TheUnfree
inMuslim
Warfare,
2-205/624-820 109
experiencedslavery
or
somethingclosely
akintoit. Theterm
"unfree"thusrefersbothtoslavesandtomawlas.
Before64/684
Muh.ammad
andtheRiddaWars,2-13/624-34
Slavesformed a
disproportionately
large
part
ofthe Muslim
community
initsveryfirstyears. According
toan
oft-quoted
h.adth,
fiveofthefirst
eight
convertshadslave
origins?Indeed,
thesecondMuslim
(after
Muh.
ammad
himself)may
havebeen
Muh.
ammad’sslave,Zayd
b.
H.
firitha.
4
Thehumble
origins
ofthe
firstMuslims
provided
Meccanscofferswithmuchto
laugh
at.
5
Naturally,
whenwarcametheseMuslims
played
a
major
role.
Slavesandotherweak
persons(mustad.
Cafn)
foundawelcome
place
inthenascentIslamicatearmiesforboth
religious
and
military
reasons. Islamstressedthesocialegalitarianismofall
Muslims;whatbetter
way
toconfirmthisthan
byletting
slaves
takeanactiverolein
defending
thefaith?
Beyondideology,
the
slaves
provided
valuable
manpower
tothesmallcommunityof
Muslimsanditsallies.Theymade
up
agood
part
of
the
umma
forsome
years,
anditwouldhavebeen
folly
to
disregard
them
when
every
manwasneeded.
Accordingly,
the
Prophet
andthe
first
caliphfully
utilizedtheslavesattheir
disposal.
Thiscombi-
nationofsentimentand
exigency
ledtotheheavyuseofslaves
during
theten
years
fromBadrtotheendoftheRiddaWars
(2-13/624-34).
Unfreesoldiers
fought
forIslamfromthefirstbattle;indeed,
thefirstMuslimkilledin
battlewas
Mihja
c,ablackmawla.
6
The
biography
ofthe
Prophet,
IbnHishm’sas-Sra
an-Nabawya,
lists
the
combatants,slayers,
andcasualtiesattheBattleofBadrin
2/624,aswellasthecasualtiesattheBattleof
Uh.
udin3/625.A
tally
oftheselistsshowsthefollowingparticipationby
mawlas:
3.UG,4:44.
4.AA,1:471.
5.AA,1:156.
- IS,3:1.285
andUG,
4:424sayYemeni;
al-Jfibi,
Fakhr,p. 180 saysblack.
7.Combatants:
IH,
1:677-706.
Haas,pp.29-30,Goto78,
andW.M.
Watt,