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

AnExplanationofMilitarySlavery 59

prove a causal link, "a presumptive agency

which

connects

them"mustbeestablished.

IslamicorIslamicate?

Militaryslaverymay

havebeenconnectedeithertothe

religion

orthecivilizationofIslam.Ifitisconsidereda
part

ofthereli-

gion

orits

legalsystem,

wecallit"Islamic";ifan

aspect

ofthe

morediffuse civilizationwhichaccompanies it,

then "Islami-

cate."Islamic elements

are

myriad

and

indisputable:

the five

"pillars

ofthe

religion";

thelesserritual

prescriptions;

theentire

body

oftheShariCa,

which dealswithalmost

every

aspect

of

humanexistence;andnumerousfeatures

not

requiredbyIslam

butcharacteristicofMuslimlife,suchasturban
wearing,

useof

theArabic

script,

andSufiorders.Alltheseelementscomewith

the

religion

as

part

of

.an

Islamic

package;they

arenonfunc-

tionalandcanonly

be

explained

in

the

light

ofIslamicidealsand

traditions.

Clearly,militaryslavery

isnotIslamic;ithasnoreli-

gious

sanctionanditisnoteven

unambiguouslylegal.

13

Nothing

whatever

argues

forits

beingpart

oftheIslamic

religion

orits

legalsystem?

4

IfnotIslamic,isitIslamicate?Islamicateelementsarenotan

outgrowth

ofIslamic

religion

andlaw,

yet

are

integral

toMuslim

life.Suchanelementneednotbe

by

natureIslamic:

ThespecificallyIslamicqualityof

acultural

elementmight

well...

owe

nothing

to

its

origin,

but

simplyexpress

thefactthat

Islim,by

taking

it

up,put

itsmarkonitortendedto

appropriate

it.

13.See

pp.

94-95.

14.ThisconclusiondoesnotimplythattherearenoIslamicmilitarypatterns,

butonly

that

militaryslavery

isnotoneofthem.

H.J.

Fisherhas

argued

forthe

significanceof

Islamic

prayer

totheconductofMuslimsinbattle

("Prayer

and

MilitaryActivity

inthe

History

ofMuslimAfricaSouthofthe

Sahara,"Journal

of

African

History

12 (1971):391-406).

P.

MoraesFariashasdrawn

a

connection

betweenprayersandclosed-lineformation("The

Almoravids:

SomeQuestions

concerning

theCharacteroftheMovement

during

itsPeriodofClosestContact

withtheWesternSudan,"Bulletinde

l’Institutfondamental

d’Afrique

noire29,ser.B

(1967):794-878,

especially

pp.811-20).SeealsoW.H.McNeill,TheRise

of

the

West
(Chicago,

1963),

p.

428 n.11.