Under the Rising Crescent: How and When Became the Middle East an Islamic Region?

Dear Colleagues,

When the Muslims invaded Syria during the 630s and Northern Africa from the 640s onward, these areas included substantial Christian communities as well as other religions. From the Muslim conquest in the 630s onwards, the percentage of Muslims within the general population of these regions increased significantly. 

The Muslims aggressively promoted the conversion of the local population. They offered generous economic stimuli to convertees and fostered the immigration of Muslims to the recently occupied areas. Nevertheless, they tolerated monotheistic religions and enabled their survival under their regime. However, as time passed, an increasing percentage of the newly subjected population converted to Islam. 

The population conversion happened despite the fact that conquered elites, especially city dwellers across the region, considered the Muslim newcomers wild and untamed creatures. In these circumstances, the conversion of the local population was not the conquest's natural outcome. 

Islamication is the adoption of aspects of Islamic civilization by the conquered population.

Contemporary sources barely described Islamization (i.e., conversion to Islam). In normal circumstances, the population converted during a relatively long period and, therefore, chronicles either related isolated contemporary events or described them long after their occurrence. 

The same applies to modern research on this topic. Many studies have dealt with specific events or limited areas, but research that encapsulates Syria, Egypt, and al-Ifriqiyya does not exist.

This Special Issue strives to explore the reasons and mechanisms that led to this unexpected result. 

We propose the following topics, but we shall be delighted to accept other related subjects as well.

• Change of regional capital cities;
• The role of Muslim immigrants in the Islamization and Islamication of the local population;
• Merchants as cultural agents;
• The impact of the Muslim diet on non-Muslim cuisine;
• Transformation of pilgrimage destinations;
• Conversion of churches and synagogues into mosques;
• The impact of the Muslim clothing code on non-Muslim communities;
• Between Umayyad and Abbasid conversion policy

The deadline for abstract submissions (up to 250 words) is 31 October 2023.

Prof. Dr. Michael Ehrlich
Dr. Amichay Schwartz
Guest Editors

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• Islamization
• Islamication
• conversion
• migration
• Arabization
• Syria
• Palestine