The Muslim conquest of Sicily began in June 827 and lasted until 902, when the last major Byzantine stronghold on the island, Taormina, fell. Isolated fortresses remained in Byzantine hands until 965, but the island was henceforth under Muslim rule until conquered in turn by the Normans in the 11th century.

The Aghlabids were an Arab dynasty centered in Ifriqiya from 800 to 909 that conquered parts of Sicily, Southern Italy, and possibly Sardinia, nominally as vassals of the Abbasid Caliphate. The Aghlabids were from the Najdi tribe of Banu Tamim and adhered to the Mu'tazilite rationalist doctrine within Hanafi Sunni Islam, which they imposed as the state doctrine of Ifriqiya. They ruled until 909 when they were conquered by the new power of the Fatimids.