Hagarenes (Ancient Greek:ἈγαρηνοίAgarenoi,Classical Syriac:ܗܓܪܝܐHagráyé orܡܗܓܪܝܐMhaggráyé,Armenian:Հագարացի) is a term widely used by early Syriac, Greek,Coptic andArmenian sources to describe the earlyArab conquerors of Mesopotamia, Syria and Egypt.
The name was used inChristian literature andByzantinechronicles for "Hanif"Arabs,[citation needed] and later forIslamic forces as a synonym of the termSaracens. The Syriac termHagraye can be roughly translated as "the followers or descendants ofHagar",[1] while the other frequent name,Mhaggraye, is thought to have connections with the ArabicMuhajir;[2] other scholars assume that the terms may not be of Christian origin.[2]Patricia Crone andMichael Cook claim in their bookHagarism: The Making of the Islamic World was introduced by the Muslims themselves who described their military advance into the Levant and Jerusalem in particular as aHijra.[3]
The name, used interchangeably withIshmaelites, came also to mean anyMuslim. An example of its current usage isAhryani (Aхряни), a name used forBulgarian Muslims in colloquialBulgarian - although this term has also been explained as paralleling the spread of Balkan Islam with anti-trinitarianArianism.[citation needed]
Hoyland, Robert G. (1997),Seeing Islam as others saw it: a survey and evaluation of Christian, Jewish, and Zoroastrian writings on early Islam, Darwin Press,ISBN 978-0-87850-125-0
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