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

216

Glossary

Jahiliya:The

society

ofArabia

just

beforeIslam

jih&t:Religious

war

by

Muslims

against

non-Muslims

khim:

Slave,

eunuch

(seeAppendix1).

khums:Theone-fifth

part

of

capturedbooty

and

prisoners

which

the

Qur’n

declaresthe

property

of"God,the

Prophet,

hisnearof

kin,

orphans,

the

poor,

and

wayfarers"(8:42).In

practice,

itwascollected

by

thecentral

government.

mamlfk:Slave

(seepp.

5-6and

Appendix1)

marginal

area:Anareawhichin

premodern

timesdidnot

support

con-

centrated

populations

incitiesordense

agriculture;specifically,

the

steppes,

deserts,mountains,andforests

marginal

areasoldier:Asoldier

coming

froma

marginal

areaandhis

descendents

Marwanid

period:

Theera64-132/684-750

(For

a

justification

ofthis

term,see

Hodgson,

1:221,n.7.)

mawla:Here,themawlgdl-asfal(lowermawla);inearlyIslamthisin-

cluded

severaldistinct

types

of

person:

theslaveandfreemawlas

concernusmost

military

slave:A

person

ofslave

origins

whohasbeen

acquired

ina

sys-

tematicmanner,trainedfor

militarypurposes,

and

spends

mostof

hiscareer

asa

professional

soldier

militaryslavery:

The

system

for

acquiring,training,

and

employing

slavesassoldiers

Muslim(adj.):

Pertaining

tothosewhobelieveinIslam

(cf.

Islamicand

Islamicate)

ordinary

slave:Aslavenotin

thearmyor

government

outsider:Eithera

foreigner

oramemberofa

disadvantagedindige-

nous

group

patron:

The

mawlg*

min

fawq (uppermawla),

the

person

towhoma

mawlaisaffiliated

premodern:

The

erasbeforeEuropetransformedthelifeofanon-

European

people

raqq:Slave(see

Appendix1)

S.a.hgba:The
companionsof
Muh.

ammad,thosewhoknewhim

SharFa:Thesacred
lawofIslam

slave:A

person

whohadat

somepointbeenenslaved,evenifhewas

later

manumittedor

ipsimitted;

ofslave

origins

slavemawla:

Inpractice,

any

freedmanofaMuslim

patron

slavesoldier:Sameas a
militaryslave

trueslave:A
person

whofitsthe

standard

Englishmeaning

ofslave:

"onewhoisthe

property

of,and

entirelysubjectto,anotherperson"