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

TheUnfreeinMuslim
Warfare,

2-2051624-820 119

to
Mu.seab

b.az-Zubayr,thebrotherofIbn

az-Zubayr.

Mus.eab

at

firstintendedtokillall ofal-Mukhtfir’smawlasoldierswhile

sparing

theArabians,butwhenhis

companions

decriedthisas

un-Islamic,

heexecutedthemall.

66

Besides

showing

a

strong

antimawla
feeling,

thisindicatesthe

importance

ofmawlasin

al-Mukhtfir’sforces.

AI-MukhtSr’s useofmawlas has attracted much

attention;

historians consider his reliance on unfree soldiers
unprece-

dented.

67

Whilehe

depended

onthem

heavily,

a

glance

atother

armiesinthesecondcivilwarshowsthatall
partiesemployed

themtoan
unprecedented

extent.Thenotionthatal-Mukhtr

receivedmawla
support

inreturnfor

championing

theirclaims

to
equality

doesnotstand

up

totheevidence,

especially

tothe

factthat
many

unfreesoldiers

foughtagainst

al-Mukhtfir.In-

deed, al-Mukhtr himselfmay havebeen killed by

a

mawla

fighting

onIbnaz-Zubayr’sbehalf.

68

Hadtherebeenanideo-

logical

commitment to the mawlas onal-MukhtSr’s

part,

he

would
scarcelyhavebeenkilledbyoneofthem.

2.

Ibn

az-Zubayr,

almost

simultaneously

with al-Mukhtfir’s

rebellion
(and

also

goadedinto

action

byal-H.usayn

b.CAli’s

deathatKarbal’in
61/680),

declaredhimself

caliph

inMeccain

61/681.Unfreesoldiers

fought

inhis

early

battles

against

the

Umayyads--though the sources are

not

entirely clear

as

to

whose side
theyfought

on.

9

In

particular,

amawla,Yazidb.

Hurmuzleda

corps

ofmawlasat

al-H.

arrain63/683,

70

where

"they

wereentrustedwiththedefenseof[a]sectionoftheditch.

Theirforcewasdividedintosquadrons(karch-s)

positioned

behind each other.
They

were assaulted

by

a unit of the

[Umayyad]army

andcalled

upon

tosurrender;thecommander,

66.T,2:749-50;AA,5:263.

67.Zaydn,4:87-88;Kubbel,

p.

118;Cahen,Peuplesmusulmans,

pp

115-16:

Watt,

p.

162;

al-Kharbfi.tli,

al-Mukhtr,

p.

286;CHI,4:37.These

opinions

are

largelybasedontheinformation

in

T,1:649-51, 721 (translatedonpp.198-200

of"FromMawlato

Mamluk").

68.AA,5:262.

69.Khalifa,pp.304,313;IS,5:62-63.

70.AA,4b:35;IS,5:209,7:1.160.