ABSTRACT
The Umayyads, as Believers (mu’minun), had close and often constructive relations with Christians in particular until the end of the seventh century; too little evidence survives to say much about their policies toward Jews and Zoroastrians. After about 692 evidence of restrictive Umayyad policies toward Christians increases, but the record is complex and examples of positive relations between the rulers and their Christian subjects continues even into the late eighth century. The matter is complicated by the Believers’ gradual acquisition of a clear-cut identity as a distinct religious confession, as Muslims, during this period.
