TheUnfree
inMuslim
Warfare,
2-205/624-820 113
Firisimade
significantmilitary
contributions;thoughthey
are
thebestknownofthefirstMuslimslavesoldiers,
otherstoomust
havehad
important
militaryroles.
Usamab.
Zayd
b.
H.
aritha,
ason of
Muh.
ammad’s favorite
slavemawla,
commandedtheleft
wing
attheBattleofYamama;
then,in11/632,
just
beforehisdeath,
Muh.
ammadorderedan
expedition
to
Syria
underUsma’scommand.
TheArabianwar-
riors
assigned
tothiscampaign
resistedtheselectionofamawla
leader,
so whenAbfi Bakrinsistedon
carrying through
the
Prophet’s
last
wishes,
someofthem
complained
tocUmar.De-
spite
their
protests,
Usfima ledthecampaign
andexecutedit
successfully,returning
home
with
booty.
Thusamawlaledthe
very
firstsortieofMuslimsoutofArabia.
Despite
the
profusion
ofslavesandmawlasfighting
withthe
Muslimsbefore 13/634,there
canbeno
question
of
military
slavery
here;theMuslim
forces
constitutedraidingparties
more
thanatrue
army,
andtheirneedfortheunfreein
warfare
was
immediateandshort-term.No
system
existed;rather,
needfor
and
availability
oftheunfreehappily
coincided.
ArabianArmipotence,
13-64/634-84
The Arabian
conquests began
in
earnest
afterthe
subjection
oftheArabiantribes tookplace
underthe
caliph
Abfi Bakr
(r.11-13/632-34).Amazingly,
the
conquests
weremade
in
two
short
periods,
withonlyfinishingoperationsoccurring
atother
times.Thefirstwaveof
conquests
werecarried
out
during
the
reign
ofCUmarI,
13-23/634-44
and
thenext
couple
of
years.
Afterthisburstofexpansion,
theMuslimsdidcontinueto
push
their boundariesback, butfar more
slowly.
Then,
a second
roundof
conquests
took
place
from
78/697to96/715.
AtthecloseoftheRiddaWars,
mostArabiansunitedbehind
Muslim
leadership
andenrolled
asMuslims.
Suddenly,
Islam
hada
profusion
ofwarriors,Arabiansno
longer
neededtheir
slavesto
fight,
andthe slaves’military
role
droppedprecipi-
tously.
It then remained
minor fortwo
generations.
Unfree
27.Yamama:IbnAetham,1:32.To
Syria:
Balearrff,3:228-29.According
to
a[-Tabari,
1:1849thesoldiers
complained
aboutUsma’syouth.