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Whereas the Byzantine [Christians] believed in 'compelling them to come in', since conquest necessarily implied conversion to orthodox Christianity in order to fit the conquered in the imperial scheme of one empire and one faith, the Arab [Muslim] was content to remain one of the dominant caste of the Faithful, to tax the infidel at a higher rate than himself, but to leave him otherwise free to worship as he chose.(Byzantium: The Imperial Centuries 33) (196:2) Omar had come to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre to show reverence for the sacred site. So it would be wrong to confuse the pious intention of Omar for an act of abomination. If Omar had committed an abomination, it was not his reverence for the Holy Sepulchre, it was his taking up the sword against 'the people of the Book'. The growing element of imperial greed that inspired some Muslims to conquest was one of the evidences of a growing abomination that was afflicting Islam. This, of course, caused many Christians to feel fear and revulsion towards the Faith of Muhammad.
(196:3)
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