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فتح الإسكندرية
Alexandria stood as one of the greatest cities of the ancient world when the Muslim forces arrived at its walls. Founded by Alexander the Great in 331 BCE, it had served for centuries as the intellectual and commercial heart of the eastern Mediterranean. Its massive fortifications, access to the sea, and the support of the Byzantine navy made it the most formidable objective Amr ibn al-As would face in his conquest of Egypt.
Following the decisive Muslim victory at the Battle of Heliopolis (Ayn Shams) in 640 CE, Byzantine resistance in Egypt fractured. Amr ibn al-As moved systematically through the Nile Delta, securing key positions. The fortress of Babylon (near modern Old Cairo) had already fallen after a prolonged siege, and the remaining Byzantine garrisons retreated northward toward Alexandria, the provincial capital and seat of the Patriarch.
Cyrus (known in Arabic sources as al-Muqawqis), the Melkite Patriarch who also served as the Byzantine viceroy, had previously attempted negotiations with the Muslims. His earlier diplomatic efforts with Amr had been rejected by Emperor Heraclius, who insisted on military resistance. With Heraclius's death in February 641 CE and the subsequent political turmoil in Constantinople, the Byzantine position in Egypt grew increasingly untenable.
Amr ibn al-As arrived before Alexandria's walls and found a city of extraordinary defenses. The city was protected on the north by the Mediterranean Sea, where the Byzantine fleet maintained supply lines. Its land walls were thick and well-fortified, manned by a substantial garrison. Al-Baladhuri records that the city's defenses included towers and war engines that the Muslims had not previously encountered at such scale.
The siege lasted approximately fourteen months. Unlike the rapid campaigns in Syria and Iraq, the Muslims could not simply overwhelm Alexandria's defenses through direct assault. The Byzantine navy ensured that the city could be resupplied by sea, prolonging the resistance. Amr maintained the siege with patience, cutting off land routes and engaging in periodic skirmishes along the walls.
Ibn Abd al-Hakam, in his Futuh Misr (The Conquest of Egypt), provides detailed accounts of the various engagements around the city. Several Muslim commanders distinguished themselves during the siege, and Amr reportedly wrote to Caliph Umar ibn al-Khattab requesting reinforcements. Umar dispatched additional troops, demonstrating the strategic importance the Rashidun leadership placed on securing Egypt.
With Constantinople consumed by dynastic conflict following Heraclius's death, no relief force was forthcoming. Cyrus, now acting with greater autonomy, entered into negotiations with Amr. The terms reached were remarkably generous and reflected the established Islamic practice of offering peaceful surrender.
The treaty stipulated that the Byzantines would be given eleven months to evacuate by sea, taking their possessions with them. The city's inhabitants who chose to remain would be granted protection as dhimmis, with their churches, property, and religious practices safeguarded. A fixed jizya would be collected in exchange for this protection.
Alexandria was formally handed over to the Muslims in September 642 CE (approximately 21 AH). The city was taken without destruction, its libraries, churches, and civic buildings left intact. This orderly transfer stood in contrast to the violent sackings that characterized many ancient and medieval conquests.
One of Amr ibn al-As's most consequential decisions was his choice not to make Alexandria the new capital of Muslim Egypt. Instead, he established al-Fustat at the site near the former Fortress of Babylon, at the junction of Upper and Lower Egypt. When Caliph Umar was consulted, he reportedly instructed Amr not to settle behind a body of water that could cut off reinforcements, a practical military consideration that ruled out the coastal Alexandria.
Al-Fustat grew rapidly into a major urban center. Its location proved strategically superior, sitting at the apex of the Nile Delta with access to both Upper Egypt and the Mediterranean. This decision permanently shifted Egypt's center of gravity southward, a geographic reality that persists in modern Cairo, which grew around the site of al-Fustat.
The conquest of Egypt brought into the Islamic world one of the most fertile and wealthy provinces of the former Roman Empire. Egypt's agricultural output, particularly its grain production, became vital to the growing Muslim state. The country's Christian Coptic population, long persecuted by the Byzantine Chalcedonian establishment, largely accepted Muslim rule as a reprieve from sectarian oppression.
Amr ibn al-As governed Egypt with a pragmatism that preserved its administrative infrastructure while integrating it into the Rashidun system. The conquest fulfilled a trajectory that the Prophet Muhammad himself had anticipated. In a hadith recorded by Muslim, the Prophet instructed his companions to treat the people of Egypt well, citing kinship ties through Hajar, the mother of Ismail.
Egypt's entry into the Islamic world proved transformative for both. The country became a center of Islamic learning, and its strategic position linking Africa, Asia, and the Mediterranean ensured its enduring importance throughout Islamic history.
For the Prophetic era, see the Seerah timeline.