Did conversion to Islam happen by choice?

Conversion to Islam within the Muslim ruled territories transformed from what was to be a

genuine internal quest towards Islamic spirituality conducted by an inspired individual into a

form of social and political ascendance carrying often various and intertwining meanings.

Conversion overall widely became an action undertaken by individuals by choice as a means

to secure or elevate themselves whether that be in the political sphere, career ambitions or

general social benefits. What caused this new and prominent incentive to leave one’s faith

willingly was the very society the Muslim rulers constructed with one of the most

foundational principles being faith and every aspect of life centring around their religion and

their ethnicity, placing Arab Muslims at the top of the hierarchy. Non-Muslims quickly

realised the barriers installed that solely targeted the people of the book could be bypassed

through conversion and so the boundaries drawn by Arab Muslim rulers separating its

subjects became blurred with non-Arab converted Muslims finding themselves in higher

positions of authority than Arab Muslims. Whilst it is important to remember not every

conversion was based on personal ambition and that spirituality was still a primary

motivator for many converts, it remains that these incentives were the core factor in why

conversion to Islam rose in popularity. As well as these new influential motivations, another

factor that led to conversions being by choice was the multi-cultural and multi-faith society

established by Muslim rulers where co-existence and freedom of faith was promoted. I will

argue that conversion occurred primarily by choice in the Muslim territories spanning from

Cordoba to Egypt as the incentives to convert, based on social and political elevation, were

strong and influential. Whilst cases of forced conversion certainly occurred, they took place

as a tool of retaliation against rebels where they were given the opportunity to convert or

face punishment.
First it is important to establish the contract between the people of the book and the Arab

conquerors that would form the multi-faith society. Understanding this contract will reveal

why conversion to Islam occurred by choice at the rate it did as we see the broad

restrictions a non-Muslim would face as well as the benefits and prospects available if they

did convert. Islamic expansion kept a firm and consistent agenda where the goal was a

society in which Muslim Arabs were to rule over others as a warrior elite ‘supported by the

tribute of an essentially undisturbed and unconverted population.’1 This contract sought to

establish the freedoms and limitations of the ‘protected people’ and the Pact of Umar is the

main source for this. The rules were known as Dhimma and varied from commerce (‘If you

have sold to a Muslim any forbidden thing such as wine…we shall pour it out), clothing (‘You

shall wear your sash outside of all your clothing’), taxation/jizya (‘there will be a poll tax of

one dinar of full weight payable at the beginning of the year’) and movement (‘You may not

enter Mecca under any conditions’). A second-class citizenship where consistent reminders

that they are subjects to be ruled by Arab Muslims set the foundation of the protected

people’s existence within this society, they would not be able to dress like their rulers, to

display their faith like their rulers and so on. In return for accepting these impositions they

would receive protection from all peoples ‘Muslim or not’ with the exception of ‘forbidden

things like blood, carrion, wine and pigs.’ Within this protection was freedom of religion

(exclusive for people of the book, idolatry and the like were strictly forbidden), the

allowance of the protected people to remain in their faiths as long as they were Christian,

Jewish or Zoroastrian and keep their existing places of worship. Along with this, religious

communities could remain with their own structure of authority and legal matters such as

1
Religious and Cultural Conversion to Islam in Ninth-Century Umayyad Córdoba - Jessica A. Coope.
conducting marriages.2 Evidently, the protected people realised that these numerous

restrictions imposed on them, despite being granted protection, could be bypassed solely

through conversion as religion was the only factor that separated the groups. The prospect

and incentive to convert was heightened greatly by this agreement and so conversion by

choice dominated conversion by force. Beyond the social sphere, one would significantly

benefit from being a converted Muslim in the Islamic court; Jobs in the civil service would

broaden, chances of employment would rise and access to a rich cultural life with its

elaborate styles of dress and luxurious events of music and art would open up.1 These two

spheres summarised why conversion to Islam happened by choice, despite being granted

the freedom to remain in one’s faith, the prospects of conversion aligned with the ambitions

of many.

The purposes behind one’s conversion of Islam greatly expanded with the Umayyad

expansion. One of these purposes that became one of the most prominent was conversion

as a tool of social elevation, to better one’s position in a society through assimilation and as

the intended rulers were Arab Muslims, ethnicity and religion became two very important

factors in an individual’s position. These boundaries were certainly blurred with regions

where non-Muslims were in power over Muslims, non-Arabs in power over Arabs and so on.

