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History of lebanon under arab rule

History==

During the 7th century AD the Muslim Arabs conquered Syria soon after the death of Muḥammad, establishing a new regime to replace the Romans (or Byzantines as the Eastern Romans are often called). Though Islam and the Arabic language were officially dominant under this new regime, the general populace still took time to convert from Christianity and from the Syriac language. In particular, the Maronite community clung to its faith and managed to maintain a large degree of autonomy despite the succession of rulers over Syria. Muslim influence started to increase greatly in the eight century, when the Umayyad capital was established at nearby Damascus.

However the area around former Roman Berytus (actual Beirut), that has been fully Romanized since the Augustus times, remained Christian & Aramaic speaking in the seventh and eight centuries and the Arabs initially dominated only superficially the region.

In the early seventh century the byzantine emperors sent to Lebanon the Christian Mardaites, who probably were the ancestors of Lebanese Maronites. After they came under Arab rule following the Muslim conquest of Syria (634–638), Maronite immigration to Lebanon, which had begun some time before, increased, intensifying under the Abbasid Calif al-Mamoun (813–33). The Maronites experienced an improvement in their relationship with the Byzantine Empire. Emperor Constantine IV (reigned 668–685) provided direct ecclesiastical, political and military support to the Maronites. The new alliance coordinated devastating raids on Muslim forces, providing a welcome relief to besieged Christians throughout the Middle East.

"The ancestors of the present-day Maronites were among the Christian communities that settled in Lebanon during this period. To avoid feuds with other Christian sects in the area, these followers of Saint John Maron moved from the upper valley of the Orontes River and settled in the picturesque Qadisha Valley, located in the northern Lebanon Mountains, about twenty-five kilometers southeast of Tripoli. Lebanon also became the refuge for a small Christian group called Melchites, living in northern and central Lebanon....During the Arab era, still another religious faith found sanctuary in Lebanon. After Al Hakim (996-1021), the Fatimid caliph of Egypt, proclaimed himself an incarnation of God, two of his followers, Hamza and Darazi, formulated the dogmas for his cult. Darazi left Egypt and continued to preach these tenets after settling in southern Lebanon. His followers became known as Druzes; along with Christians and Muslims, they constitute major communities in modern Lebanon. Under the Abbasids, philosophy, literature, and the sciences received great attention, especially during the caliphate of Harun ar Rashid and that of his son, Al Mamun. Lebanon made a notable contribution to this intellectual renaissance. The physician Rashid ad Din, the jurist Al Awazi, and the philosopher Qusta ibn Luqa were leaders in their respective disciplines. The country also enjoyed an economic boom in which the Lebanese harbors of Tyre and Tripoli were busy with shipping as the textile, ceramic, and glass industries prospered. Lebanese products were sought after not only in Arab countries but also throughout the Mediterranean Basin. Ayman Ghazi"

During this period the region was dominated by the Abbasids, who persecuted the Maronites and other Christians. Around AD 1017, a new Muslim sect, the Druze, emerged from a branch of Islam. The new faith gained followers in the southern portion of Lebanon. The Maronites and the Druze divided Lebanon since then until the modern era. The major cities on the coast, Acre, Beirut, and others, were directly administered by Muslim Caliphs. As a result, the people of the coast became increasingly absorbed by Arabic culture.

Under medieval Arab rule the Maronites, as dhimmis, were required to wear black robes and black turbans and they were forbidden to ride horses. The influence of the Maronite establishment spread throughout the Lebanese mountains and became a considerable feudal force. The existence of the Maronites was largely ignored by the western world until the Crusades. Maronites (and other Christians in Lebanon) welcomed the Crusaders and nearly 50000 of them died fighting for Christianity in the two centuries of struggle between Crusaders and Arabs. Indeed the Maronites greatly assisted the Crusaders and affirmed their affiliation with the Holy See of Rome in 1182. Later, the Maronite Church adopted the catechism of the Catholic Church and merged with it. Moreover, Rome dispatched Franciscan, Dominican and later Jesuit missionaries to Lebanon to secure the conversion of the Maronites to Catholicism. To eliminate their internal dissent, from 1289 to 1291 Egyptian Mamluks troops descended on Mount Lebanon, destroying forts and monasteries.

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