Abu Bakr, who reportedly said, "For Allah to grant a victory, even a handspan, of the Holy Land by my hand is more beloved to me than a district from the districts of Iraq" (rustaq min rasatiq al-?Iraq), and al-Maqdisi specifically pointed out that Abu Bakr did not say "Babylonia".

During the medieval period, there was a region called ?Iraq ?Arabi ("Arabian Iraq") for Mesopotamia and ?Iraq ?Ajami