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

12 Origins

side.

lr

Hekilled

H.

amzaandreceivedhisfreedomas

promised.

18

Afterthe

battle,hespedto Meccaandannounced therethe

Qurashivictory

at

Uh.

ud?

9

A

few

years

later,attheBattleof

Khandaq,

he

foughtagain

with

Quraysh,

this

timekilling

the

Muslim

at.-Tufayl

b.an-NuCman.

2

WhentheMuslimstookcon-

trolof

Mecca

Muh.

ammadorderedhisdeath,so

Wah.

shifledthe

city

and

escaped

to

at.-

.Ta’if,wherehejoineda

group

of

at.-.Ta’if

residentswho submitted to Islam.

2a

On

converting, he re-

counted to the

Prophet

themanner in which hehadkilled

.Hamza;upon

hearing

thistale,

Mu.hammad

banished

Wa.hshi

fromhis

presence.

2z

Wa.hshi

subsequentlybecamealessthan

exemplary

Muslim;itissaidthathewasthefirstMuslimin

Syria

todrink wine

excessively

andto wear

polished

red

clothes,

z3

However,in

11/632

he

againproved

himselfasasoldier,this

timeforthe

Muslims.AttheBattleofYamma,hekilledMu-

saylama,

the

enemy

commanderand

thechief"falseprophet"of

theRiddaWars.

z4

Musaylama’s

deathmarkeda

turningpoint

fortheMuslim

fortunes.

Wah.

shiwasthereafterrememberedas

theslavewhokilledboth

theuncleofthe

Prophet

andoneof

early

Islam’s

greatest

enemies.In

Wah.

shi’s

own

words:"Ikilled

thebestofmenafterthe

Prophet

andthenlaterthe

worst

of

them."z

As

Wah.

shi’s

careerindicates,slaves

provided

morethancan-

nonfodderforthefirstIslamicatearmies.

Wah.

shi"was

certainly

asoldier,trainedinthe

handling

ofarms.

’’6

HeandSalmanal-

17.

Ibid.,p.230.

18.Ibid.,

pp.286,300;AA,1:322,328;T,1:1405;IA,2:156;KM,60;FB,

p.

52;IH2:69-73,

122,156;IS,2:1.29;

TYac,

2:47;Khalffa,p.32.

19.al-Wiqidf,

p.

332.

20.Ibid.,

pp.

473,496;IS,2:1.49,3:2.113.

21.AA,1:363;IH,2:72;

al-Wqid?,pp.

862-63;IA,2:250.

22.IH,2:72;

al-Wiqidf,p.863;AA,1:363.

23.IH,2:71;AA,

1:322;UG,5:83;IA,2:251;cUmar struckhimoff the

dfw(tn
onaccountofhis
drinking(IH,2:73);

he

eventually

diedfromwine

drinking(UG,5:84).

24.

al-Balans,pp.80,95;T,1:1940,1943,1948-49;TYae,2:130;Khalffa,

p.

89;IbnAtham,1:38-39.

25. IH,2:73;FB,
    p.89;Khalifa,p.89;UG,5:83.

26.Lammens,

"A.habig,"p.255.