The Roman province of Africa consisted of a long, narrow strip of coastland in Libya and a much larger zone around ancient Carthage, comparable in size to Ireland or even Greece. The climate was much like Italy’s and this part of the province was comparably wealthy, much from the export of olive oil. They also made ceramic dishes known as Red Slipware.
It was also a Christian powerhouse, seat of Bishop Augustine, who wrote his memoir Confessions among other things. Augustine noted that in his lifetime, the Punic (Phoenician) language was still spoken by some rustics, while the Berber language was native inland among the nomads. The church structure did not reach much into the countryside; it was an urban, Latin institution. By contrast, Egyptian Christianity was strong in the countryside along the Nile and down into Nubia. When Muslim Arabs began ruling Egypt, there was little cultural impact on the popular Christian culture.
Roman North Africa had fallen on hard times since Rome’s glory days. The old buildings were there, but some were already ruins. A period of rule by invading Vandals had broken the old Imperial economy. Then, during Muhammad’s lifetime, Emperor Heraclius had launched his coup to become Emperor from North Africa, taking his best troops. Undefended, many settlements were abandoned. The “Roman” government made mostly perfunctory attempts to protect North Africa from Muslim invasion.
Berber tribesmen had little or no emotional connection to Rome, and it wasn’t hard for early Muslim invaders like Amr to conquer them. Amr’s treaty allowed the Berbers to sell their children into slavery to pay their tribute, but left the Berbers in charge of settling how the sum would be raised. The Roman port of Cyrene, renamed Barqa by the Arabs, was governed by Amr’s nephew Uqba ibn Nafi.
During Mu’awiya’s reign, Uqba ibn Nafi began to push for expansion in Africa. He had learned to know the Berbers, and many local Luwata Berbers had accepted Islam. There’s a dark side to his connection with the Berbers: he also sent Berber girls back to Syria as slaves. One of these girls became the mother of a future Caliph. The Berber slave trade continued for a long time.
With an army of Arabs and Berbers, he conquered many inland towns and established the misr garrison-city of Qayrawan (modern spelling Kairouan) in Tunisia. It was 30 miles inland, making it hard for the Byzantine Romans to attack. The legend is that Uqba gathered the few Arabs who had known Muhammad and commanded the lions and other wild beasts to leave the area, so that the city could be built. They claim that for 40 years, not even a scorpion was found nearby. Additionally, there is a legend that Uqba’s men found a buried golden goblet from Mecca, dug it up and found a spring, so the spring was thought to be holy like the Zamzam well in Mecca.
The next governor sent out to Africa arrested Uqba and shipped him back to Damascus. This governor’s first move was to meet with the ruler of the Berbers of Algeria, who had become nominal Christians. He explained Muhammad’s message and persuaded the Berbers to adopt Islam. The King of the Berbers even moved to Qayrawan, effectively joining the Muslim government.
When Mu’awiya died and Yazid duly took over, the new Caliph sent Uqba back to Africa. He arrested both the Muslim governor and the Berber king, put his own son in charge at Qayrawan, and set out westward. The angry Berber king repudiated his adoption of Islam, now preferring to join the Romans to drive the Muslims out.
Uqba took a lean, experienced expeditionary force and went as fast as possible on the main westward road. They skirted Carthage, staying inland, fighting Roman forces when necessary, but mostly moving fast. Uqba went all the way to Morocco, capturing Tangier and a Berber/Roman city called Walila (Volubilis). Instead of crossing the Gibraltar Strait, he continued into Morocco as far south as modern Marrakesh, and into the Atlas Mountains. By legend, when he came to the Atlantic Ocean, he rode into the waves and called out to God that if the ocean didn’t stop him, he would keep going to spread and defend the faith.
Uqba let his guard down on the way back. He allowed some of the men to return home, keeping only a small guard. This was a big mistake, as the escaped Berber King joined a Byzantine army to hunt him down. Uqba was killed in the battle. He had forced his rival governor to come along, so they both died, with the 300 men of his guard. Their burial place in Algerian later became a mosque named Sidi Okba, the grave of Uqba.
- Great Arab Conquests, by Hugh Kennedy
- The War of the Three Gods: Romans, Persians, and the Rise of Islam, by Peter Crawford.
- The Lost History of Christianity: The Thousand-Year Golden Age of the Church in the Middle East, Africa and Asia—and How it Died, by John Philip Jenkins