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Overview
In the section "The Arab sieges of Constantinople", Shakib Arslan presents the first siege the Muslims laid against the city in the caliphate of Mu'awiya. This is what the author relates from several sources, whose dates differ. 1
What Arslan reports
- An Arab fleet was equipped in 653 CE at Tripoli in Syria under the command of Busr ibn Abi Artat.
- The land army began the siege in 667 CE, which the author judges to be the more likely date.
- The fleet sailed away from the city in 673 CE.
- Abu Ayyub al-Ansari died during the siege. The author sets out the historians' disagreement over the year of his death, and discusses what is related about his grave.
- The section also covers Harun al-Rashid's siege of the city, which ended in a truce and the payment of the jizya.
Caution
These dates come from a single source, Arslan's commentary. They should not be used before they are checked against Byzantine sources and recent scholarship. It needs an additional source.
Sources
- Muhammad Qabbani, The Umayyad State from Birth to Fall (Damascus: Dar Wahy al-Qalam, 2006)
- Stoddard, Hadir al-ʿalam al-islami (Arabic translation with Arslan's commentary)
Cite this page
islam.museum contributors. “The early Arab siege of Constantinople under Mu'awiya”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/event/arab-siege-of-constantinople-667/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-19.