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

130

Origins

Withthe

Umayyadsagainst

Muslims. In

119/737

boththerock-

throwing

slavesofKufaandthemawlasin Khfilid

al-Qasri’s

army foughtagainst

the

Khrijis.

15

Balj

b. Bishrled anex-

peditionary

forcetosuppress

Berberdiscontentin123/740;his

troops

included

8,000

Arabiansand

1,000

mawlas.

151

Tammm

b.

CAlqama,

the

subsequentconqueror

ofToledoandrulerof

Washqa,

Turtusha,andTarsuna,wasoneofthose

mawlas.

152

The heaviestuseof

unfree soldiersin the

Umayyadarmy

against

Muslimscamein thefinalseven

years

oftheArabian

period,

125-32/742-750,when

theyengagedeveryenemy--

Khfiriji

and

Shiq

rebelsandthe

rising

Abbasids.In

125/742a

mawlaarcherofnote

foughtagainstYah.yfi

b.

Zayd

b.Aliin

Khurasan?

53

A

yearlater,

themawlaMuslimb.Dhakwncom-

manded

5,000

menin

Syria.

14

Whenrebel

troops

surrounded

al-WalidIIthatsame

year,

the

caliphpromised

his

army

are-

ward foreach

enemy

head

theybrought

to him;one mawla

brought

himseveral andthen

complained

whenal-Walidde-

layedpayment,

aS

Alsointhesame

year,

the

governor

of

Egypt

enrolledassoldiers30,000mawlasandthe

maqmisa

attheorder

ofYazidIII?

6

In127/745theslavesofthe

people

ofKufaattackedthe

ShiCi

leaderMuwiya

b.cAbdallhandmawlasfrom

Egyptfought

withMarwn II

against

arivalfactionof

Umayyads?

When

MarwnII

fought

the

Khriji

leader

al-Khaybari,

theslaves

in

Marwn’s

camp

saw

that

al-Khaybari’sprotection

wasweakand

enteredthebattletoclub

him

todeathwithstaves?

8

Adifferent

versionofthissame

story

istoldaboutthewar

against

another

Khriji,a.d-D,

ahhk.OneofMarwn’scommanders,aBerber

150.

Rock-throwing

slaves:T,2:1628.Khlid

al-Qasri’s

mawlas:UH,3:109.

151.Ibn

al-Qfit.iya,p.

15.

152.Ibnal-Abbr,1:143.

153.T,2:1773-74.

154.T,2:1833.T,2:1852-53indicatesthat

Muslimb.Dhakwfnwasamawla

andcontainsan

important

discussionaboutslavemawlasandfreemawlas.

155.T,2:1809.

156.al-Kindi,

p.

84.Onthe

maqgzmisa,

seethepossibleexplanationinShaban,

Islamic
History,

1:157-58.

157.

Slaves:

T,2:1881.

Mawlas:al-Kindi,

p.

87.

158.T,2:1941.