| First Muslim conquest of Jerusalem (636–637) | |||||||||
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| Part of theMuslim conquest of the Levant (Arab–Byzantine wars) | |||||||||
 Map of the Muslim invasion of Syria and the Levant (September 636 to December 637) | |||||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||||
| Rashidun Caliphate | Byzantine Empire | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
PatriarchSophronius  | |||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
| ~20,000[1] | Unknown | ||||||||
| Part ofa series on | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Jerusalem | ||||||||||||||||||||
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TheFirst Muslim conquest of Jerusalem (636–637) was part of theMuslim conquest of the Levant and the result of the military efforts of theRashidun Caliphate against theByzantine Empire in the year 636–637/38. It began when theRashidun army, under the command ofAbu Ubayda, besiegedJerusalem beginning in November 636. After six months, PatriarchSophronius agreed to surrender, on condition that he submit only to thecaliph. In 637 or 638, CaliphUmar (r. 634–644) traveled to Jerusalem in person to receive the submission of the city. The patriarch thus surrendered to him.
The Muslim conquest of the city solidified Arab control overPalestine, which remained part of various Sunni Caliphates until the Shia-ledFatimid Caliphate took over in 969. In 1073 theSeljuk Turks took control of Jerusalem, and Christian rulers regained control at the time of theFirst Crusade in1099.
Jerusalem was an important city of theByzantine province ofPalaestina Prima. Just 23 years prior to the Muslim conquest,in 614, it fell to an invadingSassanid army underShahrbaraz during thelast of the Byzantine–Sasanian Wars. The Persians looted the city, and are said to have massacred its 90,000 Christian inhabitants.[2] As part of the looting, theChurch of the Holy Sepulchre was destroyed and theTrue Cross captured and taken toCtesiphon as a battle-captured holyrelic. The Cross was later returned to Jerusalem by EmperorHeraclius after his final victory against the Persians in 628. The Jews, who were persecuted in their Christian-controlled homeland, initially aided the Persian conquerors.[3]
After the death of theIslamic prophetMuhammad in 632, Muslim leadership passed to CaliphAbu Bakr (r. 632–634) following a series of campaigns known as theRidda Wars. Once Abu Bakr's sovereignty overArabia had been secured, he initiated a war of conquest in the east byinvading Iraq, then a province of the Sassanid Persian Empire; while on the western front, his armies invaded the Byzantine Empire.[4]
In 634, Abu Bakr died and was succeeded byUmar (r. 634–644), who continued his own war of conquest.[5] In May 636, EmperorHeraclius (r. 610–641) launched a major expedition to regain the lost territory, but his army was defeated decisively at theBattle of Yarmouk in August 636. Thereafter, Abu Ubayda, the Rashidun commander-in-chief of the Rashidun army inSyria, held a council of war in early October 636 to discuss future plans. Opinions of objectives varied between the coastal city ofCaesarea and Jerusalem. Abu Ubayda could see the importance of both these cities, which had resisted all Muslim attempts at capture. Unable to decide on the matter, he wrote to Caliph Umar for instructions. In his reply, the caliph ordered them to capture the latter. Accordingly, Abu Ubayda marched towards Jerusalem fromJabiyah, withKhalid ibn al-Walid and hismobile guard leading the advance. The Muslims arrived at Jerusalem around early November, and the Byzantine garrison withdrew into the fortified city.[1]
Jerusalem had been well-fortified after Heraclius recaptured it from thePersians.[6] After the Byzantine defeat at Yarmouk,Sophronius, thePatriarch of Jerusalem, repaired its defenses.[7] The Muslims had so far not attempted any siege of the city. However, since 634, Saracen forces had the potential to threaten all routes to the city. Although it was not encircled, it had been in a state of siege since the Muslims captured the towns ofPella andBosra east of theJordan River. After the Battle of Yarmouk, the city was severed from the rest of Syria, and was presumably being prepared for a siege that seemed inevitable.[6] When the Muslim army reachedJericho, Sophronius collected all the holy relics including the True Cross, and secretly sent them to the coast, to be taken toConstantinople.[7] The Muslim troops besieged the city some time in November 636. Instead of relentless assaults on the city,[a] they decided to press on with the siege until the Byzantines ran short of supplies and a bloodless surrender could be negotiated.[8]
Although details of the siege were not recorded,[b] it appeared to be bloodless.[9] The Byzantine garrison could not expect any help from the humbled Heraclius. After a siege of four months, Sophronius offered to surrender the city and pay ajizya (tribute), on condition that the caliph came to Jerusalem to sign the pact and accept the surrender.[10] It is said that when Sophronius's terms became known to the Muslims,Shurahbil ibn Hasana, one of the Muslim commanders, suggested that instead of waiting for the caliph to come all the way fromMadinah, Khalid ibn Walid should be sent forward as the caliph, as he was very similar in appearance to Umar.[11] The subterfuge did not work. Possibly, Khalid was too famous in Syria, or there may have been Christian Arabs in the city who had visited Madinah and had seen both Umar and Khalid, remembering the differences. Consequently, the Patriarch of Jerusalem refused to negotiate. When Khalid reported the failure of this mission, Abu Ubaidah wrote to caliph Umar about the situation, and invited him to come to Jerusalem to accept the surrender of the city.[12]
