. Beirut, Dār al-Nashr li-l-Jāmiʻīn, 1957. Al-Maqrīzī, Taqī al-Dīn, Musawwadat Kitāb al- Al-Balādhurī, Yaḥyā ibn Jābr, Ansāb al-Ashrāf, Suhīl Mawāʻiẓ wa-l-Iʻtibār fī Dhikr al-Khiṭaṭ wa-l-Āthār, Zakkār and Riyāḍ Zarikālῑ (eds.), Beirut, Maktabat Ayman Fuʼad Sayyid (ed.), London, al-Furqan, al-Buḥūth wa-l-Dirāsāt, 1998, vol. VIII. 1995. The Chronicle of Zuqnīn (Parts III and IV A.D. 488- Al-Musabbiḥī, Ibn ʻUbayd Allāh ibn Aḥmad, Akhbār 775), Amir Harrak (trans.), Toronto, Pontifical Ins- Miṣr, Ayman Fuʼād Sayyid and Thierry Bianquis titute of Mediaeval Studies, 1999. (eds.), Cairo, IFAO, 1978. History of the Patriarchs of the Egyptian Church, Al-Quḍāʻī, Jaʻfar ibn ʻAlī, ʻUyūn al-Maʻārif wa-Funūn known as The History of the Holy Church, by Akhbār al-Khalāʻif, Al-Ḥamīd ʻAlī (ed.), Amman, Sawīrus ibn al-Muqaffaʻ, Bishop of Ashmūnīn, vol. 1997. II, part 1, Yassā ʻAbd al-Masīḥ and O. H. E. Bur- Al-Quḍāʻī, Jaʻfar ibn ʻAlī, Taʼrīkh al- Quḍāʻī, Aḥmad mester (ed. and trans.), Cairo, Publications de la Farīd al-Mazīdī (ed.), Beirut, Dār al-Kutub al-ʻIl- société dʼarchéologie Copte, 1943. miyya, 2004. Ibn ʻAbd al-Ḥakam, Sīrat ʻUmar ibn ʻAbd al-ʻAzīz, Aḥ- Al-Quḍāʻī, Jaʻfar ibn ʻAlī, Kitāb al-Inbāʼ bi-Anbāʼ mad ʻUbayd (ed.), Beirut, 1967. al-Anbiyāʼ, ʻUmar ʻAbd al-Salām Tadmurī (ed.), Ibn ʻAbd al-Ḥakam, Futūḥ Miṣr, published under the Beirut, al-Maktabat al-ʻAṣriyya, 1998. title The History of the Conquest of Egypt, North Al-Raqīq al-Qayrawānī, Taʼrīkh Ifrīqiya wa-l-Maghrib, Africa and Spain (ed.), Charles C. Torrey (ed.), Muḥammad ʻAzab (ed.), Cairo, Dār li-l-Nashr wa- New Haven, Yale University Press, 1922, (reprint). l-Tawzīʻ, 1994. Al-Ṭabarī, Abū Jaʻfar Muḥammad ibn Jarīr, Taʼrīkh munal Autonomy”, pp. 135-159; Zinger, “She Aims to Harass al-Rusul wa-l-Mulūk, M. J. De Goeje (ed.), Leiden, Him”, pp. 159-192. Brill, 1964, second series, III, (reprint); trans. Da-

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