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Quotations
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The existence of at least one mosque in Constantinople attested in the 10th c.:
a. Ἄκουε οὖν, τοῦ Σαρακηνῶν γένους ὁ μέγας καὶ ὑπερκείμενος ἄνθρωπος. Ῥωμαίων οἱ ἐξ ἀρχῆς βασιλεύσαντες οὕτω τὰ περὶ τῶν αιχμαλώτων διέταξαν, ὡς εἰδότες ὅτι μέχρι μὲν τῆς τοῦ πολέμου συστάσεως δεῖ πρὸς κάκωσιν τῶν πολεμίων ἀγωνίζεσθαι, ἐπειδὰν δὲ λάβωσιν ὑπὸ χεῖρα τοὺς πολεμοῦντας, ὡς ὑπεξουσίων κήδεσθαι καὶ πρόνοιαν ἐπιδείκνυσθαι τῆς αὐτῶν ἀταλαιπώρου ζωῆς, καὶ ὥστε μηδὲν αὐτοῖς ἕτερον ἐπιτρέχειν ἢ μόνην τὴν ἀποστέρησιν τῆς πατρίδος καὶ τῶν οἰκείων καὶ φίλων καὶ συνγγενῶν. Διὰ τοῦτο καὶ οἰκήσεις ἀπένειμαν ἀστενοχωρήτους καὶ ἀέρος καθαρωτάτου ἀπόλαυσιν, καὶ τῶν ἄλλων ὅσα πρὸς τὴν ἀνθρωπίνην ζωὴν συντελεῖ οἷα τοῖς ὁμογενέσιν καὶ ὁμοπίστοις, καὶ τοῖς τῆς ὑμετέρας θρησκείας αφωρισμένον εὐκτήριον.
Jenkins, R.J.H. - L.G. Westerink (ed.), Nicholas I. Letters (CFHB 6, Washington DC 1973), no. 102.57-67.
b. Ἔκγονος δὲ τοῦ Μαυίου ὑπήρχεν ὁ Μάσαλμας, ὁ κατὰ Κωνσταντινουπόλεως ἐκστρατεύσας, οὗτινος καὶ δι' αἰτήσεως ἐκτίσθη τὸ τῶν Σαρακηνῶν μαγίσδιον ἐν τῷ βασιλικῷ πραιτωρίῳ.
Moravcsik, G. - Jenkins, R.J.H. (ed.), Constantine Porphyrogenitus, De Administrando Imperio 1 (CFHB 1.1, Washington DC 1967), p. 93.
The presence of Sejuk merchants in Constantinople during the 12th c.:
τοίνυν ἐπιπράττει φυλακαῖς ἐνειρχθῆναι καὶ τὰ ὄντα πάντα ἀφαιρεθῆναι ὁπόσοι Ῥωμαίοι τε καὶ Τοῦρκοι παραγματευταὶ τοῦ Ἰκονίου ἀπάραντες τὸ Βυζάντιον ἐπεισῄεσαν.
van Dieten, J.A. (ed.), Nicetae Choniatae Historia (CFHB 11, Berlin – New York 1975), p. 494.
Constantinople viewed by the Arabs, early 10th c.:
When reading Arabic-Islamic medieval literature, it is impossible to avoid noticing the special mystique that Constantinople held for the Arab Muslims. The authors were practically unanimus in declaring that no other place in the world was comparable in size, in geographical location, and in importance. The third/ninth and fourth/tenth-century geographical manuals determined later perceptions of the Byzantine capital, since works from this period became points of reference for subsequent Arabic-Islamic writings on the city. In writing about Constantinople, Arab Muslims were not only reacting to the city's physical presence; they were also responding to its literary and historical associations.
[...]
Perhaps the most extensive and informative description of the city by an Arab was made by Harun b. Yahya and inserted in the early fourth-/tenth-century geographical work of Ibn Rusteh, Kitab al-a‘laq al-nafisa. The date of the arrival of Harun to Constantinople is uncertain, but he is believed to have been there sometime during the late third/ninth to early fourth-/tenth century. Although a captive, Harun was left to wander in Constantinople contemplating the buildings, monuments and churches, examining the exterior of the Imperial Palace and some of its halls, analyzing statues and talismans with great interest, and witnessing or even taking part in imperial ceremonies... As a result, Harun's descriptions constitute a primary text for assessing the symbolic importance that Constantinople attained in medieval Arab Muslim litterature.
El Cheikc, N.M., Byzantium viewed by the Arabs (London 2004), pp. 140, 142-3.
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