10. Arabization of Egypt

When Muslims attacked Egypt, Egypt was inhabited by Egyptian Christians following non-Chalcedonian Egyptian Church but ruled by Byzantine Christians following Chalcedonian Church of Constantinople. Egyptian Christians used to speak Coptic language which is related to old Egyptian language spoken in the days of Pharao’s. Greek was the court language spoken by Byzantine rulers. Muslims called the Egyptians as Gypt from which Copt name has arrived. Copt Christians took Arab Muslims as another occupant, no different than Byzantines and remained spectators in the Muslim conquest of Egypt. They will soon realize their folly.

Beginning of attack

In the latter part of December 639 A.D., a 4000 strong Muslim army reached Farma on the border of Egypt. It was a fortified town manned by a Byzantine garrison. The Muslims besieged the town. There were sallies and counter sallies with no decisive result. The siege dragged on for two months. Towards the fall of February 640 A.D. an assault group led by Useifa-ibn-Wala assaulted the fort at the dead of night. Thereupon the Byzantine resistance collapsed and this outpost city was captured by the Muslims.

After the fall of Farma the Muslims marched to Bilbeis, 40 miles from Memphis. Bilbeis was in the Negev desert (on the border of what is Israel today). It was a fortified town, and the Muslims besieged it, cutting off the water supply. The siege lasted for a month, and towards the end of March the city surrendered to the Muslims.

From Bilbeis the Muslims marched to Babylon (a city in Byzantine Egypt, not to be confused with ancient Babylon in Mesopotamia). It was this City of Babylon, the Arabs renamed as Al Fustat and later as Al Qahira (or today's Cairo). Here at Babylon, Muslim army faced stiff resistance.  Even at the outposts of Babylon, the Muslims had to meet fierce fighting. The siege of Babylon dragged on for seven months. Amr nevertheless persevered and pushed on to the very walls of Babylon.

Seize of Babylon

Babylon was a fortified city, and the Byzantines had prepared it for a siege. Outside the city, a ditch had been dug, and a large force was positioned in the area between the ditch and the city walls. The fort of Babylon was surrounded by a massive fortification of 60 ft. high and 6 feet thick wall. The wall was studded with numerous towers and bastions. As soon as Amr arrived at Babylon, he formed up his force of 4,000 men in assault formation and attacked the Byzantine positions in front of him but the attack was repulsed by the Byzantines. Amr pulled his men back and went into camp near the east bank of the Nile. The Byzantine force in Babylon was six times the strength of the Muslim force, so the Muslims decided to ask for reinforcement. In August reinforcement of 4,000 strong Muslim men came from Syria. Thus reinforced, the Muslims renewed their attacks with greater vigour but still could not make any headway against Byzantine resistance. A second reinforcement arrived soon. The Muslims now renewed their attacks against the Byzantines. In the attack launched by the Muslims some bloodied fighting followed and some Byzantine detachments posted in front of the ditch were driven behind the ditch. But the main Byzantine defences however, remained unshaken. Consequently, Amr decided to lift the siege of Babylon and attack the fortress of Heliopolis instead.

Capture of Heliopolis

Ten miles from Babylon was another city fortress at Heliopolis. It was the city of the Sun Temple of the Pharaohs. There was the danger that a Byzantine force from Heliopolis might attack the Muslims from the flank while it was engaged with the Byzantine army at Babylon. So with some detachments Amr marched to Heliopolis. There was a cavalry clash outside Heliopolis, and though many Byzantines were killed, the engagement was not decisive. Arabs then dug a tunnel into the fort and slipped some of their hand-picked soldiers who after overpowering the guards, opened the gates for the Muslim army to enter. Thereupon the fort city of Heliopolis was occupied by the Muslims and a general slaughter of the unarmed civilian population along with Byzatine soldiers followed

Capture of Babylon

From Heliopolis, Amr returned to Babylon to press the siege against the Byzantines with greater ferocity. The Byzantines on their part began to sally forth across the ditch and counterattack. To break this stalemate the Muslim high command approved a stratagem. The following day when the Byzantines launched the attack the Muslims fell back according to a pre-determined plan. The Byzantines thought that they had overpowered the Muslims. They pressed the attack and the Muslims continued to withdraw till a large part of the Byzantine army had crossed the ditch. At a signal of Amr, five hundred Muslim horsemen led by Kharija bin Huzafa broke cover and rode out into the rear of the Byzantine army. The main Muslim army now turned back and charged the Byzantines with great violence. Reeling from Muslim blows the Byzantines moved back to be attacked in the rear by Kharija and his men.

