a huge heap of refuse piled upon the Rock. He ordered the rubbish to be swept away, the mosque to be cleansed, and its structure to be rebuilt; he chose his own place of prayer at the front of it. He then returned to Medina, and the account is well known in the Book of Conquests.

ʿUmar later travelled a second time to the lands of al-Shām after the conquest was complete. There he fixed the assessment of land tax and other levies, and bound the ahl al-dhimma (non-Muslim subjects under Muslim protection) to the regulations laid down by the Muslims—regulations that the Muslims after him faithfully upheld.

This has been reported by the historians and others. Sufyān al-Thawrī narrated, on the authority of Masrūq, from ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Ghanm, who said:

“I wrote for ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb, may Allah be pleased with him, when he concluded a treaty with the Christians of al-Shām, stipulating therein that they were not to build in their city or in its surroundings any monastery or church….”