Iraq after the Muslim Conquest - Michael G. Morony

RELIGIOUS COMMUNITIES

gious community. According to Y6l).annan bar Penkaye, the friend
and contemporary of the catholicos Wnanish6' I (686-93), the Arabs
were only interested in raiding, taking captives, and levying tribute in
return for which they were willing to allow their new subjects to believe
anything they wished.^67 Likewise, the assertion that the Arabs froze
the sectarian situation by leaving each Christian sect in possession of
the churches they were found to occupy at the time of the conquest^68
probably means no more than that the Islamic government took no
interest in such things at first, and that no sect was able to get gov-
ernment support or "permission" to evict its rivals for some time after
the conquest. In fact, one of the things Y6l).annan bar Penkaye com-
plained most bitterly about was the way the new rulers allowed both
Nestorians and "heretics" (Monophysites) to survive the conquest. He
particularly deplored the demoralizing consequences of undiscrimi-
nating toleration in the reign of Mu'iiwiya, when "there was no dif-
ference between pagan and Christian; the faithful was not distinct
from a Jew."69 Essentially, Bar Penkaye was saying that a certain
amount of persecution was necessary to maintain a group identity and
h~ objected to the fact that the government failed to make distinctions
he regarded as necessary.

FACTIONALISM: THE DYNAMICS OF CONTINUITY

Then how and when did the Muslim government begin to take
official notice of the internal affairs of the Nestorian Church? The
answer lies in the tendency of church leaders to behave towards their
new rulers just as they had towards the old; this was aggravated by
factionalism within the church, which encouraged the intervention of
the civil authorities. This situation already existed in the sixth century
and resulted from the way official toleration developed into patterns
of patronage. The existence of factionalism at the local level and its
consequences were noticed and treated in general terms at the synod
held by the catholicos Joseph in 554. According to the fourth canon:

It is also said that in certain places, at the death of a bishop,

factions and coalitions spring up, each wishing to make its own

opinion prevail; and carried away by human passion, they impart

67 Mingana, Sources syriaques, pp. 174-75.

68 Arnold, Preaching, pp. 54-SS.

69 Mingana, Sources syriaques, pp. 175, 179.