The Conquest of Ancient Egypt
In the year 632, the Prophet Muhammad died. Seven years later, when ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab was the second caliph, the Arabs marched on Ancient Egypt. The “cradle of civilization” became a province of the Arab Empire in less than two years (the caliphate). Egypt had been ruled by foreigners for 2,000 years before the Arabs came.
In 639, the Byzantium Empire, which was weak at the time, took control of the Mediterranean. “Amr ibn al-‘As was the one who started and pushed for the conquest to happen.” Arabs had been interested in Ancient Egypt for a long time because its land was fertile and the nearby Arabian desert was dry.
Ancient Egypt was easy for the Arabs to take because Islam had just given them a new sense of purpose. Religious differences and high taxes made it hard for rulers and ruled to get along with each other. The Arabs were determined because they were seen as liberators, while most Egyptians were submissive, passive, and uninterested.
On April 9, 641, the Byzantine soldiers at the fortress of Babylon gave themselves up to the Arab army. In September 642, the Arabs took over Alexandria. Ancient Egypt was finally at peace because of the Arabs. Amr ibn al-As, Egypt’s conqueror, and ending with ‘Anbasa were the two hundred years that Arab governors ruled Egypt.
After this time of Arab rule in Ancient Egypt, a Muslim dynasty would take over, but very few of the rulers would be Arab. During the 210 years that Arabs ruled Egypt, they also rose to power in the Muslim world. This period began with the Prophet’s migration from Mecca to Medina in 622 and the growth of the young community of Allah in Medina.
It continued with the rule of the caliphs, the rise and fall of the Umayyad dynasty, and the rise and fall of the Abbasid dynasty. The empire was a historical and political thing that happened because of Islam. It was based on the Arab idea and fueled by the message that they were adamant about spreading to the rest of the world as instructed.
However, by the middle of the ninth century, the Arabs had lost control of the empire and were subject to the rule of those whom they had conquered and converted to Islam. From Amr ibn al-‘As until 868, when the Turkish leader Ahmad ibn Tulun set up his own dynasty, a total of 98 governors ruled Egypt.
First, they worked for the caliphs of Medina during the Classical Caliphate (632–661), then for the caliphs of Damascus during the Umayyads (661–750), and finally for the caliphs of Baghdad during the Abbasids (750–850). The “Abbasid Caliphate” would hold on to power until about the middle of the 13th century.
The average Umayyad governor was in charge for twice as long as the average Abbasid one. The fact that the latter were changed more often shows how unstable the caliphal capital was. The process of Ancient Egypt becoming more Arab started early on. Thousands of Arab soldiers accompanied the majority of governors.
These troops were well-off and lived in towns, so they often changed the way people lived in Ancient Egypt. Arab men were free to marry Egyptian women, which made them more and more like the Egyptians. Before he was sent back to Medina in 644, ‘Amr set up a system of local government with its center in Fustat, which was also his capital.
He took on members of the overthrown government. As long as taxes were paid on time, the central government did not bother the local governments. Agriculture was the most important thing. For irrigation, a separate department was set up. The caliph chose the governor, who then chose the war secretary, the treasurer, and the qadi, who was in charge of justice. Most governors used this system after this one.
By the middle of the seventh century, ancient Egypt was primarily under Arab rule. The Byzantine threat or any other threat from the outside was ruled out. Under the Umayyads, the Arabs built up their navy. But there were a lot of uprisings, especially when the Abbasids were in charge. It was a time when the Malikite-Shafiite split and the Sunni-Shi’ite split caused a lot of trouble in Islam.
The Copts often got angry about what they thought were too many taxes. Al-Amin and al-Fight Ma’mun’s rivalries for the throne also made it hard for the Ancient Egyptians to decide who they were going to support. Anbasa, the last governor (852–856), was in charge during a time of political turmoil. There was a Roman uprising (Damietta, 853), and the Nubians stopped paying the annual tribute they had been paying since the middle of the seventh century.
After ‘Anbasa was sent back to Turkey in 856, things got worse under the rule of Turkish governors until Ahmad ibn Tulun brought back order and started his dynasty. This time, when the Arabs took over and ruled Egypt, was an important part of both Egypt’s and Islamic history. Egypt has more Arabic and Islamic traits.
Egypt was still the food basket of the Mediterranean, and more and more Arabs moved there. Egypt developed its own Arabo-Islamic culture, which became the basis of the Islamic intellectual and cultural heritage. This made Egypt the stronghold of Islam at a time when other political and cultural centers of Islam were falling.