The Byzantine forces were now thrown into confusion. Many Byzantines were killed but the main Byzantine army again managed to cross the ditch and seek shelter inside the walled city. The Byzantines entered the city and shut the gates. But now the area between the ditch and the city came to be occupied by the Muslims and that was a tactical advantage. The Muslims brought some catapults into action and started hurling boulders inside the city. That caused considerable distress to the Byzantines locked up in the city.

Under desperation the Byzantine General Theodorus appointed Maqauqas the Viceroy of Egypt and the High Priest of the Copts, Negotiator since he was known to Amr, commander of the Arab Muslims. Maqauqas asked for Amr to send in his emissaries. These emissaries remained in Babylon for two days. During these two days they studied the defences of the fort from inside. In the guise of emissaries Amr had sent in spies. The Muslim envoys offered Maqauqas the usual three alternatives:

- Embrace Islam.
- Surrender and pay Jiziya.
- Face a Muslim attack.

Maqauqas wanted some time to consider the matter and the Muslim envoys returned to their camp. When they returned they were accompanied by some Coptic and Byzantine emissaries who went to the Muslim camp to continue negotiations but there was no progress. Emissaries traversed back and forth several times. On one such occasion when the Muslims were waiting for the Byzantine emissaries at the fortress gate, they suddenly overpowered the Byzantine delegation which had come out of the fort to negotiate with the Muslims. After slaughtering the Byzantine delegation, the Arabs then set fire to the huge wooden gate and burned it down. The Byzantine army inside could not attack them, as the Muslims were standing under the ramparts around the gate, and the Byzantine soldiers were above the ramparts and so could do nothing to put out the fire that had been lit from outside the Gate.

Once the Gate was partially burnt down, the entire Muslim army that lay in wait in their camp rushed towards the burning gate and leapt through the flames into the city. And once the Muslims gained access to the city, they overwhelmed the resistance. The unexpected subterfuge had unnerved the Byzantines and their resistance gradually collapsed and the capital city of Byzantine Egypt passed into the hands of the Arab Muslims. Such was the Muslim subterfuge. Muslim destroyed the city fort and later established a new city on the very place and called it Al Fustat that later was renamed Al Qahira or the Cairo of today.

Capture of Alexandria

When the Muslims appeared before Alexandria in March 641 A.D., the city was heavily fortified. There were walls behind walls, and forts within forts. The Byzantine force within the city numbered 50,000 while the strength of the invading Muslim force was over 100,000. There was also no dearth of provisions and food supply in the city. The city had direct access to the sea, and through the sea route help from Constantinople in men and material could come any time. As Amr surveyed the military situation, he felt that Alexandria would be a hard nut to crack. The Byzantines had high stakes in Alexandria, and they were determined to offer stiff resistance to the Muslims as this was the last Byzantine held city in Egypt after the fall of Babylon, Heliopolis, Bilbeis and Farma.

But despite the strong defence of Alexandria, Amr was confident of success and he is said to have boasted that in spite of the heavy odds the Muslims would be able to conquer the city by using subterfuge. The Muslims accordingly decided to lay siege to the city. The Byzantine Christian defenders mounted catapults on the walls of the city, and these engines pounded the Muslims with boulders to which was tied burning straw and Naphtha (the origins of a weapon fashioned later called Greek Fire). This caused considerable damage to the Muslims and Amr ordered his men back from the advance positions near the walls so that they might be beyond the range of these missiles. A see-saw battle followed. When the Muslims tried to go close to the city they were pounded with missiles. And when the Muslim retreated away from the Walls of the fort, the Byzantines sallied from the fort to attack, although they were invariably beaten back by the Muslims.

Heraclius, the Byzantine emperor collected a large reinforcement at Constantinople. He intended to sail at the head of this reinforcement personally to Alexandria. But before he could finalize the arrangements he died. The reinforcements mustered at Constantinople dispersed, and no significant help came to Alexandria.

When the Muslims came to know that the Byzantine emperor had died and that no reinforcement was likely to come to Alexandria they took full advantage of the demoralization among the Byzantine ranks and intensified their attacks. In one of the assaults the Muslims got into one of the towers. Facing a fierce Byzantine counter-attack, the Muslims withdrew. As the Byzantines closed the outer gate, the found to their utter delight that four of the attacking Muslims were trapped inside. These four Muslims descended to an underground chamber but because of the narrowness of the entrance that allowed entry to only one person at a time, it was easily defended by these four men and it was not possible for the Byzantines to descend to the chamber to capture these Muslims alive. Left to themselves these Muslims would have been starved to death within a few days. Among these four trapped Muslims was Amr, they took them to be ordinary soldiers of no particular significance.

