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

72

TheIslamlcateContext

most everywhere

in Islamdom and throughout premodern

times,

Muslim

subjects

rarelyfought

forthearmiesthat

ruled

over

and

protected

them.

Tobesure,Muslims

did

agitateagainst

the

government

that

ruledthem:disloyalgovernors,oppressed

peasants,unruly

des-

erttribes,

and

angrycity

mobssporadically

rebelled,

but

except

when

non-Muslimsthreatened,indigenoussubjects

ofaruler

almostnevermadeasustainedattempt

tocontrol

theirown

gov-

ernment. Notables

withlocal roots,landlords

or merchants,

hardly

ever led the

subjects

to overthrow

a

regime

and

put

themselves in

power.

(Rare attempts

to do

this were,

sig-

nificantly,

ledbyreligiousfigures.)

Acommonpattern

found

inotherpremodern

civilizationsalmost

neverexistsin Islam-

dom:

indigenous

peoples

in

charge

of

theirown

governments

and

staffing

theirownarmies.

Whennon-Muslims

threatened

everything

changed; danger

tothe

SharieaortoDral-Islfmmeant

thatIslamhadtobede-

fended,

and inthesecircumstances

Muslin

subjects

often

be-

came

moreactive. In

early

Islamic

times,before

many

ofthe

conquered

peoples

hadconverted,

theMuslimsfeltendangered

and

participated

moreactively

inwar.So,too,an

offensivefih6d

stirred

Muslimsto

fight.

Themain

marchesofIslandom(Spain,

AnatoliaandtheBalkans,India)

demonstratethis

point

vividly,

asdoareas

such

as

WestAfricaandCentral

Asia.

37

Facedwith

Christian,Hindu,

Buddhist,oranimist

enemies,Muslim

subjects

responded favorably

to their rulers’

need for

military

man-

power.

Similarly,European,

Chinese,

and

Japaneseimperialism

normallystay

outofwarfare.TheShariCareflects

thisview,too:"Abstainand

desistfromcivilstrife[betweenMuslims]"

al-kaff

wa’l

quCftdfil-fitna.

Ibn

Baa

al-Ukbari(d.387/997)ash-Shar.h

wa’l-lb{zna al?

U.sl

as-Sunnawa’d-Diy{zna,

ed.

and trans. H.

Laoust

(Damascus,

1958),67/126,

withfurther references.

(R.StephenHumphreysprovided

withthisreference.)

37.Afewexamplesare:theSamanid

andSaffaridsinearlyIslam(whenMus-

limswerestillatinyminority

inmost

places),Syrian

cities

340-550/950-1150

(when

the

Byzantines

threatened),andtheSarbadarids(inresponse

toa

Mongol

threat).

Haarmann,

pp.

18-19,pointsoutthe

unusualnatureoftheMuslimre-

sponse

totheCrusaderchallenge.