Arab Byzantine Relations In Early Islamic Times

The Byzantine Empire was the Islamic commonwealth’s first and most stubborn adversary. For many centuries it loomed large in Islamic diplomacy, military operations and commerce, as well as in Islamic representations of the world in general. Moreover, the ways in which early Muslims and Byzantines perceived one another ” both polemically and otherwise ” afterwards proved decisive for the mutual perceptions between the Islamic world and Christian Western Europe. For these and other reasons, Arab-Byzantine relations have been a major concern of modern scholarship on early Islam for well over a century. Arab-Byzantine Relations in Early Islamic Times presents some of the most important of these contributions, organized according to the following themes: war and diplomacy; frontiers and military organization; polemics and images of the 'other'; exchange, influence and convergence; and martyrdom, jihad and holy war. An introductory essay discusses these themes within the contexts of early Islamic society, politics and economy.

Arab messengers played a vital role in the medieval Islamic world and its diplomatic relations with foreign powers. An innovative treatise from the 10th Century ("Rusul al-Muluk", "Messengers of Kings") is perhaps the most important account of the diplomacy of the period, and it is here translated into English for the first time. "Rusul al-Muluk" draws on examples from the Qur'an and other sources which extend from the period of al-jahiliyya to the time of the 'Abbasid caliph al-Mu'tasim (218-227/833-842). In the only medieval Arabic work which exists on the conduct of messengers and their qualifications, the author Ibn al-Farr rejects jihadist policies in favor of quiet diplomacy and a pragmatic outlook of constructive realpolitik. "Rusul al-Muluk" is an extraordinarily important and original contribution to our understanding of the early Islamic world and the field of International Relations and Diplomatic History.

This collection of studies on the Arab-Persian medieval Islamic world focuses on historical, religious, cultural and literary aspects of the region from pre-Islamic times to the 15th century. Topics include the Arab caliphate and the successor dynasties arising from it in the Iranian world; Muslim perceptions of other faiths in the Middle East; relations between the ruling Muslim institution and its internal, non-Muslim minorities; and the prolonged contacts and interaction of Islam and the Byzantine Empire.

The essays in this volume deal with the history of the Middle East from c.550 to 1000 AD. There are three main themes: Syria in Late Antiquity and the changes and continuities with the early Islamic period; relations between Muslims and the Byzantine Emp

This is a study of how and why the Byzantine Empire lost many of its most valuable provinces to Islamic (Arab) conquerors in the seventh century, provinces which included Syria, Palestine, Mesopotamia, and Armenia. It investigates conditions on the eve of those conquests, mistakes in Byzantine policy toward the Arabs, the course of the military campaigns, and the problem of local official and civilian collaboration with the Muslims. It also seeks to explain how, after terrible losses, the Byzantine government achieved some intellectual rationalisation of its disasters and began the complex process of transforming and adapting its fiscal and military institutions and political controls in order to prevent further disintegration.

Arab messengers played a vital role in the medieval Islamic world and its diplomatic relations with foreign powers. An innovative treatise from the 10th Century ("Rusul al-Muluk", "Messengers of Kings") is perhaps the most important account of the diplomacy of the period, and it is here translated into English for the first time. "Rusul al-Muluk" draws on examples from the Qur'an and other sources which extend from the period of al-jahiliyya to the time of the 'Abbasid caliph al-Mu'tasim (218-227/833-842). In the only medieval Arabic work which exists on the conduct of messengers and their qualifications, the author Ibn al-Farr rejects jihadist policies in favor of quiet diplomacy and a pragmatic outlook of constructive realpolitik. "Rusul al-Muluk" is an extraordinarily important and original contribution to our understanding of the early Islamic world and the field of International Relations and Diplomatic History.