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

What

IsaMilitarySlave?

15

Unfortunately,

his

argument

is

basedon

very

freeuseof

facts,

so

hisconclusionsmustbe treatedwith

utmostcaution.Shaban

takes

issuewiththe

"astonishing"

mistakeofearlier

historiansin

thinking

thatthesoldiers

calledslaveswerein

anyway

servile.

Hethinks"itis

high

time

[thisidea]wasutterlyrefuted."Ashe

sees

it, thenotionthatslaves

defendedandruledIslamicate

dynasties"isnot

only

a

gross

misunderstanding

ofhumanna-

ture,

butit

also

goesagainst

the

overwhelmingevidencetothe

contrary

inour

sources.

’’20

According

toShaban,thetermsCabd,

ghulgtm,khSdim,mawld,

and

wa.-f

had

allbeenabstractedfromtheir

originalmeanings;

although

slavesin

name,

they

werenomoreslavesin

actuality

thananAmerican

secretary

of

stateisa

secretary

who

takesdic-

tationandservescoffee.Farfrom

relying

on

overwhelming

evi-

denceto

provethis

point,

Shabandoesnot

offerashredof

sup-

port

fromthe

sources.

Contrary

evidencehe

dismissesoutof

hand;anaccountwhichindicates

in

passing

thatsomeofficials

werelatermanumittedhelabels

"almost

certainly

fictitious...

probably

put

forward

by

their

opponents.

’’21

Thisfeeble

expla-

nationmisses

the

pointentirely.

Aslave

background

neednot

have

pejorativeconnotations.Humannaturehasoften

commit-

ted

stranger

folliesthan

placing

slaves

in

highpositions;

andthe

entire

system

of

militaryslavery

makes

moresensewhenoneac-

cepts

wordsand

statementsatfacevalueratherthan

overintero

preting

them.

TheIslamicate
Meaning

of"Slave"

Muchoftheconfusion

surrounding

thenatureof

military

slav-

ery

derivesfromtheMuslim

practice

of

calling

thesemenslaves

regardlessoftheiractual
circumstances.Theslave
may

beunder

his
master’scontrol
(and

thusa

slaveinthestandard

English

sense),

he

mayhavebeenmanumitted,orhe

mayhaveseized

powerwithhisownhands;in
allthesecases,Muslimcontem-

20.Shaban,Islamic

History,2:63-64.

21. Ibid.,2:66.