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A History Written by Losers: The 7th-Century ‘Arab-Muslim’ Conquests in Contemporary Christian and Jewish Sources

In the 7th century, the followers of Muhammad came from the Arabian Peninsula and conquered the Middle East. As most of the Muslim sources on the conquest were composed in the later periods, the conquered people of the Middle East provide us with valuable resources on the identity of the conquerors and how the conquest was perceived by the contemporaries. The 7th century conquest is known as the peaceful one, however, this research finds that the contemporary sources show the opposite image on the conquest. Some Christians expressed shock and fear, and tried to understand the conquest through the eschatological world view, while others gave a positive interpretations of the event. The research criticizes dichotomous views on the conquest, suggesting that it should be understood as a complex phenomenon.