166
Origins
Quraysh]
said:’LookQuraysh,you
haveleft
yourghulms
with
your possessions--they
will
bethe oneswho take over
your
camelsaddles.’
Sowe[theslaves]
groupedtogether,
hobbledthe
camels,andtookoffinbattleformationto theleftand
right
wings.
TM
Later,Nistfisexecuteda
Muslim
captive
underordersfromhis
master?
2
Afterthe
peace
ofal-Hudaybiya
in6/628,a
Qurashi
soldierwhohad
beentaken
captiveby
theMuslims
wishedto
stay
in
Medina
asaMuslim,buttheMeccans
sentouta
Qurashi
with
amawlato
bring
himback.
3a
Atthe
Battleof
al-H.
unayn
in
8/630,aChristian
slave
fought
for
Thaqif
andmet
hisdeathin
battle?
4
Just
before
theMuslimtakeoverofMecca,Quraysh
sent
itsmawlas
to
help
itsallies,theKinfina
tribe,
a5
It
appearslikely
thattheMeccans,
whowere
city
dwellers,
usedslavesinwarmoreoften
thandidtheirdesertbrethren.
Theviewofthelatter
canbe
readilyappreciated
in
thestate-
ment,
"Aslavedoesnotunderstand
howto
fight;
hisworkisto
milk
thecamelsandbindtheirudders.
’’a6
Still,
atthemostim-
portant
battle
oftheRiddaWars, atYamfima
in
11/632,
the
"false
prophet"
Musaylama
sufferedso
many
losses
fighting
the
Muslimsthat
hisleaderssentoutacalltoarm
the
villagers
and
slaves.
37
Asinthe
Roman-Byzantine
andIranian
cases,
Arabia
pro-
vidcs
examples
ofslaves
fighting,
butnoneofthem
appears
to
havcmuchto
dowith
militaryslavery.
TheNeedforMarginalArea
Soldiers
Tracing
Muslimmilitary
needsfrom thebirth
ofIslamuntil
205/820showsthatMuslimstwicesought
what
militaryslavery
31.
al-Wfiqidi,p.
230.
- IH,2:172
al-Wfiqidi,p.362.
33.IH,2:323.
- IH,2:450.
- TYae,2:58.
36.S’ratCAntar,
quoted
inR.A.Nicholson,
A
LiterayHistory
of
theArabs(Lon-
don,
1907),p.
115.
37.T,1:1953-54;al-Balansi,p.
104,writes"women,children,
andslaves."