The additions of the "piyyutim" to the services were mostly used as an embellishment to the services and to make it more enjoyable to the congregation. As to the origin of the "piyyut"s implementation, there is a theory that this had to do with restrictions on Jewish prayer. Samau'al Ibn Yahya al-Maghribi, a Jewish convert to Islam in the twelfth century, wrote that the Persians prohibited Jews from holding prayer services. "When the Jews saw that the Persians persisted in obstructing their prayer, they invented invocations into which they admixed passages from their prayers (the "piyyut") … and set numerous tunes to them". They would assemble at prayer time in order to read and chant the "piyyutim". The difference between that and prayer is that the prayer is without melody and is read only by the person conducting the service, whereas in the recitation of the "piyyut", the cantor is assisted by the congregation in chanting melodies. "When the Persians rebuked them for this, the Jews sometimes asserted that they were singing, and sometimes over their situations." When the Muslims took over and allowed Jews "dhimmi" status, prayer became permissible for the Jews, and the "piyyut" had become a commendable tradition for holidays and other joyous occasions.