AnExplanationofMilitarySlavery
73
mobilizedtheminmoderntimes;andmost
recentlY,
theU.S.
presence
inIranarousedan
atavisticMuslim
response.
When
Muslim
subjectsfought,theymostprobably
perceived
athreat
from
non-Muslims;
butwhena
government
reasonably
main-
tainedtheShariCaand
kept
theinfidelsat
bay,theystayedaway
fromarmiesandtendedtotheir
privategardens.
So,
insteadofpubliclife,Muslim
subjects
innormaltimescon-
centratedon
personal
matters.
They
were
principallyinterested
in
leading
the
good
lifeandmuchlessinwho
administeredit.
38
Intense
family,
communal,and
religiousinvolvements,
where
Islamic
precepts
andidealswereoften
attained,tookthe
place
of
powerpolitics
andwarfare.Personsinterestedin
righteous
liv-
ing
didbesttorestricttheiractivitiesto
private
affairs.
Affiliationstendedto
beeithersmall-scaleorIslamic.
(Small-
scale
groupings
are
face-to-facesocietiesinwhich
everyone
vir-
tually
knows
everyoneelse;theyare
typically
basedeitheron
proximity
oron
kinshiprelations.)
Inruralareasof
Islamdom,
villages
andtribes
predominated;
inurban
areas,quarters
and
fraternalassociations
(suchasyouth clubs,trade
guilds,
even
criminal
gangs)
hadthe
most importance.
39
Everywhere
the
family
camefirst,
though,
asthe
supreme
locusofMuslimlife.
Largeraffiliations(inwhicha
person
does
notknow
everyone)
derived
fromIslam.Thesewere
primarilytwo,
themadhhaband
thearqa.The
madhhabswere
systems
of
jurisprudence(often
translatedas"law
schools")
which
developedintosocialinstitu-
tions.Eachmadhhabundertooktotranslatethe
regulationsofthe
Qur’an
and
.hath
intoa
completelegalstructure.
Theyevolved
outof
earlystudygroups
of
scholars;
by
the
early
5th/1
lthcen-
tury,nearly
allSunniMuslims
held
allegiance
toamadhhab
(and
Shiq
and
Kharijigroups
eachhadtheirown
madhhabs,too).Sur-
prisingly,these
informallyorganizedlegalaffiliationsbecame
vehicles for
popular
expression
in the
period between al-
Ma’mfin’
reign
andthe
Buyid Conquest
(ca.
200-330/820-
38.Grunebaum,lslam,
p.
132.
- Fordiscussionsofthesesocial
questions,
seethe
writings
ofClaudeCahen,
MarshallG.S.
Hodgson,andIraM.Lapidus.