62
TheIslamicateContext
mies;
although
theyalsoserved
theirmastersas
agents,military
dutiescamefirst.
Thereasonwhyonly
Muslimsestablished
militaryslavery
lies
deeper,
inthenatureofIslamic
political
idealsandtheireffect
ontheactual
conducting
of
politics.
Why
Muslim
Subjects
RelinquishedPower
Wehaveestablishedthat
militaryslavery
musthave
beencon-
nectedtothecivilizationofIslam.Nowwefacethe
central
ques-
tion:whatIslamicatereasons
causedMuslimsalone
regularly
torecruit
theirsoldiers
asslaves?What
uniquely
Islamicate
pattern
caused
militaryslavery
tocomeintoexistence?
Thissectionidentifiesa
fundamental
pattern
of
public
lifein
Islamdom: withdrawal by
Muslim
subjects
from the
govern-
ments and armies
which ruled them; the
subsequent
sections
showwhotooktheir
place,
connect
this
pattern
to
military
slav-
ery,
anddemonstratehowmilitary
slavesservedMuslimrulers
better
thantheiralternates.
Militaryslavery
recedes
temporarily
intothe
background
inthe
followingpages;
thediscussion
here
concernsafundamentalcharacteristicwithnumerous
and
pro-
found
consequences
forIslamicatepublic
life;
militaryslavery
was
but
one
of
those,though
an
especially
visibleone.Thear-
gument
concerning
Islamicate
public
life is
presented
as a
hypothesis,
anda
springboard
fordiscussion,notasa
firmcon-
victionaboutthe
"presumptive
agency"connecting
slavesoldiers
andIslam.
IslamicPublicIdeals
Whileall
religionspostulate
ideals
thathuman
beings
cannot
consistentlymaintain,
Islamaloneoftheuniversalist
religions
makesdetailed
political
ideals
part
ofitsbasiccode,
theShariCa.
2t
- amnotconsideringConfucianismareligion.
The
followingargument
connectingmilitaryslavery
toIslamwas
inspiredby
a
reading
ofC.S.Kessler,
"Islam,
Society
andPoliticalBehaviour:Some
Comparative
Implicationsofthe
Malay
Case."This
insightful
articletestifiestotheoriginalandunorthodoxideas
whichthosewho
study
Islaminthe
peripheries
canprovide.