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

64

TheIslamicateContext

all. Islam

requires

agovernment

run

by

Muslimsbecause

the

fulfillmentofaproperreligious

life

depends

onthis

enforce-

ment;

noother

agency

canmaintaintheSharfCa,represent

the

umma,

or

wagejih(d.

Thus,while

.Jews

andChristiansinthe

practice

of

theirreli-

gions

canignore

theauthoritiesabovethem,

Muslimscannot.

Jews

formed closed

minority

communities

for thousands of

years

without

attaining

sovereigncontrol;

onthe

contrary,

the

Churchhasbeen

so

powerful

thatithasonoccasion

threatened

totakeover

thestate.More

dependent

on

government,

Islamis

vulnerabletoitsvicissitudes;a

failure

by

Muslimstoattainthe

public

ideals

required

by

their

religion

wouldhaveserious

con-

sequences

fortheirattitudestoward

government

andinvolve-

mentwithit.Thecontrastbetweenideals

andtheactualitiesof

public

lifehasthusbeen

especiallysignificant

forMuslims.

Umma,Caliphate,

lihd:

TheIdeal

The

political

and

military

idealsofIslamare

we]]known:

they

arethe

subject

ofintroductory

coursesinIslamandoffull-

length

studies,

22

so

they

neednot

detainus

long.

Three

Arabic

words

may

be used to sumup

theseideals:um,caliphate

(=khilgfa),

and

jihd,

referring

tothecommunity

ofIslam,its

politicalleadership,

anditswarfare.

TheummaofIslamemerged

inMedinaunderMu

.hammad.

It

developed

in

opposition

to the communities of

the other

monotheistic

religions

andto theArabian

tribes.The Islamic

ummaaimedtomaketheMuslimsintoboth

a

religious

commu-

nity

likethoseof

the

Jews

andChristiansandintoa

supratribal

unit

inwhichIslam

replacedkinship-based

affiliations.

Thecon-

vertto Islam

put prior

affiliationsaside

whenhe

joined

the

umma. As Islam became universalistic,

when non-Arabians

joined,

theummabecame

universalistictoo.Fromhumblebe-

22.Someofthese

studiesinclude:L.Gardet,LaCitmusulmane:viesocialeet

politique

(Paris,1954);

Khadduri;E.

I.J.

Rosenthal,Political

Thought

i.n

Medieval

Islam:AnIntroductoryOutline(Cambridge,England,

1958);

Tyan.

Thefollowing

discussion

ignores

financialand

judicial

ideals,although

the

same

argument

appliesequally

tothem

(e.g.

zakgh,Haarmann,

pp.

10-14).