ARABS: ASSIMILATION AND SOCIAL CHANGEneither article was constructed for the kind of posture Muslims take
when they worship. It is therefore significant that mawali of Persian
descent solved the problem of what to do with awkward articles of
clothing during Islamic worship. Abii l-'Aliyya, who introduced the
practice of wearing sarawil indoors, put his round cap lined with fox
skin in his sleeve when he worshiped.^36 Al-I:Iasan al-Ba~ri, who wore
a double Kurdish taylasan, put it on his left side when he worshipedY
Even more important than these problems, the enjoyment of luxuries
was a major sociocultural issue among Muslim Arabs in the seventh
century. Since many luxuries were regarded as foreign, this issue af-
fected their attitudes towards cultural assimilation. Most of the Arabs
who settled in the garrison cities of Iraq were unable to take advantage
of the economic opportunities that were available to their leaders.
After 642, campaigns no longer provided as much booty as before.
Ordinary soldiers on stipends were affected adversely by inflation;
they were treated more and more as common subjects and this led to
increasing social polarization and tension under 'Uthman and
Mu'awiya. An extreme example of the straits to which individual
soldiers could be reduced is provided by the story of a very ugly man
of the Banii I:;>abba clan at Basra whom Ziyad found eating garbage.
When asked how many dependents he had, the man replied that he
had seven daughters, all uglier than he was, who devoured his income.
Ziyad provided each of them with one hundred dirhams and a servant,
and increased their rations.^38
Polarization within tribal and clan groups was evident by the time
of the first (itna and was reflected in the divisions among some groups
over whether to avenge the death of 'Uthman or support 'Ali. Such
divisions at Basra were revealed at the time of the Battle of the Camel
in 656, when members of the same tribes fought on opposite sides.
In the case of the 'Abd al-Qays, SUQar ibn 'Abbas, who had been a
member of his tribe's delegation to MUQammad, was among those
who sought to avenge 'Uthman.^39 But seventy 'Abd al-Qays dissidents
were killed for complaining that the Muhajirun (Quraysh) had chosen
the first four caliphs without consulting other Muslims and had mo-
nopolized the tribute (Ar. fay'). Other members of the 'Abd al-Qays
36Ibn Sa'd, Tabaqiit, VII(l), 83-84. Sariiwll had been worn in Sasanian Babylonia
(Rodkinson, Talmud, III, "Erubin," 31).
37 Ibn Sa'd, Tabaqiit, VII(l), 117.
38 Ibn 'Abd Rabbihi, '/qd, 1, 271. Presumably this was to enable them to marry.
39 Ibn Sa'd, Tabaqiit, VII(l), 61-62.