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

172

Origins

patron.

5

True,freemawlashada

legalright

to

changepatrons

oreventohaveno

patron,

56

but

if

they

abandonedone,

they

werecutofffromArabian

societyaltogether.

The

transferof

walfz’wasanathema;mawlaswho

changedallegiancewerenever

trusted

again.

In

142/759

themawlasofthelast

Umayyadgov-

ernorof

Spain,

Yfisuf

al-Fihri,turnedonhim,killedhim,and

then

applied

forreward

tohisvictoriousrival,cAbdar-Rah,mn

I,thenew

independentUmayyad

rulerof

Spain.

But

insteadof

takingthemawlasintohisownserviceas

theywished,

CAbdar-

Ra.hmn

executedthem,

saying,

"Youdidnot

protectyourpa-

tron,sohowwill

youprotect

or

obey

me?

’’57

Mawlashadtore-

main

loyal

totheir

master,

otherwise

they

lostallclaimto

favor;

generally,indeed,

they

were

veryloyal.

8

InDhamm

Akhlq

al-

Kuttb,

al-Jhi.z

makesthis

point

inreferencetomawlas

serving

their masters as secretaries

(another common

occupation

for

them):

"Theslaveatleasthasthe

right

to

complaintohismaster

or,ifhedesires,todemanda

change

in

masters;

butthesecre-

tary

(ktib)cannotdemandhis

wages

if

they

areinarrearsnor

canheleavehis

patron(.s.hib).

His

position

isthatofaslave,like

oneofthe

stupidestamong

them.

’’9

Fighting

mawlaswere

entirely

inthehandsof

an

Arabian

pa-

tron.Their

position

cameto

dependentirely

onhisfavor;

they

subsumed

themselvestohimandtheirintereststohis.Tofall

intodisfavormeantthe

abrupt

endofa

career;allhopesofad-

vancementand

well-beinglay

inthe

patron’sgood

will.

Bycon-

verting

and

joining

the

army,

non-Arabians

voluntarilyplaced

themselvesunderthecontrolofArabians.

Slavesandmawlas

acquiredmilitarysignificance

intheMar-

wanidera

byproviding

neededextra

manpowertothearmiesof

55.Mawlasin

military

service

resembleda

voluntary

devshirme

(theperiodic

Ottoman

levy

ofchildrenfor the

military

slave

corps).Itmayalsobecompared

to

joining

theCommunist

party;

inreturnfor chanceat

privilege

and

power,

themember

givesupmuchofhispersonalfreedom.

56.

Pipes,

"Mawlas,"sectionb.

57.BM,2:50.

58. Examplesofoutstanding
    loyaltymay

befoundin

chapter

6,

pp.

185-88.

59.Dhamm

Akhlqal-Kuttb,

p.

191.Forthe

important

roleofmawlas

ktibs,

see
Biddle,pp.154-60.