Introduction
xvii
amongMuslims. In fact,the
responses
to failure influenced
Muslimsincommon
waysasmuchasthe
goalsthey
attained.In
public
affairs,Muslimsdidnot
live
up
tomostIslamic
precepts
andideals:theratesoftaxation
prescribedbyIslamforzakdh
were
unworkable.inan
agrarian-basedeconomy
and
weredis-
placedalready
inthe2d/8th
century;
the
juridicalprocedures
weretooinflexibleforuseina
systemof
justice;
commercialre-
strictions(suchas the
prohibition
on
interest)wereabsolutely
untenable
fortraders;andthe
political-military requirements
were
beyond
thereachof
anymundane
government.
No
people
haseverlived
longby
theselawsof
Islam--overamillenniumof
history
makesthis
point
clear
beyonddispute--buteach
people
thattookits
faith
seriously
hadtodealwiththe
gapbetween
ideals and
reality. Itis
my assumption
that Muslimsin
pre-
moderntimesdidtake these
idealstoheartandthereforethe
failure to enforce them had
major consequences. Muslims
shareda
disappointmentintheconductof
public
affairs:
illegal
taxes,
non-Islamic
judicialtribunes,
usury,
andfailed
political-
military
institutions
(on
which
morein
chapter3)
boundthem
together,
forbelieversreactedinsimilar
ways
to
thesefactsof
life. Not
thidealsthemselvesbutMuslim
responses
totheir
nonimplementationaccountedfortheIslamicateelementinthe
economic,social,
political,
and
militarylifeof
premodern
Islam-
dom.
Manyattempts
tounderstand
the
history
ofMuslimsas
wellascurrent
developments
missthis
pointentirelyby
looking
onlyatideals;intheabstract,thesehavelittlevalueforunder-
standingtheroleofIslamin
history.
The
adaptationby
Islamoftraits
particulartotheMiddleEast
constitutesafinal
pattern
ofIslamicate
influence.Althoughnot
sanctioned
by
Islam, some Middle
Eastern
patterns
became
identifiedwith
the
religion
andits
way
oflife;asaresult,
they
spread
acrossIslamdom.M.
G.S.
Hodgson
identifiesaMiddle
East
high
culturaltradition
(he
callsit
theIrano-Semitictradi-
tion of the
Nile-to-Oxus
region)
which was modified and
"refonted"
by
Islam.
9
Inhisview,whenIslam
spreadbeyond
8.u.
Haarmann,"IslamicDutiesin
History,"pp.
10-11.
9.
Hodgson,1:61-62,117,237-38.