172
Origins
patron.
5
True,freemawlashada
legalright
to
changepatrons
oreventohaveno
patron,
56
but
if
they
abandonedone,
they
werecutofffromArabian
societyaltogether.
The
transferof
walfz’wasanathema;mawlaswho
changedallegiancewerenever
trusted
again.
In
142/759
themawlasofthelast
Umayyadgov-
ernorof
Spain,
Yfisuf
al-Fihri,turnedonhim,killedhim,and
then
applied
forreward
tohisvictoriousrival,cAbdar-Rah,mn
I,thenew
independentUmayyad
rulerof
Spain.
But
insteadof
takingthemawlasintohisownserviceas
theywished,
CAbdar-
Ra.hmn
executedthem,
saying,
"Youdidnot
protectyourpa-
tron,sohowwill
youprotect
or
obey
me?
’’57
Mawlashadtore-
main
loyal
totheir
master,
otherwise
they
lostallclaimto
favor;
generally,indeed,
they
were
veryloyal.
8
InDhamm
Akhlq
al-
Kuttb,
al-Jhi.z
makesthis
point
inreferencetomawlas
serving
their masters as secretaries
(another common
occupation
for
them):
"Theslaveatleasthasthe
right
to
complaintohismaster
or,ifhedesires,todemanda
change
in
masters;
butthesecre-
tary
(ktib)cannotdemandhis
wages
if
they
areinarrearsnor
canheleavehis
patron(.s.hib).
His
position
isthatofaslave,like
oneofthe
stupidestamong
them.
’’9
Fighting
mawlaswere
entirely
inthehandsof
an
Arabian
pa-
tron.Their
position
cameto
dependentirely
onhisfavor;
they
subsumed
themselvestohimandtheirintereststohis.Tofall
intodisfavormeantthe
abrupt
endofa
career;allhopesofad-
vancementand
well-beinglay
inthe
patron’sgood
will.
Bycon-
verting
and
joining
the
army,
non-Arabians
voluntarilyplaced
themselvesunderthecontrolofArabians.
Slavesandmawlas
acquiredmilitarysignificance
intheMar-
wanidera
byproviding
neededextra
manpowertothearmiesof
55.Mawlasin
military
service
resembleda
voluntary
devshirme
(theperiodic
Ottoman
levy
ofchildrenfor the
military
slave
corps).Itmayalsobecompared
to
joining
theCommunist
party;
inreturnfor chanceat
privilege
and
power,
themember
givesupmuchofhispersonalfreedom.
56.
Pipes,
"Mawlas,"sectionb.
57.BM,2:50.
- Examplesofoutstanding
loyaltymay
befoundin
chapter
6,
pp.
185-88.
59.Dhamm
Akhlqal-Kuttb,
p.
191.Forthe
important
roleofmawlas
ktibs,
see
Biddle,pp.154-60.