In a playful mood the Byzantines asked these trapped Muslims to surrender for if they did not do so they would automatically die in the underground cellar within a few days. The Muslims refused to surrender. Whereupon the Byzantines said that they could be exchanged with Byzantine prisoners in the Muslim camp. This was also not agreed to by the trapped Muslims. Thereupon in a chivalrous mood the Byzantines said, "Let us have a duel, one man out of you and one man from us. If your man defeats our man all of you can depart. If your man is defeated then all of you will be our captives". To this the Muslims agreed.

Amr wanted to offer himself for the duel, but Masalma a young man of great sinews prevailed upon him that he should let Masalma fight the duel. Amr ultimately agreed. The Byzantines gave a solemn undertaking in accordance with the terms of the agreement they had offered to the trapped Muslims. The Muslims came out of the cellar into the chamber where the duel was to be held. Accordingly the Byzantine champion stepped forward and he was met by Masalma from the Muslim side. The contest was hard and stiff, and it appeared as if the Byzantine champion would score. But ultimately Masalma through a foul move tugged hard at the armpit hair of the Byzantine champion. At this unexpected foul move, the Byzantine Champion drew back, and seizing this moment, Masalma killed him by stabbing his dagger through the Byzantine champion's heart so hard that the dagger stuck out from his back. In spite of the foul move by Masalma, the Byzantines kept their word. After the duel was over they opened the gate of the tower and let the Muslims go in peace.

Use of subterfuge carries the day for the Muslims at Alexandria

After the release of Amr and his band of three Muslims, the stalemate continued. The Muslims intensified their attacks but there was no slackening of the Byzantine resistance. The siege dragged on for six months, and in Madina, Umar got impatient. In a letter addressed to Amr the Caliph expressed his concern at the inordinate delay in the completion of the conquest of Egypt.

Umar wrote:
"When you get this letter, address the Muslim soldiers and urge them to fight. Launch the attack in the early afternoon of a Friday for that is the hour of Allah's blessings.  Amr bin Al-Aas assembled his men, and read to them the letter of Umar. Fiery speeches were made to inspire the Muslims to all out action. It was decided that after the ensuing Friday prayers an all-out assault would be launched on the enemy. Ubada was chosen to launch the assault.

The following Friday after the noon prayers, the Muslims marched to the battle-field with the coffins tied on their heads. They moved forward with the fury of a torrent but the Byzantines were more than prepared for this. The full onslaught of the Muslim attack was blunted and the Muslims were given a bloody nose. Many Muslims died on that Friday and the attack was a dismal failure. That night there was dejection in the Muslim camp, and there was talk of lifting camp and moving back to Al Fustat (the camp which the Muslim had put up outside the walls of the fallen Byzantine fortress of Babylon). The ferocity of the Byzantine defence had swept aside the Muslim attack. When all seemed lost, a recent Coptic convert to Islam named Abu who was a fisherman, suggested to Amr that he and his friends who could speak the Greek language could go around the bay and early at dawn and land their fishing crafts in the harbour

This was the usual practice of the fishermen who brought in the catch every morning to Alexandria. After landing there, Abu suggested that he and his gang would go to one of the gates and overpower the unsuspecting guards in the twilight of the dawn and open the gate. At a signal from Abu, the Muslim army could then rush inside the city. Amr agreed to this scheme and unfortunately for the valiant Byzantine defenders, the trick worked. Next day, before the sun rose, the city was taken over by the Muslims by storm. Over 20,000 Byzantine soldiers were killed and more were taken captive. The rest of the Byzantine army found safety in flight to Constantinople through ships that stood anchored in the port. Some wealthy traders also fled but many of the lay population remained back and all through the next three days there was a horrendous carnage in the city.

The palaces were stripped bare, the women folk were taken into sex-slavery, the most beautiful one taken into the harems of Amr and his commanders. Amr reported to Caliph Umar: "We have conquered Alexandria. In this city there are 4,000 palaces, 400 places of entertainment, and untold wealth." The Muslim soldiers were keen to collect the war spoils and distribute them among themselves. The matter was referred to Umar, who decided that the Muslims could appropriate all the property which was theirs by the right of might.

The destruction of the Library at Alexandria

Scholars have differed in views on how the ancient library of Alexandria was destroyed. However, recent research indicates that the Arab general Amr at the orders of the Arab Caliph Umar did the heinous deed of destruction of the library. The story of the Arabs destruction of the library took six months to burn the books in about one thousand public baths in Alexandria.

