The earliest Christian and Muslim answers were at once similar and dissimilar. Both agreed that God was on the side of Muslims—but for radically different reasons. Christians agreed with Patriarch Sophronius: just as God had often punished the ancient Hebrews whenever they fell astray by raising ruthless pagan conquerors against them, so these new invaders were God’s rod to chastise Christians for falling astray,* particularly, if the seventh-century Apocalypse is to be believed, for engaging in widespread acts of sexual immorality, including cross-dressing:
