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

TheUnfreeinMuslim

Warfare,

2-205/624-820

117

The

Marwanids,

64-132/684-750

Mu

eawiya

II’s

deathandtheadventofcivilwarin64/684

marked

thefirst

large-scale

andconsistent

entry

of

unfreesoldiersinto

Muslim

armies.Theycontinuedto

fight

oftenandin

large

num-

bers

through

theMarwanid

period,

until

theAbbasidtakeover

in

132/750.

Inthis

era,

unfreesoldiers

fought

against

bothMus-

limsand

non-Muslims; andwhenMuslims

fought

eachother,

they supportedboththe central

government

andthe rebels.

Mostmodern

accountsstresstheir

supportonly

fortherebels:

"The

feelings

whichstirred

inthemawlas’ soulsledthemto

revolt

against

the

Umayyadcaliphate

andto

joinevery

faction

and

everyrebel

opposing

the

Umayyads.

TM

Mawlasdid

join

re-

bellions,

but

they

also

foughtasmuch--and

perhaps

more--for

theMarwanids

against

therebels!The

followingpagesdocu-

mentthis

important

factandan

explanation

foritfollowsin

chapter

6.

Although

not

discontinuous,warfareintheMarwanid

period

canbe dividedintothreedistinct
periods,

twowithwarfare

predominantly

between Muslimsand

one

mostlyagainst

non-

Muslims.

64-74/684-693
Intra-Muslim Civilwar

74-119/693-737 Non-Muslim Second
conquests

119-132/737-750

Intra-Muslim Marwaniddecline

Civil
War,

64-74/684-93

WithRebels.
Twoofthe
protagonists

inthesecondcivil

war,al-

Mukhtarand

Ibn

az-Zubayr,depended

so

heavily

onunfreesol-

diersthat
theydeserve
separate

consideration.

1. AI-Mukhtrhas
   been
   portrayed

asthefirstMuslimleader

"tounderstand andto

try

to

remedy

the

existing

distinctions

in social, economic and
political rights

between CArabs and

mawli.

’’52

Alreadybeforehisrevolt,heclaimedtodefendthe

weak

(a4.-.ducaf’)--thatis,slaves

andmawlas.

3

Hisfirst

military

51.

al-KharbtSt.li,

al-H.

ukm,

p.

162.

Emphasis

added.

52.

Dixon,p.

36.

53.Ibid.Ihavebeenunableto

locateseveralofDixon’sreferences

concerning

al-Mukhtar.