Conversion appears to have started at the bottom of the social hierarchy; In the early

Umayyad period the most major source of converts originated from ‘prisoners of war,

enslaved and then manumitted and converted to the faith of their new rulers’. In later

periods this developed into the next stage in the hierarchy: fugitive peasants converted as

mean of ‘escaping taxes in their villages’. This is evident in Papyri, Egypt, where peasants

2
Umar II and the ‘protected people’ (the Pact of ‘Umar), from N. Calder, et al., Classical Islam, pp. 138-141.
converted solely to avoid the poll tax and as a result be sent back home. Further to the east

in Iran, non-Muslim rulers in Khurasan were offered to sustain their positions if they accept

the superiority of the caliph and convert to Islam. The same in Northern Spain where

marcher lords coupled conversion and intermarriage to consolidate their power. 3 Through

all levels of society, conversion was done by choice for a similar means, where the fugitive

peasant benefitted from paying less taxes the Spaniard lord benefitted from retaining their

control. Initially, in the early decades of Islamic rule the subject religious groups maintained

their own cultural practices and language from the ruling Muslims, and those who

converted faced alienation. The prospects to convert were not significant enough for most

and as they maintained their freedom of movement and worship, they accepted the

limitations imposed. However, as Islamic rule gradually developed, qualitative changes

occurred where ‘government grew stronger, the bureaucracy expanded, and the cultural life

of the court became more vital’.4 Even outside of conversion the desire to achieve these

benefits was strong with instances of individuals pretending to be Muslim being recorded

such as the case of a Christian merchant named John swearing on the name of Muhammad

to promote his wares and gain the appeal of Muslims, when found he faced a beating and

strict condemnation from the crowd.5 Many lived double lives that can be summarised by

‘Christian at home, Muslim outside’; these were non-Muslims who dressed, spoke, behaved,

and convinced others they were Muslim for political or financial gains but remained

Christian at heart. Overall, Islamic culture and social benefits was the core motivator for

many converts. In terms of the economic appeal, one would find increased success in their

3
The New Cambridge History Of Islam, Volume 4, Islamic Cultures and Societies to the End of the Eighteenth Century.
4
Coope, Jessica A. The Martyrs of Cordoba: Community and Family Conflict in an Age of Mass Conversion (University
of Nebraska Press, 1995).
5
Cabaniss, Allen. “Paulus Albarus of Muslim Cordova.” Church History, vol. 22, no. 2, 1953, pp. 99–112. JSTOR.
business through the greater mutual trust between those of the same faith, this was true in

every religious community as it features exclusive actions to gain trust and promotes one’s

wares such as swearing on a prophet or Gods’ name. However, mutual trust amongst those

of the same faith also meant mutual suspicion amongst those of different faiths and as such

Christian merchants were hindered by their faiths, especially whilst living in majority Muslim

regions their customer outreach was filtered greatly. Additionally, avoiding the poll tax was

an economic benefit for all. Young men were by far the most common converts as women

did not compete ‘for success in the public arena’.1 Within this public arena, converts would

no longer be externally defined as a second-class citizen that was enforced by the dress

code and etiquette imposed on the protected people such as being required to make way

for a Muslim when outside and wearing clothing centred around religious classification. This

led directly led to a better quality of life and naturally opened up opportunities ranging from

career to marriage to business. Evidently, conversion to Islam was a process done by choice

throughout the Arab Muslim ruled territories, rising in prominence in the Umayyad period

after the cultural burst. This new culture combined with the social limitations imposed by

the Umar Pact provided non-Muslims with a relatively easy method of achieving a wide

variety of benefits.

Political ascendance and Islam directly correlated as the pact held for Arab Muslims to be

the rulers and the protected peoples to be the subjects. Despite this, non-Muslim rulers

were sometimes reinstated or kept within the bureaucracy for their knowledge and skill

within the new conquered land such as in the fallen Byzantine empire. For those who did

not already possess positions of power before Arab Muslim rule and sought to rise within

the Islamic court, being a Muslim was essential. Within Cordoba, the relation between Arab
Muslim court members and converted Muslim members was very clear and revealed how

converts used their new status as a means of further assimilation and political elevation.

Islam within Cordoba was ‘a religion of public life, of the court’ that represented the ‘set of

cultural and social skills that were needed in order to be successful’. Coupled with the social

restrictions, those with ambitions towards politics willingly converted as a necessary first

step into the court. The lures of the Islamic court were certainly persuasive due to the

cultural and bureaucratic enrichment Cordoba experienced. New foreign items such as

deodorant were brought from Arabia, elaborate styles of dress and hair styles all originated

and could be accessed to from the court lifestyle. Influencers like the iconic musician Ziryab

led many of these enrichments and inspired the court to what would be the luxurious

lifestyles court members aimed to represent. Ibn Antonia serves as an excellent example:

When Muhammad I indicated that he could no longer tolerate dhimmi at court and that if

Antonia were Muslim, he would consider promoting him to the office of chief administrator,

Antonia converted and rose through the ranks to become head of the Umayyad

Bureaucracy. He followed every step of assimilation to breach into Umayyad Islamic culture

and customs and follow his ambition with success: he circumcised himself, mastered the

Arabic language, gave up non-Islamic practices like consuming wine and formally professed

to Islam. Despite all this Antonian could not eliminate suspicion within the Islamic court and

faced accusations of his conversion being a façade, headed by Hashoim. This was combined

with the fact that he was a non-Arab in a high post to which many took offense to. 1

Eventually Antonian was dismissed and even after his death there were attempts to

discredit the validity of his faith, regardless he is the embodiment of how conversion served

as an ambiguous tool that guaranteed political benefits.