Beginning of Arab rule over Egypt

During initial rule Arabs stayed in the urban centres and garrisons. They allowed Coptic Christians to practice their religion so long as they paid jiziya, a dreadful tax. Byzantine people practically left Egypt. So Egypt was now inhabited by Coptic Christians in villages supplying provisions and tax for Arab cities. Arabic replaced Greek as court language but rural folk continued to speak Coptic language. Slowly situations started changing. More and more Arabs started migrating to Egypt. More and more resources were required for the new population. Persecution of the indigenous people started increasing. Persecution of Egyptians included looting, taking possession of their land and property, abduction of their women, murder of dissenting men in addition to oppressive tax of Jiziya. Now discontent started simmering and soon there were Coptic resistance.

Resistance

Egyptians revolted against the Islamic Arab rule of Egypt several times chiefly due to exorbitant taxation and religious persecution. These armed revolts against Islamic Arab oppression took place during a period of more than a century (725-831 A.D.). Although some of these revolts achieved initial military successes, they all ended up in failure. The failures of these revolts were followed by wide-spread destruction, atrocities, pillage, and forced Islamization. Two of these revolts are cited briefly herein as examples.

1. In 751, the Christian Egyptian Bashmurians refused to pay the increased taxes levied by the Muslim rulers. They killed the tax collectors, and started an armed rebellion in the marshlands of the lower Nile delta. Upon the request of the last Umayyad caliph, Marawan bin Muhammad , the Coptic Patriarch Khayiel urged the rebels to surrender to the Muslim ruler. The rebels rejected the Patriarch's request. The Egyptian rebels defeated the forces of the Muslim Arab ruler in the first two battles under the leadership of Mina bin Buqira. Although they lost the third battle, Muslim Arab forces could not follow them in the marshland of their home territory. The Egyptian rebels resumed their armed revolt using guerilla warfare tactics.

2. In 829-31, the Egyptian Christians of the entire Nile delta rebelled against the Muslim authorities because of excessive taxation and religious persecution. The revolt spread to upper Egypt. This was the greatest, the most widespread and the most broad-based Egyptian rebellion in the history of Egypt under Islam. Again the Abbasid caliph al-Maamoon asked the Coptic Patriarch Yousab to pacify the rebels. The Patriarch asked the people for calm and obedience to the oppressor. All heeded him except the Bashmurians in the northern most part of the Nile delta, who refused his advice.⁴² Al-Maamoon finally put down the revolt with the aid of his Turkish generals. The result of that was the revolt ended up in defeat, a blood bath, and widespread destruction in the marshland of the lower delta. All the surviving population of that area was removed by force to Syria.⁴³

Islamization and Arabisation

Islamization of Egypt started as a result of the Islamic conquest of Egypt by the Arabs led by Amr ibn al - Aas, the military governor of Palestine. Islamization occurred simultaneously with Arabisation of Egypt. Actually, inhabitants of Egypt did not convert and definitely not in mass. Arab migration to Egypt coupled with decline in population of Coptic Christians led to Islamization & Arabization together. The indigenous Coptic population of Egypt underwent a slow but gradual reduction, while Arab population went on increasing due to migration, Islamic breeding and conversion. Then there was economic reason as well. Late Umayyad rulers took away land from Coptic gentry and Church to redistribute among Arabs. This is known as principle of murtaba al-jund ("pasturing of the army"). The vast majority of the Muslims in Egypt were expectedly descendants of migrant Arabs from their Arab and Coptic wives. Reduction of Coptic population and growth of Muslim population gradually changed demographic scenario of Egypt. Total population of Egypt was 4 to 5 million at the time of Islamic conquest and it reduced to 2 million soul in eleventh century speaks the true story. Muslims became a majority in Egypt by the mid-10th century. These Muslims were not Copt Christians converted to Islam. They were Arab both culturally and linguistically. Since Arabic was the court language from the beginning of Arab rule and Arabs being the majority, Copts had no option but to adopt Arabic language and culture as they had adopted Greek during Roman rule.

One marker of Arabization is language. If replacement of Coptic by Arabic as Egypt's spoken language is taken as measure of Arabization, it was well underway by the time of the Fatimid Caliphate. Severus ibn al-Muqaffa', the bishop of Ashmunein, found it necessary to write a theological text in Arabic in 980 A.D., because the Coptic Orthodox Christian population no longer read Coptic.  

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