IN THE COURSE OF THE 10s/630s, as is well known, the Muslims conquered Palestine, bringing an end to Byzantine rule in the area. The military aspects of the conquest need not detain us here but the course of the military campaign did have immediate consequences for the Christian communities, as well as long-term effects, which later chapters will examine.

The Events of the Conquest

The first significant clash between the Muslims and Byzantine troops took place at Mu’ta in central Jordan in 8/September 629, but it was only in the spring of 13/634 that four Muslim armies invaded Syria, quickly defeating a small force from Caesarea led by Sergius near Gaza and then a Byzantine army at Ajnadayn in southern Palestine in the summer of 13/634. The Muslims later defeated a second Byzantine army in 13/December 634-January 635, at the battle of Fihl in the northern Jordan Valley and then in the following year, 15/ August 636, they decisively defeated a large Byzantine army at the battle of the Yarmuk. This victory allowed the Muslims quickly to gain permanent control of the whole of Syria except for a handful of cities that they took somewhat longer to capture. Jerusalem arranged terms of surrender, perhaps in 17/638, and Caesarea was taken by storm after a long siege, perhaps in 19/640.

The Nature of the Conquest: the Literary Evidence

Because the Islamic conquest lasted for several years rather than for several weeks, as had the Sasanian conquest, its immediate effects are likely to have been substantially different . In the course of the years of campaigning the Muslims had plenty of opportunity to pillage and destroy if and as they wished. Whether they did so or not depends on which sources one chooses to believe. According to al-W āqidī, Muḥammad advised his troops at the time of the raid to Mu’ta: