Past, Present and Future of Cradle of Civilizations (5)
Station 13 – Continue…
Jerusalem was center of the Christian Church in the 1st century, because it had the prestige of being the city of Christ's death and resurrection and the center of the Apostolic Age. But it became decentralized and the 2nd century witnessed fierce attacks on the Apostles.
In the beginning of the new religion, Christians used to pray alongside with Jewish Believers, and the Romans did not distinguish between Christian and Jews probably for the same tax collecting reason.
Saint Helana
The Land of Canaan, which is described in the Bible as the Holy Land did not regain significance to Christianity until the pilgrimage of Empress Helena (Saint Helana), who was the consort of Emperor Constantinus, and the mother of Emperor Constantine I, and who was credited with finding the relics of the true cross.
Rome became the most important Christian center in the West, while Antioch and Alexandria were the most important Christian centers in the East.
Christianity spread within the Parthian Empire, and became a state religion in the west by the end of the 3rd century.
Spread of Christianity by year 600
City of Edessa (Now Urfa or Al Raha) in south-eastern Turkey, near the Euphrates River, was a strategic location on the main trade routes of the Fertile Crescent, and accessible to Antioch, where the mission of the Gentiles was inaugurated. The early Christians found refuge in this city, and rapidly grew in numbers where in no time Christianity became the state religion.
From this city, missionary movement began and Christianity slowly spread throughout Mesopotamia, Persia, Central Asia and China.
In the Arabian Peninsula, Christianity found a strong foothold in the ancient center of Semitic civilization in South-west Arabia in Sheba (Yemen)(Queen of Sheba once visited King Solomon) and also in Ethiopia. Christians believe that Apostle Mathew was assigned to that land.
In the 6th century Roman imperial rule continued in the East through the Byzantine Empire.
In the 530s the second Church of the Holy Wisdom (Hagia Sophia) was built in Constantinople under emperor Justinian I. The first church was destroyed during the Nika riots.
The second Hagia Sophia would become the center of the ecclesiastical community for the rulers of the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium.
Station Fourteen
The 7th century witnessed the birth of Islam under Prophet Muhammad Bin Abdullah, a new religion that did not deny the Jewish and Christian’s teachings, but added new visions of faith.
Those visions were considered a great challenge to the Christian Church and Jewish traditions.
By 630 AD, Muhammad united the entire Arabian Peninsula under Islam, including the former Christian Kingdom of Yemen.
Later the Muslim Empire emerged and began to expand beyond Arabia.
During this period the Roman Empire and Sassanid Empire concluded decades of wars that left both Empires powerless.
Islam revived the term (Hanif) that refers to an era prior to the advent religions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. In Islam it refers to the pre-Islamic people in the period of (Jahilyah) or the Age of Ignorance, who rejected polytheism (Shirk) and retained the tenets of the monotheist religion of Ibrahim.
In other words Islam considered Ibrahim neither Jew nor Christian, but referred to him and his son Ismail as the first Muslims.
Muslims believe that Ibrahim and Ismail built the Ka'aba in Mekkah, and they are the ancestors of Arabs.
"Hanifiyyas" are seen in Islam as followers of the religion of Ibrahim, a definition that is not accepted by Christians.
Station Fifteen
Shortly after the death of Muhammad, the Muslim Empire began to expand. Iran, Levant and Egypt were under the Islamic control by year 642.
In the 8th century all North Africa, Spain, Portugal, India and Indonesia became Islamic Lands.
Map of Arabia at dawn of Islam
By this time Baghdad became the Capital of Knowledge and accumulated many key geographical works from Greeks and Romans.
The Sassanid and Byzantine Empires collapsed under Muslim conquests, which reacquired the lands of Egypt, Palestine and Syria. Jews and Christians eventually lost their influence in these territories.
Before he died, Prophet Muhammad ordered preparation of a large expedition against the Roman Empire.
Abu Bakr, his first Caliph, ordered the army, to move despite a serious uprising by many tribes against him that broke the army, but he was able to win and most of those tribes re-embraced Islam. (Riddah Wars)
The Muslim Army marched then to fought the Christians Arabs of Banu Kalb and Ghassanids, and then moved to raid Iraq and defeated the Sassanid army.
Prior entering Mesopotamia, the Muslim Army under Khalid Bin Al Walid, won decisive victories in the battles of Chains, Yamama, River, and Walaja.
After the death of Abu Bakr, and obeying his will, Omar (The second Caliph) continued the conquest of Syria and Mesopotamia. His army marched to Qadisiyah, south of Iraq and defeated the Persian army, effectively ending the Sassanid rule west of Persia proper.
The army later conquered Babylon, Kososie, Bahrahsher and Madein.
By 638 the Tigris valley and the Euphrates were completely under the control of the Muslims.
The Battle of Nihawanad is considered as the most decisive battle in Islamic history, because it was the key to Persia. All of Persia is now under the Muslim Empire.
Romans after the fall of Jerusalem re-named the Land of Canaan; Palaestina, and also re-named the area including Negef, Sinai and the west coast of the Arabian Peninsula as Palaestina Salutoris, sometimes called Palaestina III.
