ISLAM AND JIHAD 221that is, when captives are taken. A question arises from this. Consider
the following: (1) Horror and terror are to come to the nonbelievers in
the afterlife; (2) it is the role of Islam to cause a great slaughter among
nonbelievers, which sends nonbelievers to their hellacious afterlife; and
(3) this being so, then what does it matter by what means they are sent to
the afterlife? Does it matter if the suffering of nonbelievers and the horror
and terror that is their doom begin in the process of their leaving this life
for the next, especially when those sending them to the afterlife are the
instrument of Allah?
Answers to this question can be found in the historical record. And this
historical record of conquest must be examined in light of the era and its
military practices. Massacres were not uncommon. It was the inevitable
result of any siege that the soldiers were turned loose on the inhabitants
of the city for a time to loot and rape. However, the inhabitants of the
captured cities and provinces were valuable commodities to the conquer-
ors. Not only were they potential slaves, but by continuing in their lives
and occupations, they added their economic potential to the economic
structure of the conquering nation, thereby giving its king more subjects
to rule over and more subjects to tax. When you’re king, taxes are good,
and the more subjects the greater the king. Therefore, a conquering king
does not just whimsically slaughter the economic resources of the newly
conquered province.
One must examine the record of Arab conquests in light of the con-
quered people’s economic value. As will be chronicled, many massacres
occurred after areas were conquered. To a degree this is typical, and the
following list is a far from complete list of such massacres that occurred
at the hands of the conquering Arabs. In many instances they could have
been solely for the purpose of cowing the conquered people and impress-
ing on them who was now their ruler. On the other hand, in a few instances
religion was certainly the reason for the massacre. Both prospects are
discussed so as to provide the reader a perspective on the events that
followed the Arab conquests of the Middle East and beyond.
After the death of Muhammad, Caliph Abu Bakr organized the invasion
of Syria. During the campaign ofA.D. 634, the entire region between Gaza
and Caesarea was devastated. During the military operations in that region
4,000 peasants, Christians, Jews, and Samaritans who were simply de-
fending their land, were massacred. During the campaigns in Mesopota-
mia, betweenA.D. 635 and 642, monasteries were sacked, the monks were
killed, and Monophysite Arabs were executed or forced to convert. In
Elam the entire population was put to the sword, and at Suza all the
dignitaries suffered the same fate.