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

xviii

Introduction

theMiddleEast,only

high

culturetraveledwithit,notthe"ev-

eryday cultural

patterns

ofits underlying village

and town

life.

’u

TheMiddleEasthadPersian

techniques

of

government,

itsowntraditionsofurbanculture,anddistinctattitudestoward

religion;

these were

adapted by

other Muslim

peoples

and

deeply

affectedtheir

ways

oflife.In

Hodgson’s

words:.

Whatwascarried

throughnut

Islamdom,then,wasnotthewhole

Irano-Semiticsocial

complex

but the Islamicized Irano-Semitic

high

culturaltraditions;what

may

becalledthe"Perso-Arabic"

traditions,afterthetwochief

languages

inwhichtheywerecarried,

atleastoneofwhicheveryIIIEIIIofserious

Islamicateculturewas

expectedtousefreely.

The

cosmopolitanunity

intowhich

peoples

enteredinso

manyregions

wasmaintained

independently

ofthe

everyday

culture,andonthelevelofthePerso-Arabic

high

culture;

itsstandardsaffectedandeven

increasingly

modifiedthe cultureof

everydaylife,butthatcullureremainedessentially

IndicorEuro-

pean

orsouthcrnornorthern,

according

tothe

region.

AsIslam
expanded

tonew

regions

fartherfromitsMiddleEast-

ernheartland,"the
everyday

cultureofthenewer

Muslimareas

hadlessand lessincommon

withthat

in

the

original

Irano-

Semiticlands.

’’z

Still,"especially

inthecentrallandsbutalso

wherever Islamwasreceived, the
’high

culture’hada

steady

influence in

moulding

the

everyday

culture.

’’a

Thus,

non-

IslamicMiddleEastern

patterns

affected

manyaspects

ofMus-

limlife.

Thesethree

paths

ofIslamicateinfluenceaccountbralmost

allelementscommontoMuslitns,
includingmilitaryslavery.

The

systematic

enslavement

of

soldierswas

neither

an

Islamic

pre-

ceptnor

aMiddle Easterntrait; rather,itresulted fromthe

nonimplementation

ofIslamic

precepts

and ideals in

public

life.

14

Indeed,it

symbolizes

the

impossibility

of

attaining

Islamic

political

and

military

goals.WhenMuslimpeoples

perceived

that

10.

Ibid.,2:10.

11. Ibid.


12. Ibid.

13.Ibid.,2:63.

14.

plan

tofollowthisbookwithacompanionstudythatdealswithim-

plementationin

selected

aspects

of

private

life.