Sicily

Sicily is an island in the sea. According to al-Baladhuri, Mu'awiya ibn Hudayj al-Kindi was the first to raid it, in the days of Mu'awiya ibn Abi Sufyan, and it was raided ever after. The house of al-Aghlab ibn Salim took more than twenty cities from it, which remained in Muslim hands. ¹

Al-Idrisi calls Sicily "unique in its age for excellence and virtues, and singular among lands for its goodness and dwellings". He says that travellers from every region came to it in earlier times and all agreed on its excellence. ²

Al-Idrisi says that Roger ibn Tancred began to conquer its lands "in the year four hundred and fifty-three" after the Hijra. He took all of it over a period of thirty years, and was succeeded by his son. ³