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

How

MilitarySlaveryFirstOccurred 167

could

provide:readily

obtainable

marginal

areasoldiersunder

firmcontrol.Thefirsttime

theyacquired

theseasmawlas,the

second

time,

as

slaves.

TheInitialNeed,64-74/684-93:Mawlas

.4
TriballyOrganizedArmy. TheArabian
conquerors

ofthelst/

7-8th

centurieswere

among

the

very

few

empire

buildersof

historyorganizedbykinshipgroup.

3s

Usually,

an

army

cannot

venturefarwith

large

forcesunlessits

soldiersare

organized

along

nontriballines

(forexample,

adecimal

systera);

itneedsa

unifying

purpose

anda

hierarchy

ofcommand

greater

thanthe

one that

kinship

can

provide. In

the

Arabian case, Islam

provided

both ofthesewithout

detribalizing

the

army.

Although

theIslamicumma

developed

asa

supratribalcommunity,kinship

tiesremained

vital;inthearmy,Arabians

predominantlyfought

intribal

contingents.

39

Thisallowedthetribalstructureto

per-

sist;hereinliesamostdistinctiveand

important

factofIslamic

history,

the

key

to

understanding

the

society

and

politics

ofthe

early

Muslims.

BecausethevictoriousArabianshad

kepttribal affiliations

paramountthroughout

the

conquests,

tribal

leadershipemerged

fromthefirstyearsofIslamwith

unmatched_power.

Although

it

wasthe

greatgenerals(likeKhlidb.

al-Walid)

whohadledthe

Arabian

armiestovictory,chiefshaddirectcontroloverthesol-

diers. This

arrangementbrought many

benefitsto boththe

chiefsandthetribesmen,foritallowedthemtoremainautono-

mousand
gave

them

specialprivileges

vis-/-vistherestof

the

population.

HowdidArabian

tribesmenpreservethetribalor-

ganization

ofMuslimarmiesforovera

century?

Scanty

evidence

points

toa

key

roleforthe

MilitaryRegister

(Diw(n

al-Jund),

the

principal mechanism

by

which Arabian

tribesmenreceivedtheir
pay.
Knowing

thatsoldiersfollowthe

person,

tribe,

city,

or

government

that

paysthem,Arabiantribal

chiefsinsistedthat

militarysalariesbedistributedto

tribes,not

individuals.Arabianwarriors
(al-muqtila)

remained

loyal

tothe

38.OthersincludetheGermanictribesthatinvadedEuropeandtheSeljuks.

39.Beckmann,

passim.