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

WhatIsa

MilitarySlave? 13

atall.Canslaveswho

enjoy

such

power,

whoeven

rule,remain

slaves?Before

attempting

toanswerthis

question,

a

general

dis-

cussionaboutthenatureof

slaverymayhelp

to

clarify

theissues.

MuslimandOrientalistViews

Let

us

begin

withareviewofwhatothershavewritteninthis

regard.

No

one,

Muslimor

orientalist,has

paid

muchattention

to the

position

of

military

slaves,so materialonthe

topic

is

scanty.

PremodernMuslimsnever

recognized

themasa

distinct

type

ofslavesandmodernscholarshave

barely

consideredthe

question.

TheShan-a

shapes

theMuslims’view.Itdiscussesat

length

the

many

statusesofslavesbut

ignores

theirfunctions.Whether

the

slaveworksina

saltpeter

mineordirectsan

empire,

thelaw

looks

only

athis

legalstatus,

andit

containsanimmense

body

of

regulationsspecifying

theexactdutiesand

rights

of each

type

of

slave(e.g.,ma’dhn,makdtib,ummwalad).

13

Itdidnotconsiderthe

possibility

that

thefunctionofaslave

might

overshadowhis

legal

status.

Military

slavesdonothavea

separate legalstatus,

so

they

were

practically

absentfromtheMuslims’consciousnessin

pre-

moderntimes.Muslimsdidnot

recognize

their

extraordinary

functionsand

roles.Premodern

writings--legal

works,belles

lettres,historical

writings,

mirrors

for

princes--allignore

them;

indeed,the

subject

ofthis

inquiry

went

largelyunnoticedinIs-

lamicatecivilization.Thishasresultedina

paucity

of

bothpri-

mary

sourcematerialsand

scholarly

interest.

The fewmodernscholars

whohaveconcernedthemselves

withthis
questionusuallyhedge

their

answers.

SeveralOttoman

13.Thereisnodetailed

exposition

oftheMuslimslave’s

legalpositionina

Europeanlanguage.

R.

Brunschvig,

"CAbd"inEl

gives

anexcellentoverview.

Also,the
followingtopics

havebeen covered:

(a)Qur’nicinjunctions:

R.

Roberts,

The

SocialLaws

of

the

Qorn

(London,

1925),pp.

53-60;

(b)

Mftlildlaw:

D.
Santillana,Istituzionididirittomusulmanomalichita, 2 vols.(Rome,1926-38),

1:111-26; (c)Shficlaw:T.W.

Juynboll,

Handbuchdesisldmischen Gesetzes

(Leiden, 1910),

pp.

202-08,and E.Sachau,MuhammedanischesRechtnach

Schafiitischer

Lehre, pp.125-79,covermanumission;(d)Ottomanlaw:K.E.

Weckwarth,DerSklaveimMuhammedanischenRecht(Berlin,1909).Despiteitstitle,

thisdissertationdeals
exclusively

withtheOttoman

legalsystem.