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

TheUnfreeinMuslim
Warfare,

2-205/624-820 121

al-H.

akamreceivedmaterialassistancefromtwoofhis

generals;

oneofferedfunds,theother
provided

armsforallthemawlasof

BanffUmayya(onthecondition

thatMarwfincollected

them),

s

This second offer

indicates thatthe

Umayyads’

own mawlas

foughtonly

in

emergencies,

andnotin

standing

armies.Alsoat

al-H.

arra,oneofMarwfin’smawlaswaskilledin

battle,

sl

Ayear

later,at

Marj

Rfi.hit.,Ziyfid

b.Abihi’ssoncAbbfidled

2,000

sol-

diers,mawlas

andothers,

s2

Thesourcesdonotstateonwhose

sidehe

fought,

butsincehisbrother

cUbaydfought

withthe

Umayyads,

s3

perhaps

Abbfiddidaswell.

Toward the end of his rebellion, Ibn

az-Zubayr

faced

Umayyad troops

commanded

by

the mawlas of

preceding

caliphs;

oneofCUthmfinb.Afffin’smawlasled5,000

troops,

beatIbn
az-Zubayr’s

forcesattheBattleofShabakain72/691,

andwentonto
capture

Medina;amawlaof

Muefiwiya’s

inthe

Umayyad

forces

against

Meccawaskilled

by

Ibn

az-Zubayr,

s4

Significantly,

mawlas

fighting

forthe

Umayyads

wereinvolved

in
killing

Ibn

az-Zubayr’s principal

commanders, hisbrother

Mus.Cab

andthe

general

Ibrhimb.

al-Ashtar,inadditiontoIbn

az-Zubayr

himself,

s5

Recalling

the

report

that

a

mawla killed

al-Mukhtfir,

thismeansthatalltherebelleaders

may

havebeen

killed

by

mawlas.Somuchfortheideathatmawlas

onlysup-

ported rebels! Rather, they seem tohave foughtwith their

patrons regardless

of

the cause, but with some noteworthy

exceptions.

3.

Against

other rebels, Mawlas also more often

fought

against

the

Khfiriji

forcesthanforthem.

A1-Hajjfij

sentatleast

six

mawla generals

into

the

field

against

them

commanding

thousandsof

soldiers,many

ofthem

separatecorps

of

mawlas,

s

Anindividualmawlaalso

fought

the

Khfirijis.

a7

Ofsix

Umayyad

80.AA,5:138.

81.Khalifa,

p.

294.

82.AA,5:136.

83.IbnBadrfn,

pp.

181-83.

84.eUthmSn’s:AA,5:356;Khalifa,p.

341;T,

2:830.Muewiya’s:

A,’t,5:363.

85.

Mus.eab:

AA,5:341;MDh,3:114.Ibrhimb.al-Ashtar:AA,5:338.Ibnaz-

Zubayr:

al-Kindi,

p.

51.

86.T,2:919 A.4,11:282-83;Khalifa,pp.354-56.

87.Khalifa,p.

352.