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

188

Origins

traordinaryloyalty

ofamawlamadethepatron’sspectacular

es-

capepossible

andwasrewardedwith

responsibilities

andpower.

WhencAbd

ar-Rah,

manb.

MuCawiya

reached

Spain,

hehadto

wincontrolofthe
region

fromthelastUmayyad

governor

there,

sufal-Fihri;although

inoneaccountYfisuffellatthehands

of

hisownmawlas,

TM

anotherversion

portrays

themasstanding

by

him

loyally

totheend.

15

InAbbasidtimestoo,

unfreesoldierscontinuedtoshowthe

same

strong

loyaltytotheir

masters.Adefeatofal-Amin’sforces

by

al-Ma’mOn’sin196/812

provided

khdimsandmawlaswithan

opportunity

tostand

by

theirdefeatedleader?

6

Laterthatsame

year

al-Amin’s

general

inAhwazfellintoa

desperate

situation,

soheofferedhismawlasthechanceto

escape;

buttheyindig-

nantly

refused,

saying:

ByGod,

if

wedoso,we

wouldcause

yougreatinjustice.

Youhave

manumitted

usfrom

slavery

andelevated

usfromhumble

posi-

tions,

raising

us

from

poverty

toriches.Andafterallthat,how

couldweabandon

you

andleave

you

inthis

state?No!

Instead,

we

shalladvanceinfrontof

you

andlieunderyour

steed.

May

God

cursethisworldandlifealtogether

after

your

death.

17

Truetotheirword,themawlas
fought

untilevery

oneofthem

died in battle. In 206/822, al-Ma’mfin’s governor

in

Egypt

fought

rebels

withmixed

troops;

whenallbuthismawlasandhis

kinsmen

deserted,

the

governor

continuedto

fight

onwiththose

remainingloyal

forces.

18

Finally,

Bfibfikfled

a

defeatin222/837

with an armed slave; though

less successful than *Abd ar-

Rah.

mfinb.

MuCfiwiya

orIdris

b.

eAbdallh,

hisslave

helped

to

provision

himand

kept

himoutof

sight

forawhile?

9

FightingConafionals

Anotherseveretestoftheloyalty

ofunfreesoldiersarosewhen

they

hadto

fight

theirown

peoples.Although

notcommonly

104.

BM,2:50.

105.AM,

p.

100.

106.T,3:850.

107.

T,3:854;adapted

from

Ayalon,"Preliminary

Remarks,"

p.

49.

108.TYa

,

2:457.

109.T,3:1223.