Pragmatic acceptance of local practices—at least in the short term—has always been an effective way of pursuing military expansion without provoking long insurgencies. Yet in the seventh century the offer of religious tolerance may have had particular appeal. Given the poisonous sectarian violence that had swirled around the Christian world in Byzantium, the arrival of a new ruling power that cared little for the tortuous debates over reconciling Christ’s spiritual and human natures—one that taxed unbelievers, rather than persecuting them—may have come as blessed relief.
