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

AnExplanationofMilitary

Slavery 75

The

commonplace

assertionthatIslam

doesnot

distinguish

between

religion

and

politics

istrue;but,

paradoxically,by

em-

bracingpolitics

andwarfare,

bymaking

themcentraltoIslamic

life,IslamremovesthemfromthelivesofmostMuslims."While

Islamisinonesensethe

politicalcommunityparexcellenceithas

tended tomakethe

pious

Muslimmoreandmore

nonpoliti-

cal.

TM

The

mixing

of

religion

with

politics

andwarfareleadstoa

sharpdivisionbetween

public

and

private

domains;insteadof

government

and

warfare,

Muslim

subjectsdevotedthemselves

farmoreto

religious,social,

and

family

concerns.Asa

result,

"thetrue

centralthreadofIslamic

history

liesnotinthe

political

realmofthe

caliphs

andsultansbut

inthesocialrealmwherethe

ulamaservedas the

functioning

heart

ofthehistoricMuslim

community.

’’45

Politicsandwarfarehave

played

asmallerrole

in

thelivesofMuslimsthaninthoseofother

peoples;only

when

non-Muslimsthreateneddid

they

engage

inthoseareasthem-

selves.The

ruling

structurestoodin

strikingisolationfromthe

peoples’ lives;

46

inparticular, itcould notdraw them inas

soldiers.

Who,then,staffedIslamicatearmies?

Withdrawal

by

Muslim

subjects

created

a

power

vacuum

which

opened

Islamicate

public

life

to

domination

byothers.

Armiesbecamethe

playthings

of

nonsubjects;

onesucceeded

anotherwithhardly

any

referencetothe

subjectpopulations.

47

MarginalArea

Soldiers

Two

geographic

terms,

"marginal

area"and

"governmentarea"

sharpenthe

analysis

ofIslamicate

militarypatterns;

soldiersin

Islamicate armies

nearly

all came

from

marginal

areas, the

steppes,

deserts, mountains, and forests

being

thus

defined.

44.Grunebaum,Islam,p. 136.Foranotherview,seeR.Bendix,

Kings

Peoples:PowerandtheMandatetoRule(Berkeley,1978),
pp.

47-49.

45.Bulliet,

p.

138.

46.Onthis,seeR.W.Bulliet,ThePatricians

of

Nishapur(Cambridge,Mass.,

1972)andI.M.

Lapidus,

MnsliraCitiesintheLaterMiddle

Ages(Cambridge,Mass.,

1967).

47.

Nonsubjectsdominatedpoliticsalmostasmuch,butthe

following

discus-

siontakes

uponly

their

military

role.