Siege of Jerusalem (636–637)

Siege of Jerusalem (637)
Part of the Arab–Byzantine Wars)
Map of the Muslim invasion of Syria and the Levant (September 636 to December 637)
Date November 636 – April 637 or 638 Location Jerusalem Result Rashidun victory Territorial changes Jerusalem captured by the Rashidun Caliphate
Belligerents
Rashidun Caliphate	Byzantine Empire
Commanders and leaders
'Ubadah ibn al-Samit	Patriarch Sophronius
Strength
~20,000[1]	Unknown

Part of a series on
Jerusalem
History Timeline City of David Second Temple Period Aelia Capitolina Middle Ages Early Muslim period Kingdom of Jerusalem Mutasarrifate British Mandate Israeli takeover of West Jerusalem Jordanian annexation of East Jerusalem Israeli annexation of East Jerusalem
Sieges Before Common Era 701 BCE 597 BCE 587 BCE 63 BCE 37 BCE Common Era 70 614 637 1099 1187 1244 1834 1917 1948
Places East West Old City Temple Mount/Al-Aqsa Dome of the Rock Al-Aqsa Mosque Western Wall Synagogues Mosques Church of the Holy Sepulchre Hebrew University Knesset Biblical Zoo Tomb of Lazarus Al-Quds University
People Demographic history Mayor Chief Rabbi Grand Mufti Greek Orthodox Patriarch Crusader kings
Political status Religious significance Judaism Christianity Islam Jerusalem Law Jerusalem Day Quds Day Judaization Islamization US recognition
Other topics Names Emblem Municipality Greater Jerusalem City Line Transport Songs Historical maps
v t e

The siege of Jerusalem (636–637) was part of the

The Muslim conquest of the city solidified Arab control over Palestine, which would not again be threatened until the First Crusade in 1099.

Background

Jerusalem was an important city of the

Jerusalem had been well-fortified after Heraclius recaptured it from the Persians.^[6] After the Byzantine defeat at Yarmouk, Sophronius, the Patriarch of Jerusalem, repaired its defenses.^[7] The Muslims had so far not attempted any siege of the city. However, since 634, Saracen forces had the potential to threaten all routes to the city. Although it was not encircled, it had been in a state of siege since the Muslims captured the towns of Pella and Bosra east of the Jordan River. After the Battle of Yarmouk, the city was severed from the rest of Syria, and was presumably being prepared for a siege that seemed inevitable.^[6] When the Muslim army reached Jericho, Sophronius collected all the holy relics including the True Cross, and secretly sent them to the coast, to be taken to Constantinople.^[7] The Muslim troops besieged the city some time in November 636. Instead of relentless assaults on the city,^[a] they decided to press on with the siege until the Byzantines ran short of supplies and a bloodless surrender could be negotiated.^[8]

Although details of the siege were not recorded,

According to some sources, Caliph Umar personally led the hostilities. In early April 637, Umar arrived in Palestine and went first to Jabiya,[22] where he was received by Abu Ubaidah, Khalid, and Yazid, who had travelled with an escort to receive him. Amr was left as commander of the besieging Muslim army.^[23]

Upon Umar's arrival in Jerusalem, a pact was composed, known as the Umar's Assurance or the Umariyya Covenant. It surrendered the city and gave guarantees of civil and religious liberty to Christians and Jews in exchange for the payment of jizya tax. It was signed by Caliph Umar on behalf of the Muslims, and witnessed by Khalid, Amr, Abd al-Rahman ibn Awf, and Mu'awiya. Depending on the sources, in either 637 or in 638, Jerusalem was officially surrendered to the caliph.^[24]

For the Jewish community this marked the end of nearly 500 years of Roman rule and oppression. Umar permitted the Jews to once again reside within the city of Jerusalem itself.^[25][26]

It has been recorded in the Muslim chronicles, that at the time of the Zuhr prayers, Sophronius invited Umar to pray in the rebuilt Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Umar declined, fearing that accepting the invitation might endanger the church's status as a place of Christian worship, and that Muslims might break the treaty and turn the church into a mosque.^[27][28] After staying for ten days in Jerusalem, the caliph returned to Medina.^[29]

Aftermath

Following the Caliph's instructions, Yazid proceeded to

During his stay in Jerusalem, Umar was led by Sophronius to various holy sites, including the Temple Mount. Seeing the poor state of where the Temple once stood, Umar ordered the area cleared of refuse and debris before having a wooden mosque built on the site.^[16] The earliest account of such a structure is given by the Gallic bishop Arculf, who visited Jerusalem between 679 and 682, and describes a very primitive house of prayer able to accommodate up to 3,000 worshippers, constructed of wooden beams and boards over preexisting ruins.^[31]

More than half a century after the capture of Jerusalem, in 691, the Umayyad caliph Abd al-Malik commissioned the construction of the Dome of the Rock over a large outcropping of bedrock on the Temple Mount. The 10th-century historian al-Maqdisi wrote that Abd al-Malik built the shrine in order to compete in grandeur with the city's Christian churches. Whatever the intention, the impressive splendor and scale of the shrine is seen as having helped significantly in solidifying the attachment of Jerusalem to the early Muslim faith.^[16]

Over the next 400 years, the city's prominence diminished as Saracen powers in the region jockeyed for control. Jerusalem remained under Muslim rule until it was captured by Crusaders in 1099 during the First Crusade.

Hadith

It is believed in Sunni Islam that Muhammad foretold the conquest of Jerusalem in numerous authentic hadiths in various Islamic sources,^[32][33] including a narration mentioned in Sahih al-Bukhari in Kitab Al Jizyah Wa'l Mawaada'ah (The Book of Jizya and Storage):

Narrated Auf bin Mali: I went to the Prophet during the