Table of Contents
Arnold writes:[1]
When the Muslim army reached the valley of the Jordan and Abū 'Ubaydah pitched his camp at Fiḥl, the Christian inhabitants of the country wrote to the Arabs, saying: ‘O Muslims, we prefer you to the Byzantines, though they are of our own faith, because you keep better faith with us and are more merciful to us and refrain from doing us injustice and your rule over us is better than theirs, for they have robbed us of our goods and our homes.’[2]
The people of Emessa closed the gates of their city against the army of Heraclius and told the Muslims that they preferred their government and justice to the injustice and oppression of the Greeks.[3]
Such was the state of feeling in Syria during the campaign of 633-639 in which the Arabs gradually drove the Roman army out of the province. And when Damascus, in 637, set the example of making terms with the Arabs, and thus secured immunity from plunder and other favourable conditions, the rest of the cities of Syria were not slow to follow. Emessa, Arethusa, Hieropolis and other towns entered into treaties whereby they became tributary to the Arabs. Even the patriarch of Jerusalem surrendered the city on similar terms.
The fear of religious compulsion on the part of the heretical emperor made the promise of Muslim toleration appear more attractive than the connection with the Roman Empire and a Christian government.
Further, the self-restraint of the conquerers and the humanity which they displayed in their campaigns, must have excited profound respect[4] and secured a welcome for an invading army that was guided by such principles of justice and moderation as were laid down by the Caliph Abu Bakr...
These principles being referred to are mentioned in a report from al-Ṭabarī in his Tārīkh, wherein Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq (رضي الله عنه), the first Caliph, advised the leader of the Muslim army, Usāmah bin Zayd (رضي الله عنه) with the following:[5]
O people, stop [for a moment], I advise you with ten:
01 Do not be treacherous (with secret violation of agreements).
02 Do not take spoils of war dishonestly.
03 Do not be treacherous (with open violation of agreements).
04 Do not mutilate (those who die in battle).
05 Do not kill a small child, an old man, or a woman.
06 Do not cut-down or burn the date-palm tree.
07 Do not cut fruit-bearing trees.
08 Do not slaughter any sheep, cow or camel unless it is for eating.
09 You will come upon a people who have isolated themselves in monasteries, so leave them alone and what they have preoccupied themselves with.
10 You will come upon people who come to you with vessels of various types of food. If you eat anything from them, mention the name of Allāh over them.