WI: Egyptian monasticism had spread into Tunisia, Libya, Algeria and Morocco?

One of the reasons I've heard for why the aforementioned North African countries/regions converted from Christianity to Islam so easily/quickly was because there wasn't a strong monastic tradition as there was in Egypt and Syria.

Now, let me stress that I am not an expert in Christianity, Islam or any religion, but I've very recently wondered what if Egyptian monasticism had spread to Tunisia, Libya, Algeria and Morocco (Roman and/or non-Roman areas) as well as it did into Europe and Asia? What would the effects be? Would Christianity become more strongly entrenched in those areas/outside major cities like Carthage, or would other factors 'conspire' against such?

Any thoughts?
 
One of the reasons I've heard for why the aforementioned North African countries/regions converted from Christianity to Islam so easily/quickly was because there wasn't a strong monastic tradition as there was in Egypt and Syria.

Now, let me stress that I am not an expert in Christianity, Islam or any religion, but I've very recently wondered what if Egyptian monasticism had spread to Tunisia, Libya, Algeria and Morocco (Roman and/or non-Roman areas) as well as it did into Europe and Asia? What would the effects be? Would Christianity become more strongly entrenched in those areas/outside major cities like Carthage, or would other factors 'conspire' against such?

Any thoughts?

Eh... depends on. Ideally is if the region has its own Patriarch like Alexandria, Jerusalem. The Berbers in North Africa also had a nomad lifestyle which made conversion easier. The Urban population of Egypt kept the Coptic Church largely in tact through out the Middle Ages. But to say, Egypt is up to this day still between 85%-92% Islamic. Syria is up to 88% (If one would consider the Alawites as Islamic). So how much effect it would have? I wouldn't know... Maybe @John7755 يوحنا has better answers. He seems to be specialized in Early Islamic History and possibly know why North Africa converted more than Egypt and the Levant.
 
One of the reasons I've heard for why the aforementioned North African countries/regions converted from Christianity to Islam so easily/quickly was because there wasn't a strong monastic tradition as there was in Egypt and Syria.
It sounds far-fetched, to be honest, as a monocausal explanation.

First, truth is we don't know how quick or not Islamisation was in Ifriqiya : for all we know it took a same time than for al-Andalus, meaning a general conversion in the Xth/XIth centuries, and the survival of bishops in North Africa until the XIIth does points that it wasn't happening overnight.

There is no much archeological date for North Africa monasteries (altough you do have exemples as for Ain Tamda), but there is in litterary sources about these and monastic rules (especially St. Augustine's)

Now there is some elements of truth, or at least interesting clues, it should be contextualized : the problem isn't the lack of tradition but the geopolitical situation of North African monachism after the religious turmoil that Vandals rulers enabled. Possidius claims that monks fled the kingdoms (or at least probably modern Tunisia, as it was where religious editcs were more enforced) and "scattered away". We know that desertic hinterland of Tripolitania still had a vibrant monastic life, for instance.
In the end, it was rather the lack of strong political centers that might have led to the absence of a strong enough Christian community : as much as the conquest against Christian or semi-Christianized Berbers was harsh, the consequences of the butchered Byzantine reconquest led to a fairly coastal ecclesiastical ensemble which (we know at least this) well survived into the XIth century.

Would have Byzantine Africa, or better yet, the Berbero-Roman North Africa that Byzantine conquest killed in the crib, have been more held together, more unified and less peripherised as it was IOTL by Constantinople's neglect, things might have been slightly different. But again, al-Andalus Christian community importantly decreased by the XIth and was revivified mostly by neo-Mozarabs as in migrants from Northern Spain, so...
 
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It sounds far-fetched, to be honest, as a monocausal explanation.

First, truth is we don't know how quick or not Islamisation was in Ifriqiya : for all we know it took a same time than for al-Andalus, meaning a general conversion in the Xth/XIth centuries, and the survival of bishops in North Africa until the XIIth does points that it wasn't happening overnight.

There is no much archeological date for North Africa monasteries (altough you do have exemples as for Ain Tamda), but there is in litterary sources about these and monastic rules (especially St. Augustine's)

Now there is some elements of truth, or at least interesting clues, it should be contextualized : the problem isn't the lack of tradition but the geopolitical situation of North African monachism after the religious turmoil that Vandals rulers enabled. Possidius claims that monks fled the kingdoms (or at least probably modern Tunisia, as it was where religious editcs were more enforced) and "scattered away". We know that desertic hinterland of Tripolitania still had a vibrant monastic life, for instance.
In the end, it was rather the lack of strong political centers that might have led to the absence of a strong enough Christian community : as much as the conquest against Christian or semi-Christianized Berbers was harsh, the consequences of the butchered Byzantine reconquest led to a fairly coastal ecclesiastical ensemble which (we know at least this) well survived into the XIth century.

I heard that the local Christians in the Maghreb managed to survive until the 1300s at least. Not sure if it is true but it woud make sense.

There is also a chance that the nomad lifestyle of the Berbers made conversion to Islam easier. Nomads tend to be flexible with religion.
 
I heard that the local Christians in the Maghreb managed to survive until the 1300s at least. Not sure if it is true but it woud make sense
We don't really have a date, but I personally never seen anything beyond the XIIth century.
We have letters (from the 1070's) from Gregory VII about the African community, one of which he complain that communities are so deprived of prelates that there is not even the number required to create another. While Christianity in North Africa is still recorded up to the XIIth, the communities were already in decline at this point.
Banu Hilal invasions were probably the coup de grâce on these communities, due to a renew of religious antagonism.

There is also a chance that the nomad lifestyle of the Berbers made conversion to Islam easier. Nomads tend to be flexible with religion.
Except the far hinterland, Berbers weren't nomads. And if anything, the fierce resistance they gave against Arabs point that they weren't "flexible".
 
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