History of Lebanon under Arab rule

History of Lebanon under Arab rule relates to Arab control of Lebanon from the seventh century until the Crusades.

During the 7th century AD the Muslim Arabs conquered Syria soon after the death of Muḥammad, establishing a new regime to replace the Romans (or Byzantines as the Eastern Romans are often called). Though Islam and the Arabic language were officially dominant under this new regime, the general populace still took time to convert from Christianity and from the Syriac language. In particular, the Maronite community clung to its faith and managed to maintain a large degree of autonomy despite the succession of rulers over Syria. Muslim influence started to increase greatly in the eight century, when the Umayyad capital was established at nearby Damascus.

However the area around former Roman Berytus (actual Beirut), that has been fully Romanized since the Augustus times, remained Christian & Aramaic speaking in the seventh and eight centuries and the Arabs initially dominated only superficially the region.

In the early seventh century the byzantine emperors sent to Lebanon the Christian Mardaites, who probably were the ancestors of Lebanese Maronites. After they came under Arab rule following the Muslim conquest of Syria (634–638), Maronite immigration to Lebanon, which had begun some time before, increased, intensifying under the Abbasid Calif al-Mamoun (813–33). The Maronites experienced an improvement in their relationship with the Byzantine Empire. Emperor Constantine IV (reigned 668–685) provided direct ecclesiastical, political and military support to the Maronites. The new alliance coordinated devastating raids on Muslim forces, providing a welcome relief to besieged Christians throughout the Middle East.

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