A common question in the historiography of early Islam: How early did the communities of the 7th-century Near East perceive Arabian conquerors as possessing their own faith community with distinct laws and beliefs?
Here’s insights from John bar Penkāyē (ܝܘܚܢܢ ܒܪ ܦܢܟ̈ܝܐ) ...
Here’s insights from John bar Penkāyē (ܝܘܚܢܢ ܒܪ ܦܢܟ̈ܝܐ) ...
Bar Penkāyē was monk from Penek, a Northern Mesopotamian settlement on the Tigris (syriaca.org/place/253.html), who witnessed the Second Muslim Civil War (fitnah) in the 680s and was a contemporary witness to the events in Iraq & Mesopotamia. 
In his sole surviving work, a world chronicle called *The Book of Principle Events* (Rēš Mellē| ܪܫ ܡܠܐ; see gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv…), Bar Penkayē offers a fascinating passage full of intriguing observations on the conquerors. He writes:
"[The Hagarenes] held … a certain commandment (pūqdānā| ܦܘܩܕܢܐ) from him who was their guide (mhaddyānā| ܡܗܕܝܢܐ) concerning Christian people and the monastic order. By this one’s guidance (mhaddyānūtā| ܡܗܕܝܢܘܬܐ) they also upheld the worship (segdtā| ܣܓܪܬܐ) of one god in accord
w/ ancient law (namūsā ʿatīqā| ܢܡܘܣܐ ܥܬܝܩܐ). At the beginning they upheld the tradition (mašlmānūtā|ܡܫܠܡܢܘܬܐ) of Muḥammad, who was their instructor (tārʾā| ܬܪܐܐ) such that they would bring the death penalty upon whoever seemed to have dared transgress his laws (nāmūsē)."
There’s a lot in this passage (& others, too). But the words used by Bar Penkāyē are quite intriguing to me; they seem to reveal contact w/ Muslims. (Partially this might be due to accidents of language – Syriac and Arabic are both Semitic languages and, therefore, overlap...
The aggregate is compelling though.) For ex., Muḥammad is named, of course, but what is he called? He’s not called ‘a prophet’, or even ‘their prophet’, but he’s is called a guide. The Syriac mhaddyānā shares a root with the Arabic hādī (guide[r]) and muhtadī/mahdīy (guided).
Segdtā, the Syriac for worship, literally means *to prostrate* in worship (Ar. sajdah|سجدة) – proskúnēsis (Gk. προσκύνησις) is a widespread form of worship by this time, but the Arabians notoriously despised it before Islam. It’s notable that he describes their worship thus.
And look at all those words for law and the like: Bar Penkāyē clearly knew that these conquerors revered this man Muḥammad as a type of lawgiver and that their law was specific to the community he created through his guidance and instruction in the worship of one god.
Perhaps most fascinating of all is the word: mašlmānūtā -- it's from Syriac √šlm – equivalent of Arabic √slm. Why is this significant? Well, this might be the first attempt to render the word ‘Islām|الإسلام’ in a language other than Arabic.
For Bar Penkāyē at least, I think it's clear that he views the conquerors as having a distinct ethnicity and a particular communal identity, rooted in a law, cult, and faith bequeathed to them by a man named Muhammad.