In 603, Persians under Khosrau II occupied Syria, Palestine and Egypt before they were conquered by the Byzantine Emperor Heraclius.
Abrahamic religions.
Syria was partly an Arab land, and the Arabs were there since pre-Roman times. The region was of no significance till Ghassan tribe from Yemen immigrated to Syria and ruled the Ghassanid Kingdom under the Roman Empire. The kingdom was ruling at the time of Muslim invasion over the Arabs in Jordan and Southern Syria from its capital Bosra now in Dara’a Province.
Muslim Army under Khalid Bin Al Walid was dispatched to the Syrian front. Khalid avoided the Mesopotamia's route because of the presence of Roman garrisons in Northern Syria. The army crossed the Syrian Desert, surprised the Byzantines in Northern Syria and unhinged their defenses.
Map showing Muslim routes to Syria
After capturing several cities, Khalid moved south to Damascus, however passed around it and headed to Bosra, where he defeated the Ghassanid army, and eventually the city surrendered in 634.
He then defeated the Byzantines at the battle of Ajnadyan, and decided to capture Damascus. He conquered the city after 30 days of siege.
Controlling central Syria, the Muslim army advanced and went deeper into Palestine and captured Nablus, Amawas, Gaza and Yubna in order to complete the conquest of all Palestine.
Caliph Omar ordered the army to capture all the cities of the Mediterranean coast, Akka,Tyre, Sidon, Arqa, Jabail and Beirut rapidly fell under the Muslim forces.
By 635, Palestine, Jordan and southern Syria with the exception of Jerusalem and Caesarea (Quisaryah) were in Muslim hands. Quisaryah shortly was lifted but resumed after the Battle of Yarmouk until it fell in 640.
The historic Battle of Yarmouk sealed the fate of Byzantines. The magnitude of the defeat was so intense that the Byzantines took years to recover from it. It left the whole of the Byzantine Empire vulnerable to the Muslim invaders.
Muslims then decided to conquer Jerusalem, and the city rulers agreed to surrender only to Caliph Omar bin Al Khattab in person, who came to take the keys of the city.
Muslim army headed then to Aleppo and Antioch isolating the city from Anatolia. Antioch surrendered quickly, and the army moved to capture Lazkia, Jabla, Homs, Tartus and the coastal areas west of Lebanon hills.
Constantine III decided to recapture the Levant and a large force was sent to re-conquer Syria.
The governor of Syria Muawiya Bin Abi Sufian, sent a navy fleet to capture Cyprus, Crete and Rhodes, then launched raids into Western Anatolia, thwarting the Byzantines from making any further attempts to recapture Syria.
Syria was divided by the Muslims into four districts: 1- Jund Dimashq Al Sham(Damascus). 2- Jund Hims (Homs). 3- Jund Al Urdun (Jordan) and Jund Filastin (Palestine). A fifth district was later added to Palestine; Jund Qinnasrin.
In Arabic, the area approximating the Byzantine Diocese of Palaestina I in the south (roughly Judea, Philistia, and southern Jordan) was called Jund Filastin (meaning "the military district of Palestine", as a tax administrative area), and the Diocese of Palaestina II in the north (roughly Samaria, Galilee, Golan, and northern Jordan) Jund AL-Urdunn. Land of Canaan
Muslims kept tolerance towards other religions (People of the Book), who had been previously persecuted under Byzantine rule.
Omar declined a request made by the Christian Patriarch to pray in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher on the grounds that if he did, his followers will wish later to turn the building into a mosque.
Instead he went to Temple Mount, site of both Solomon's and Herod's temples, which remained in ruins since the destruction of the temple by the Romans six centuries earlier. Omar built a mosque (AL Aqsa) on Temple Mount where he believed that his father in law Muhammad ascended one night to Heaven after he arrived from Makkah in a miraculous trip that took seconds.
The site also has the Dome of Rock (Qubbat AL Sakhra), which is believed that it covers the place from which Muhammad ascended.
In year 639 the Muslim army under Amr Bin Al A'as invaded Egypt.
The Constantinople's Catholic authorities there had persecuted, flogged, tortured and executed Monophysite Christians (They believe that Christ has one nature – A divine human), who so the Arabs as liberators. So did Egypt's peasants who were oppressed by Greek Landlords.
In year 642 Alexandria fell under the Muslim army, and the Byzantines fled Egypt. Muslims assured the Monophysite Christians that they will enjoy religious liberty.
In 646 Muslims conquered all Egypt and turned it to a colony. They put local administration and tax collecting into local hands and allowed the Egyptians to take control over their agricultural lands.
Muslims considered themselves the natural successors of Abraham, Moses, Jesus and all the other Prophets, and this is why Palestine was and still is of extreme significance.
The Jews and most of the Christians, especially the Monophysites, welcomed the Muslim invasion after they had been severely oppressed in the aftermath of the wars with Persia.
Jews especially enjoyed more freedom under Muslim rule than anywhere else in the world. They were granted in Palestine considerable autonomy to make and enforce their own religious, judicial and social rules. Many Christians and Jews held important posts under various Muslim Caliphs.
Muslims removed the restrictions that Romans and Byzantines had placed on the right of Jews to visit and inhabit Jerusalem.
To be continued….
Sami Cherkaoui
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