MAGIANSMargha, so called because of the "leaning which its former lords and
inhabitants had to Magianism."118 The picture of a ruined fire temple
infested by devils in the form of black ravens that stood by a roadside
in eighth-century Margha is probably typical of the fate of Magian
institutions in early Islamic Iraq.119
Although the Magian priesthood and property disappeared with the
conquest of Iraq, individual Magians survived by paying tribute along
with other non-Muslims wherever they surrendered. Magians had al-
ready been allowed to pay tribute in Yam an, Bahrayn, and Urn an and,
during the conquest of Iraq, Magians were included in the blanket
arrangements that were made for tribute at Hira, Anbar, and Mada'in.
Thomas of Margha describes a mixed village of Magians, Mani-
chaeans, and pagans at Koph in Margha, where the people worshiped
the sun, idols, and an olive tree.^110
The treatment of Magians by Muslims was inconsistent at first.
'Umar I (634-44) is said to have refused to accept tribute from Magians
and to have ordered Jaz' ibn Mu'awiya to break up Magian families
and to forbid the zamzama in Dast-i Maysan and Manadhir in 643.
Jaz' had begun to carry out his instructions when 'Umar was con-
vinced by 'Abd ar-RaQman ibn 'Awf that MUQammad had accepted
tribute from the Magians of Hajar in Bahrayn.l2l This provided a
precedent, since there is no Qur'anic basis for treating Magians as
people with a revealed scripture (Ar. ahl al-kitab).l:Ianafi legal scholars
eventually agreed to treat Magians in the same way as other non-
Muslims for the purposes of taxation, although they considered them
to be polytheists with no revealed scripture. But Muslims were not to
marry Magian women or to eat the meat of animals slaughtered by
Magians.^112
The Islamic conquest had the effect of accelerating the conversion
of Magians to other religions. Because Islam replaced Magianism as
the religion of the rulers, members of the former Sasanian ruling elite
tended to convert to Islam in order to avoid paying tribute, to keep
their property and position, and to join the Muslim army and admin-
istration. The Ijamra' and the Asawira who joined the Arab armies
118 Ibn Rustah, A'liiq, p. 187; Thomas of Margha, Governors, I, 332; 11, 580-81.
119 Thomas of Margha, Governors, I, 334; 11,599.
120 Ibid., I, 370; 11, 634-35.
121 Abii Yiisuf, Khariij, p. 199; Bukhari, $abtb, V, 238; Ibn Sa'd, Tabaqiit, VII(l),
94; Ibn SalIam, Amwiil, p. 44.
122 Abii Yiisuf, Khariij, p. 101; Ibn Sallam, Amwiil, p. 44; Sarakhsi, Sharb al-kitiib
as-siyar al-kabtr li-sh-Shaybanl (Cairo, 1958), I, 146-49.