222 ISLAM AT WAR
John, the Bishop of Nikiu, chronicled the events of the invasion of
Egypt betweenA.D. 693 and 700. He described the Muslim yoke as
“heavier than the yoke that had been laid on Israel by Pharaoh.”
During the Muslin advance into Egypt, Amr captured the town of Beh-
nesa, near Fayum, and exterminated the inhabitants. John recorded, “who-
ever gave himself up to them [the Muslims] was massacred, they spared
neither the old, nor the women or children.” The towns of Fayum and
Aboit suffered the same fate. At Nikiu, the entire population was put to
the sword. Only at Cilicia did the conquering Arabs take the population
into captivity.
InA.D. 642, the citizenry of Dvin was put to the sword or forced to
convert. InA.D. 643, the Arabs returned to the region bringing “extermi-
nation, ruin, and slavery.” The conqueror of Cyprus, MuÛawiya established
his domination by a “great massacre” that accompanied the pillaging of
the island.
The same process was repeated in North Africa when Tripoli was pil-
laged inA.D. 643; Carthage was razed to the ground and most of its
inhabitants killed. The invasions and conquests of Mesopotamia, Syria,
Iraq, and Iran were simply more of the same. It is impossible to determine
if these massacres were based on a religious imperative or on the need of
the conqueror to establish his dominance over the now conquered terri-
tories, however, some clear examples of purely religious massacres do
exist.
The conquest of India came after the fall of Iran. Hajjaj, the governor
of Iraq, masterminded the conquest of the Sind and then dispatched his
military commander, Qasim, to implement the plan inA.D. 712. Qasim
was ordered to “bring destruction on the unbelievers...[and] to invite
and induce the infidels to accept the true creed, and belief in the unity of
Allah...andwhoever does not submit to Islam, treat him harshly and
cause injury to him until he submits.” These instructions are quite within
the scope of the mandate given in the Koran.
When the Indian port city of Debal was captured, the Muslim army
took three days to slaughter the inhabitants. When the slaughter was fin-
ished, Qasim allowed the survivors to continue their professions and even
to practice their religion. He had obviously decided that the economic
value of their labor was worth preserving.
When Hajjaj read of this in Qasim’s report, he wrote back: “My dear
cousin, I have received your life-augmenting letter. On its receipt my
gladness and joy knew no bounds. It increased my pride and glory to the
highest degree. It appears from your letter that all the rules made by you
for the comfort and convenience of your men are strictly in accordance