Slave Soldiers and Islam_ The Genesis of a Military System - Daniel Pipes

xiv

Introduction

tions,

regardless

ofhow

imperfect

the

application

ofShariCawas,

Muslimlegalsystemsalways

hadanIslamicbasisin

premodern

times.Localvariationsexistedwithinthecontextofa

single

reli-

gion

andlawofIslam;canonefindsimilarIslamic

contextsfor

other

aspects

oflife? Canonespeakof

Islamicateliterature,

philosophy,sexuality,

economics,statecraft,orwarfare?

Beyond

theritualand

legalspheres,

the

significance

ofbeing

a

Muslimisunclear;noconsensusexistsonthedegree

towhich

Muslims shared traits which

distinguished

them from non-

Muslims.Thisistheproblem

Iwishtoaddresshere.Putanother

way,

this

study

considershowIslam

helps

ustounderstand

the

history

ofMuslims.I

approach

the

question

bycombining(1)

re-

searchinthe

primary

sources

forthecore area

(part

IIofthis

book)with(2)researchinsecondary

worksforthe

peripheries

(partI).

ThecoreIslamicareaisthe"MiddleEast,"the

region

withthe

longestexposure

toIslamandan

overwhelming

Muslim

majority?

All Islamicate

patterns

originated

in this

region;

through

researchinthe

sourcesIam

studying

theirnatureand

development,

aninterestthat

many

scholarsshare.

Thesecondlevelofresearchislesscommon;indeed,

Ibelieve

noonehasstudiedMuslimsin

history

in

this

way.

4

Byreading

extensivelyabout

all

parts

ofIslamdom,

including

the most

peripheral

areas

(for

instance,Albania,

Niger,

China,Malaya),I

hope

tobuild

up

abroad

comparative

knowledgewith

whichto

assessthe

impact

ofIslam.

Studying

Islamicate

patterns

inthe

3.On

theusesofthe

term

Middle

East,

see

my

"Middle

East,

Arabs,Semites,

andIslam

Explained,"

inMiddleEastNotebook

(forthcoming).

4.Severalstudieshavediscussedthevalidity

ofIslamicate

patterns.

Onthe

arts,seeO.Grabar,TheFormation

of

Islamic

Art

(New

Haven,

1973);

oneco-

nomics,

M.

Rodinson,

Islametle

capitalisme(Paris,1966);

on

geography,

X.de

Planhol,

LeMonde

islamique:

essaide

gkographiereligieuse(Paris,

1957)andLes

Fondements
gbographiques

del’histoiredel’lslam(Paris,1968);on

psychology,

M.

Halpern,

"Four

ContrastingRepertories

ofHumanRelationsinIslam";in

general,

M.G.S.

Hodgson,

TheVenture

of

Islam.NotealsotheresearchofA.

BouhdibaandC.Geertz.Planhol’sworksstandoutasthe

onlyattempts

to

generalize

aboutanIslamicate

pattern

onthebasis

ofinformationfromall

parts

ofIslamdom.MostworksdealingwithIslamdonasawhole(TheLegacy

of

Islam,

Cambridge

History

of

lslam,TheSocialStructure

of

lslam,

Unity

and

Variety

inMuslim

Civilization,etc.)

donot

attempt

tofindcommonelements.