The Islamic Emirate of Sicily
By Contributing Arab America author / Christian Jimenez
When people think of Islamic powers in Europe, most think of the empires of Al-Andalus in Iberia and the Ottoman Empire in the Balkans and Hungry, but did you know that there was an Islamic and Arabic influence on the Italian island of Sicily?
The Aghlabids and The Invasion of Sicily
Image by balladalus.wordpress.com
Sicily is an island right off the southern shore of the Italian peninsula in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea. This island was controlled by numerous empires and kingdoms throughout its long history with these foreign powers consisting of the Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Normans, Spanish, Austrians, etc. However, during the Middle Ages the island of Sicily would be ruled by the Islamic Emirate of Sicily. To find out the origins of this Arabic hot spot south of Italy, we need to look back to the history of North Africa. The region of North Africa was conquered by the Umayyads who ruled the caliphate after the Rashidun Caliphate during the 7th century C.E. However, despite their conquest of Byzantine North Africa the region was not easy to govern as the interior was occupied by the Amazigh who were not always supportive of the caliphate in the region. This problem meant by the time of the Abbasid Revolution in 750 C.E the Abbasids would have a tough time governing the region of the Maghreb. This caused them to give the governorship of North Africa to its own local dynasty who would be an autonomous ruler but still a subject of the caliph. The Abbasids would give power to the governor, Ibrahim ibn al-Aghlab, who came to power around 800 C.E. and would form his own Aghlabid dynasty in the region. These Aghlabids were the ones to conquer Sicily, which was under the Byzantine Empire at that time, and it was around the 9th century C.E. that the Aghlabids would conqueror it as the court received a disgruntled Byzantine naval commander in 826 C.E. named Euphemius who invited them to invade. The ruler at the time, Ziyadat Allah I, was at first hesitant to invade as he had a treaty with the Byzantines, but he decided to go ahead with the invasion as the Islamic scholar Asad ibn al-Furat advocated for the invasion. Wanting to kill two birds with one stone in getting rid of this Islamic scholar whom he thought was stirring up trouble in his already unstable region and wanting to weaken the Byzantines in the Central Mediterranean Sea, he allowed Asad ibn al-Furat to lead an invasion of Byzantine Sicily. Beginning in 827 C.E. , Ziyadat was surprised as the invasion was becoming a success, and with Umayyad assistance from Al-Andalus, the island was later conquered as Syracuse was occupied in 878 C.E. and the last Byzantine outposts in 965 C.E. Since their invasion and until their downfall, the island was now a part of the Islamic World instead of the Latin World like their neighbor Italy and the rest of Europe.
Conflicts with Fatimids, Byzantines, Germans and Normans
After the conquest, many Arabs immigrated to the island, and many people converted from Christianity to Islam. However, even though the Islamic and Arabic influence was present on the island, Sicily would have new rulers as the Aghlabids were conquered by the Fatimids in 909 C.E. and sent a fleet to conquer the island by 917 C.E. as they placed Palermo under siege where they executed the former Aghlabid governor. The Fatimids would then place power in the hands of al-Hassan ibn Ali al-Kalbi, but soon enough his title would become hereditary, forming a new dynasty and achieving de-facto independence. He would soon lead an invasion of Byzantine Southern Italy in around 950 and 952 C.E. The wars with the Byzantines would go on and off throughout the 10th century and even the Germans under Otto II would get involved in the conflict. But in the end, no border changes occured as the Sicilians retreated back to their island. Also, during this time despite the payment of the jizya and their status as dhimmis, many religious minorities such as the Roman Catholics, Orthodox Greeks, and Jews all prospered under the Emirate of Sicily as they were guaranteed freedom of religion during the time of Muslim rule. However, a new force would replace the Muslims of Sicily and the Byzantines of Southern Italy, the Normans. These Normans were fierce soldiers from Scandinavia who settled in present day Normandy, which was a part of France and soon these warriors became Frenchified and Christianized. At first, they were used as mercenaries for the many Italian states participating in war during this time, but they would soon become rulers in their own right and control southern Italy and invade Sicily under Robert Guiscard in the year 1060 C.E. They were able to easily control the island due to the area being split between the three claimants for the position of emir and an uprising by the locals. The Normans would conquer Palermo in 1072 C.E. and soon the last stronghold of the Muslims on the southside of the island in 1091 C.E. However, despite this, there are likely some Sicilians that still have an Arab ancestry and this Islamic Emirate is one chapter in the long story of the island of Sicily.
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