Emirate of Sicily |Emirate of Sicily Emiratu di Sicilia Εμιράτο
της Σικελίας |Province of the Aghlabid Emirate of Ifriqiya
(831–909) and of the Fatimid Caliphate (909–948), after 948
autonomous emirate under the Kalbids| Italy in 1000. The Emirate
of Sicily is coloured in light green. |Languages||Byzantine
Greek, Sicilian Arabic, Vulgar Latin| |Religion||Shi'a Islam
(state) Eastern and Western Christianity Muslims, who first
invaded in 652 AD, seized control of the entire island from the
Byzantine Empire in a prolonged series of conflicts from 827 to
902. Despite the invaders' Arabic language and Islamic faith, an
Arab-Byzantine culture developed, producing a multiconfessional
and multilingual state. The Emirate was conquered by Christian
Norman mercenaries under Roger I of Sicily who founded the
County of Sicily in 1071. First Arab invasions of Sicily In 535,
Emperor Justinian I returned Sicily to the Roman empire, now
ruled from Constantinople exclusively. As the power of the
empire waned in the West, Sicil