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

AnExplanationofMilitary

Slavery

63

Tounderstand thenatureofthestatecraftinIslamdom,one

must

appreciate

the

specialplace

of

political

andmilitaryideals

intheIslamictradition.

Itismost

vividly

seenincontrasttothe

Jewish

andChristiantraditions.

In their formative

periods,

both

Judaism

and

Christianity

evolvedoutsideastatestructureandwithout

governmentsup-

port;

incontrast,Islam

fromthefirstandalmost

always

there-

after

developed

inconjunction

with

politicalauthority.

Afterthe

Jewish

kingdom

was

destroyed

in 586

B.C.E.,

Jews

hadto

adopt

their

religion

toexile,

dispersal,

and

political

disenfranchise-

ment;asaresult,

Judaism

grewindependent

ofconstitutedau-

thority

andhadnoneedforit.

Christianity

fromits

veryincep-

tiondrewaclearlinebetweentherealmsof

religion

and

politics,

disassociating

itselffrom

government.

IntermittentRomanper-

secutionduring

itsfirstthreecenturiesaccentuatedthisdivision,

although

itdiminishedwhen

Christianity

becametheRoman

state

religion.

The

relationship

of

Christianity

tothestatethen

becamea

burning

issueforthenextmillenniumanda

half

in

the

Catholicchurch

(less

soforotherchurches),butwasnotclearly

resolved.

After 1500

c.E.,

Protestantreaffirmationofthe

early

idealof

separation

found

increasingacceptance,

sothat

by

now

Christianity

has

again

turned

away

from

politics.

Evenwhenthe

Catholicchurchwasmost

powerful

WestEuropean

political

in-

stitutioninthe

High

MiddleAges,

a

pious

Christiancouldfulfill

his

religious

dutieswithoutreferencetothe

government.

Jews

andChristiansareinclinedtoviewas

government

anecessary

evil.

In

contrast,Islam

fromitsfirst

years

hadcloserelationswith

thestate.

Mu

.hammad,

asiswellknown,foundednot

only

areli-

gion

but the

community

ofitsbelievers, a

political

unit: he

servedbothas

prophet

andstatesmanfortheinfantcommunity.

Fromthattime,eachMuslimrulerhasnotonlyamundane

role

butalsoanIslamicone;his

foremost

duty

isto

carry

outthe

SharfCa.GoodIslamic

government

means

enforcing

its

regula-

tionsand

creating

anenvironmentwhereMuslimscan

liveacor-

rectlife;thesourcesofIslamic

inspiration

havethusa

great

deal

tosayaboutproperpolitical

conduct.Abad

governmentonly

partially

enforcestheSharfCa;

anarchy

meansnoenforcementat