Editing Islam in Italy (section)

====Conquest of Sicily====
{{Main|Emirate of Sicily}}
[[File:Bologna Mosque.jpg|thumb|The Bologna Ahmadi Mosque]]
According to some sources, the conquest was spurred by [[Euphemius (Sicily)|Euphemius]], a [[Byzantine]] commander who feared punishment by Emperor [[Michael II]] for a sexual indiscretion. After a short-lived conquest of Syracuse, he was proclaimed emperor but was compelled by loyal forces to flee to the court of [[Ziyadat Allah I of Ifriqiya|Ziyadat Allah]] in [[Ifriqiya]]. The latter agreed to conquer Sicily, with the promise to leave it to Euphemius in exchange for a yearly tribute. To end the constant mutinies of his army, the [[Aghlabid]] magistrate of [[Ifriqiya]] sent [[Arabian]], [[Berbers|Berber]], and [[Al-Andalus|Andalusian]] rebels to conquer Sicily in 827, 830 and 875, led by, among others, [[Asad ibn al-Furat]]. [[Palermo]] fell to them in 831, followed by [[Messina]] in 843, [[Syracuse, Sicily|Syracuse]] in 878. In 902, the Ifriqiyan magistrate himself led an army against the island, seizing [[Taormina]] in 902. [[Reggio Calabria]] on the mainland fell in 918, and in 964 [[Rometta]], the last remaining Byzantine toehold on Sicily.

Under the Muslims, agriculture in Sicily prospered and became export oriented. Arts and crafts flourished in the cities.{{citation needed|date=March 2021}} Palermo, the Muslim capital of the island, had 300,000 inhabitants at that time, more than all the cities of Germany combined. The local population conquered by the Muslims were Romanized Catholic Sicilians in Western Sicily and partially Greek speaking Christians, mainly in the eastern half of the island, but there were also a significant number of Jews.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20100821054137/http://www.cliohres.net/books/3/Dalli.pdf Archived link]: ''From Islam to Christianity: the Case of Sicily'', Charles Dalli, page 153. In ''Religion, ritual and mythology : aspects of identity formation in Europe'' / edited by Joaquim Carvalho, 2006, {{ISBN|88-8492-404-9}}.</ref> These conquered people were afforded [[freedom of religion]] under the Muslims as [[dhimmis]]. The [[dhimmi]] were also required to pay the [[jizya]], or poll tax, and the [[kharaj]] or land tax, but were exempt from the tax that Muslims had to pay ([[Zakaat]]). The payment of the Jizya is  payment for state services and protection against foreign and internal aggression as non-Muslims did not pay the Zakaat tax. The conquered population could instead pay the Zakaat tax by converting to Islam. Large numbers of native Sicilians converted to Islam. However, even after 100 years of Islamic rule, numerous Greek-speaking Christian communities prospered, especially in north-eastern Sicily, as dhimmis. This was largely a result of the Jizya system which allowed co-existence. This co-existence with the conquered population fell apart after the reconquest of Sicily, particularly following the death of King [[William II of Sicily]] in 1189. By the mid-11th century, Muslims made up the majority of the population of Sicily.

[[File:Raphael Ostia.jpg|thumb|left|The battle at Ostia in 849 ended the third [[Arab raid against Rome|Arab attack on Rome]].]]