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

How

MilitarySlavery

First

Occurred 165

Atthetwomainbattles

between

Quraysh

andthe

Muslims,

those

of Badr and

Uh.

ud

(2-3/624-25), mawlas made

up

the

following

percentages

of the

total number of

Qurashi

casualties:

27

Percentage

Mawlas Total

Quraysh

of

mawlas

Badr

4 68

6

Uh.ud

24 4

These

percentages

areabouthalf

the

corresponding

Muslim

onesforthesamebattles

(seechapter4).

AtBadr,

Qurashi

slaves

went

off

insearchofwater.

28

At

Uh.

ud,"whenbattlewas

joined,

thefirst

tomeetthe

enemy

wasAbfi

C,mir

withthe

Ah.

abishand

theslavesofthe

people

ofMecca.

’’.9

This

passage

hintsatthe

slaves

forming

their own

corps. S.u’fb,

a

ghulm,carriedthe

Qurashi

banner at

Ubud

until hemethisdeath. Hass5nb.

Thfibit,theMuslim

poet,

madethiseventthebuttofasatirical

verse:

Youboastedof

yourflag;

Theworst(groundfor)

boasting

Isa

flag

handedover

to

S.u’fib.

Youhavemadeaslave

yourboast,

Themostmiserablecreaturethat

stalksthe

earth,

a

Theremarkablecareerof

Wa.hshi

has

already

beendiscussed

(seechapter4);sufficeitto

say

here

thathekilledtheuncleof

the

Prophet

at

U.hud

and

another Muslimatthe

Battleofal-

Khandaq.According

tothe

accountoftheslaveNistfs,

S.u’b

and

Wah.

shiwerethe

onlyslaveswhofoughtwith

Qurayshat

Uh.

ud;other

Qurashi

slaveswerenear

thebattleand

apparently

ready

to

participate,

however: "Abfi

Sufyfn [the leader of

orientalisticiinonoredi
Giorgio

Levi

della

Vida

(Rome,1956),1:434-47;G.-R.

Puin,

DerDwnvoncUmaribn
al-Uab

(Bonn,1970),pp.38-40.

27.

Badr:IH,1:708-15.

Ubd:

IH,

2:127-29.

28.IH,1:616.

29.IH,2:67.

30.

IH,

2:78/379

(slightlyadaptedfromGuillaume’s

translation).