The date of the surrender of Jerusalem is debatable. Primary sources, such as chronicles from centuries closer or further removed from the time of the events, offer the year 638, for instanceTheophilus of Edessa (695–785); or 636, 636/37, and 637. Academic secondary sources tend to prefer 638.[13][14][15][16][17][18][19]Encyclopaedia Britannica mentions both 637 and 638 in different articles.[20][21]
According to some sources, Caliph Umar personally led the hostilities. In early April 637, Umar arrived in Palestine and went first to Jabiya,[22] where he was received by Abu Ubaidah, Khalid, andYazid, who had travelled with an escort to receive him.Amr was left as commander of the besieging Muslim army.[23]
Upon Umar's arrival in Jerusalem, a pact was composed, known as theUmar's Assurance or the Umariyya Covenant. It surrendered the city and gave guarantees of civil and religious liberty to Christians and Jews in exchange for the payment ofjizya tax. It was signed by Caliph Umar on behalf of the Muslims, and witnessed by Khalid, Amr,Abd al-Rahman ibn Awf, andMu'awiya. Depending on the sources, in either 637 or in 638, Jerusalem was officially surrendered to the caliph.[24]
For the Jewish community this marked the end of nearly 500 years of Roman rule and oppression. Umar permitted the Jews to once again reside within the city of Jerusalem itself.[25][26]
It has been recorded in the Muslim chronicles, that at the time of theZuhr prayers, Sophronius invited Umar to pray in the rebuilt Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Umar declined, fearing that accepting the invitation might endanger the church's status as a place of Christian worship, and that Muslims might break the treaty and turn the church into amosque.[27][28] After staying for ten days in Jerusalem, the caliph returned to Medina.[29]
Following the Caliph's instructions, Yazid proceeded toCaesarea, and once again laid siege to the port city. Amr and Shurahbil marched to complete the occupation of Palestine, a task that was completed by the end of the year. Caesarea, however, could not be taken until 640, when at last, the garrison surrendered toMu'awiya, then a governor of Syria. With an army of 17,000 men, Abu Ubaidah and Khalid set off from Jerusalem toconquer all of northern Syria. This ended with theconquest of Antioch in late 637.[30] In 639, the Muslimsinvaded and conquered Egypt.
During his stay in Jerusalem, Umar was led by Sophronius to various holy sites, including theTemple Mount. Seeing the poor state of where theTemple once stood, Umar ordered the area cleared of refuse and debris before having a wooden mosque built on the site.[16] The earliest account of such a structure is given by theGallic bishopArculf, who visited Jerusalem between 679 and 682, and describes a very primitive house of prayer able to accommodate up to 3,000 worshippers, constructed of wooden beams and boards over preexisting ruins.[31]
More than half a century after the capture of Jerusalem, in 691, theUmayyad caliphAbd al-Malik commissioned the construction of theDome of the Rock over a large outcropping of bedrock on the Temple Mount. The 10th-century historianal-Maqdisi wrote that Abd al-Malik built the shrine in order to compete in grandeur with the city's Christian churches. Whatever the intention, the impressive splendor and scale of the shrine is seen as having helped significantly in solidifying the attachment of Jerusalem to the early Muslim faith.[16]
Over the next 400 years, the city's prominence diminished as Saracen powers in the region jockeyed for control. Jerusalem remained under Muslim rule until it wascaptured by Crusaders in 1099 during theFirst Crusade.
It is believed inSunni Islam that Muhammad foretold the conquest of Jerusalem in numerous authentichadiths in various Islamic sources,[32][33] including a narration mentioned inSahih al-Bukhari inKitab Al Jizyah Wa'l Mawaada'ah (The Book ofJizya and Storage):
Narrated Auf bin Mali:I went to the Prophet during theExpedition to Tabuk while he was sitting in a leather tent. He said, "Count six signs that indicate the approach of the End Times: my death, the conquest ofJerusalem, a plague that will afflict you (and kill you in great numbers) as the plague that afflicts sheep..."[34]
The siege of Jerusalem was carried byAbu Ubaidah underUmar in the earliest period of Islam along withPlague of Emmaus. The epidemic is famous in Muslim sources because of the death of many prominent companions of Muhammad.
^ a: The Muslims are said to have lost 4,000 men in theBattle of Yarmouk fought just two months before the siege.
^ b: Muslim historians differ in the year of the siege; while Tabari says it was 636, al-Baladhuri placed its date of surrender in 638 (Futuh II.XI or p. 139; p. 214 in Hitti translation). Agha I. Akram believes 636–637 to be the most likely date.
The first Muslim conquest of Jerusalem in Muhrram 17 AH/February 638 CE...
(638) The capture of Jerusalem and the visit of 'Umar- Footnote 254 discusses the different dates from old sources (638, 637, 636/37) and the different scholarly discussions.
31°47′00″N35°13′00″E / 31.7833°N 35.2167°E /31.7833; 35.2167
