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A History of the Church in Africa

Muhammad’s death. When the Muslim Arabs invaded Egypt, Isichei
notes, they were “greatly aided by the collaboration of several highly
placed men, notably, Cyrus, the ‘Melkite,’ Patriach of Alexandria, and
the Byzantine Governor, who surrendered both the fortress of Babylon
and Alexandria, and the Coptic ‘Duke’ Sanutius, who handed over the
Egyptian fleet” (43).

Coptic leaders seemed unclear about the new religion. The
“Ishmaelites,” as they were called, appeared to be a Christian sect.
Initially, Christians thought the Arabs would liberate them from their
Byzantine rulers; however, the Arab victors merely tolerated the Coptic
Church in return for a poll tax. Actually, Christians were in the majority
in Egypt until about the tenth century, when their numbers began to
decline. As a result, “At the end of the tenth century, most Egyptians
spoke Coptic; [but] by the end of the twelfth century, most Egyptians
spoke Arabic” (Isichei, 43). Unfortunately, the “Christian Crusades”
made the position of the church in Egypt and North Africa more difficult.
The crusades were military expeditions the Western church undertook
between the eleventh and thirteenth centuries to recover the Holy Land
from the Muslims.

The collapse of the Christian church in North Africa is one of the great
challenges of African church history. As mentioned earlier, Arab invaders
encountered Christianity that was weakened by division and that lacked
spiritual depth. The process of conversion to Islam was gradual but effective.
It is not historically correct to say the Muslims always conquered by the
sword. Arab Muslims recognized Christians as “People of the Book” and
even gave them some administrative positions, as long as they submitted
to the authority of Islam, paid taxes, and lived as “second-class citizens.”

Muslims tried to entice Christians to convert to Islam, offering them
the opportunity to join the army or to be exempt from the poll tax.
Although Christians were allowed to worship with certain restrictions,
they faced discrimination: they could not build new buildings or
propagate their faith. While a Christian man was prohibited from
marrying a Muslim woman, Muslim men could marry Christian women
and compel them to convert to Islam. As Kane notes, “Conversion was a
one-way street; one could convert from Judaism or Christianity to Islam,
but not from Islam to Christianity” (51). In the face of these obstacles

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