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

An
Explanation

of

MilitarySlavery 65

ginnings

inMedina,it

spread

through

Arabiaandthen

(very

sparsely,

forthere

werefewMuslimsat

first)

tothelandsbe-

tween
Spain

andIndia.In

subsequentcenturies,theummafilled

outasconversionstoIslamincreased,andit
spread
yet

more

widelyintonewareas.

Whateveritsextent,theummawasa

single

unit,

ideally

under

the
leadership

ofa

single

man,the

caliph.

Loyaltytothe

caliph

wasthe
tangibleexpression

ofdevotiontothe

unity

oftheumma.

The
position

of

caliphemerged

inan

unplannedway

afterthe

deathof
Muh.ammad

in11/632;the

fledgling

ummaneededa

leader,

soasuccessor

(khalifa)

to

Muh.

ammad

emerged.

Hehad

no
prophetic

functionbutsucceeded

Muh.

ammad

only

asleader

oftheumma.The
caliphsymbolized

the

unity

and

power

ofthe

Muslim

community.

The

unity

of

theummaandtheruleofthe

caliph

both

point

to

athirdcharacteristicIslamic
ideal,
thefih&/,

military

actionin-

tendedeithertodefendor
expand

theboundariesoflandsruled

byMuslims.

23

Thisidealhastwo

importantimplications;

first,

it

encourages,

under

propercircumstances,

aggressionagainst

non-Muslimsasfulfillment ofa

religious

precept.

Second,

it

prohibits

warfare

among

Muslims,forviolencemust

only

be

employedto

spread

theruleofIslam--andhowcanitbe

spread

to

regions

thatMuslims

already

control?Theideals

represented

by

theumma,

caliphate,

and

jihdzlcomplement

eachother; Is-

lamicdoctrinescallfor

politicalunity

and

peaceamong

Muslims.

Differencesbetweenbelievers mustnotlead to

political

divi-

sions,muchlesstowar.

Umma,Caliphate,

lihd:

The

Reality

In

contrasttothetheoreticalstatementsofIslamicideals,their

actualrole

in

historyhas

gone

almostunnoticed.Premodern

Muslim

kingdoms,rulers,andwarfarevaried

widely

over1,200

years

and several continents.

Kingdoms ranged

from local

23.Itis

alwaysimportant

toremember

thatjihddspreads

theruleof

Islam,

notthereligion.Muslimsmayuseviolencetogainpoliticalcontrolbutnotto

coercebelief;andsincenon-Muslimspayhighertaxes,thereisusuallynoincen-

tivetoconvertthem

anyway.