Syracuse, from Islamic Conquest to Fall at the Hands of Christians

Between the years A.H. 264-86/A.D. 877-899, Muslims launched a series of attacks to conquer the harbor town of Syracuse. The present study explores the background and reasons behind these attacks. It is concluded that Muslim attacks on Syracuse were carried out with the purpose of spreading Islam and getting access to the financial resources of Syracuse to dominate the Mediterranean Sea trade route. After about two centuries the attacks lead to the conquest of Syracuse. However, it was to the dismay of Christians and did not benefit the Muslims either, because they did not adopt the right strategies to protect the town. On one hand, it led to the destruction of cultural-civilizational monuments and thus escalated emigration to safer lands of Byzantium and caused a drop in the town’s population. On the other hand, Sicily’s Muslim military officials were in conflict with the governor of Syracuse (ʾIbn Samanih) and the Sycarusan’s greediness in conquering more parts of Sicily pushed ʾIbn Samanih into seeking help from Rujār Normandy to defeat his political rivals. The Normans eventually recaptured Syracuse in A.H. 479-AD. 1086, claiming that a Muslim by the name of ʾIbn ʿAbbād had committed rubbery and had abused Christian churches.