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

60 TheIslamicateContext

Islam...tendedtocallforthatotalsocial

pattern

inthenameof

religion

itself In

manyspheres,

not

onlypublicworship

but

such

spheres

ascivillaw,historical

teaching,

orsocial

etiquette,

Muslimssucceeded

quiteearly

in

establishing

distinctive

patterns

identifiablewithIslamas

religion.

1S

Even

something

so

utterly

unrelatedtoIslamasthelateensail

canbecharacteristicofMuslims.

16

Regardless

of

origin,

suchan

Islamicate

patternmustfitsomehowintothestructuresestab-

lished

by

Islam:

[Itis]

legitimate

toconsiderMuslimdoctrineasa

factor,

not

only

whenit

happens

tointroduceanewsolutionfromitsownresources

or

brings

aboutanew

solutiondirectlyor

indirectly,

butalsoeach

time

that,havingintegratedaninteriororforeignsolution intoits

system,

andcoloredititsown

way,

itcontributedto

getting

it

adopted

ormaintained.How

manypractices,

whichhave

nothing

Islamicaboutthemin

principle,

havebeennaturalizedasMuslim

tothe

pointof

becoming

characteristicofIslam...?17

Bynature,

Islamicate

patterns

arelessdistinctthanIslamic

ones,for

they

lacktheclear

impress

ofIslam.Somehavebeen

observed,

TM

but

very

fewhavebeen

systematically

tiedtoIslam.

15.

Brunschvig,p.

54;

Hodgson,

1:89.

16.

J.

H.Parry,TheEstablishment

of

the

EuropeanHegemony:

1415-1715:Trade

andExplorationintheAge

of

theRenaissance(NewYork,1966),

p.

21.

17.

Brunschvig,p.54.

18.Forsomestudies,

seenote 3 to

chapter

1.The

following

list

presentsnay

casual

compilation

ofsonefeatureswhich

appear

tobeIslamicate

(omitting

thosewhicharediscussedinthis

chapter):

Political:no

legislation(only

adhoc

decisions);severeproblemsofsuccession; hugepalacecomplexes; veryfew

womenin

political

life;absenceof

municipalorganizations;

nonterritorial

loyal-

ties;discomfortlivingundernon-Muslimrule.Military:heavyuse

of

cavalry.

Social:fluidclassstructuresandsocial
mobility;clothing

differentiatessocial

andethnicstatuses;sharpdistinction

betweenin

(Muslim)

andout

(non-Muslim)

groups;kinshiptiesparamount.Economic: commerceprestigious,agriculture

scorned;silverand

goldcoinage

both

present;wealth

anattributeof

power,

rarely

thereverse;little

scope

forrisk

money;

slavesabundant.Intellectual:reli-

giousauthoritiescontroleducation;memorizationemphasized;religiousorien-

tation

of

nearly

a|l

culturallife.Artistic:representations

discouraged;calligraphy

emphasized;geometric

and

vegetal

forms

prevalent.Geographic:uncohesive

structureof

cities;

concentric

arrangement

andhierarchicaldivisionof

quarters;