Conversion also proved to be an essential tool for non-Muslim rulers whose positions of

power was threatened by the new Arab Muslim rule. In order to maintain their status and

retain their positions, conversion acted as a symbolic act of loyalty and assimilation, it was

also important that Arab Muslims did not feel overpowered by non-Muslim figures. This is

most evident in Khurasan and the eastern Iranian region in the reigns of Al-Mahd and Al-

Mapmun and common throughout northern Spain in areas of mixed Islamic and Christian

control like the Banu-Qas. Marcher lords converted to Islam by choice to maintain their

dominance over these border territories with intermarriage coupling conversion as a means

to consolidate and elevate their power.6

Beyond conversion as a mere tool of social and political elevation, it remained as a personal

and meaningful spiritual transformation for many. Conversion to Islam was also a decision

made willingly due to subjective experiences and perceived divine revelations which led

many to interpret those events as validation of Islam as the one true religion. Causes for one

to convert to Islam feature mentions of divine interference or revelation in various forms

from vision to dreams to supposed miracles in healing. One Jewish apostate described a

‘divine exhortation…in a vision of the prophet which appeared in a dream on Friday night,

the ninth of Dhu Hijja’. Islam additionally was found to be more factually correct and

persuasive for many converts, the mentioned Jewish apostate spoke of how ‘reason dictates

that all (Muhammad, Jesus and Moses) must be accepted as true’ due to the core evidence

of all the prophets’ existence and validity being a ‘chain of transmission’ therefore

Muhammad must have existed as a true prophet. Such thought led to conversion to Islam

6
Gladys Frantz Murphy, ‘Conversion in early Islamic Egypt: The economic factor’, in Documents de l’Islam médiéval:
Nouvelles perspectives de recherche, actes de la table ronde, Paris, 3 5 mars 1988 (Paris, 1991)
by choice as their previous faiths whether it be Judaism or Christianity denied the

prophethood of Muhammad.7

Forced conversions did exist despite the majority being done by choice. Whilst freedom of

worship was a guarantee in the Umar Pact, forced conversions to Islam became a weapon

against those who rebelled. Due to conversion being used as a symbol of loyalty and

assimilation, Arab Muslim authorities used it as a method of putting its opponents into

submission, primarily in failed rebellions where criminals were given the chance to convert

formally to Islam and be integrated back into society or face capital punishment. 8

In conclusion, conversion to Islam was for the majority done by choice. The society that

existed under Arab Muslim rule was multi-faith with principles on freedom of worship being

foundational. The people of the book were free to keep their traditions, language, legal

customs, places of worship and given protection for land and property in exchange for

accepting a second-class citizenship where restrictions existed over a spectrum ranging from

social behaviour to religious expression. Conversion for the protected peoples served as a

tool to elevate themselves through the social and political spheres with its emancipation of

the limitations existing exclusively for the people of the book and as a result, we see a

prominent rise in the rate of conversion to Islam by the non-Muslim subjects. We see

converts rise through the Islamic court in Cordoba, fugitive peasants in Egypt avoid the poll

tax and merchants appeal to wider markets, and this was all done willingly with personal

ambition being the core motive.

7
“From the Autobiography of a Jewish Apostate” and “A Jewish philosopher on Islam and why some dhimmis convert
to it,” from Stillman, The Jews of Arab lands .
8
‘Week 12 Lecture Clip 1: Non-Muslims under Muslim Rule’, HST5116: From Muhammad To The Ottomans: A History Of
Medieval Islamic Societies. 2021/22.
 Bibliography:
1. Coope, Jessica A. “Religious and Cultural Conversion to Islam in Ninth-Century
Umayyad Córdoba.” Journal of World History, vol. 4, no. 1, 1993, pp. 47–68. JSTOR,
www.jstor.org/stable/20078546.

2. Umar II and the ‘protected people’ (the Pact of ‘Umar), from N. Calder, et al.,
Classical Islam, pp. 138-141.

3. The New Cambridge History Of Islam, Volume 4, Islamic Cultures and Societies to
the End of the Eighteenth Century.

4. Coope, Jessica A. The Martyrs of Cordoba: Community and Family Conflict in an

Age of Mass Conversion (University of Nebraska Press, 1995).

5. Cabaniss, Allen. “Paulus Albarus of Muslim Cordova.” Church History, vol. 22, no. 2,
1953, pp. 99–112. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/3161439.

6. Gladys Frantz Murphy, ‘Conversion in early Islamic Egypt: The economic factor’, in
Documents de l’Islam médiéval: Nouvelles perspectives de recherche, actes de la
table ronde, Paris, 3 5 mars 1988 (Paris, 1991)

7. “From the Autobiography of a Jewish Apostate” and “A Jewish philosopher on

Islam and why some dhimmis convert to it,” from Stillman, The Jews of Arab
lands.

8. ‘Week 12 Lecture Clip 1: Non-Muslims under Muslim Rule’, HST5116: From

Muhammad to The Ottomans: A History Of Medieval Islamic Societies. 2021/22.