The Convergence of Judaism and Islam: Religious, Scientific, and Cultural Dimensions

6. The Use of Islamic Materials by Non-Muslim Writers

6 The Use of Islamic Materials by Non-Muslim Writers Yehoshua Frenkel The collection and transmission of narratives about the emergence of Islam and the links between the new religion and neighboring communities was a popular practice among Muslim authors from the early years of the caliphate. Yet this tradition of learning and teaching was not confined to Muslim communities, and vestiges of several Islamic historical traditions can be identified in both Jewish and Christian sources. These texts, written in Arabic, Judeo-Arabic, Hebrew, and Syriac, seem to reflect a mirrorimage of the Islamic narrative. This study dwells upon a few historical narratives that support the thesis that the various communities making up the rich human mosaic of the central lands of the caliphate’s vast domain were bound together by an Arabo-Islamic cultural symbiosis. This development could take place only after the enrooting of the caliphate in the Near East, the unchallenged recognition by its population of the hegemonic position of Islam, the canonization of sacred Islamic history, the evolution of identity, and the development of a sense of place.1 The acknowledgment of Islam’s hegemony was not limited to the Muslims. This perception was respected by all of the religious communities that lived within the boundaries of the Abode of Islam. It will be argued that narratives of the past actually reflect the authors’ identities and their religious community interests. The historical discourse illuminates the conflicting communal concerns. Chroniclers were apparently resolved to fortify their publics’ positions. This led authors 90 r Yehoshua Frenkel (being Muslims, Christians, or Jews) to strengthen their collective identities and produce opposite interpretations of familiar historical narratives. Concentrating closely on the respective interpretations of these historical texts, we can investigate the interaction between Muslims and the People of the Book (ahl al-kitab) in the Fertile Crescent and to hypothesize about the role of these accounts in political and communal discourse. In order to advance the thesis stated above, I will present successive Islamic, Jewish , and Christian historical traditions revolving around similar events, after which I will draw conclusions from these narratives. The Emergence of the Islamic Caliphate The victories of Arab tribes over Byzantine and Sasanian armies and the emergence of the Islamic Caliphate (c. 660) instigated deep changes in the human, cultural, and religious map of western Asia and northern Africa. A new political and social order emerged from the vestiges of the past empires. Societies that for long centuries viewed themselves as the protectors of human civilization and true believers, and looked upon the Arab tribes of the desert as the barbarian enemy, found themselves controlled by people they regarded as evil.2 The Arabs, who for hundreds of years had been confined to the limits of the civilized world, had become the new rulers of western Asia and northern Africa (c. 650). They were a minority in the vast sea of Christians , Zoroastrians, Jews, and other religious and ethnic communities. Under these circumstances, the caliphs adopted a sophisticated policy. They did not aim to convert the indigenous occupied population, but rather accepted the very continuation of these communities under the shadow of Islam. The Islamic regime and holy law (shari῾a) enabled nonMuslims to retain their old systems of beliefs and practices. Administrative measures enabled Jewish and Christian communities in the Fertile Crescent to persist under Islam. They had only to state their recognition of the hegemonic position of Islam and to pay a poll tax (jizya; jawaāli) to the agents of the caliphate.3 The community heads of the People of the Book (kitabiyūn) came to terms with the inferior position of their communities. There are no noteworthy indications to suggest that the majority of the non-Muslim population rejected the Islamic polity, and it seems that the contrary reaction was more common. Those among the indigenous people (muwalladūn) The Use of Islamic Materials by Non-Muslim Writers r 91 who aspired to join the conquerors could do so by immigrating to the garrison towns (am sār), where it was much easier to assimilate.4 In addition , the Umayyad (660–750) found legal solutions to overcome the obstacles that had been hampering mass conversion to Islam, in particular to solve the financial difficulties caused by emigration and conversion.5 This opened the doors for mass assimilation.6 Moreover, ῾Abd al-Malik’s (fl. 685–705) arabization of the caliphate’s...