Essay on "Lewis Anthology Questions From Bernard"

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[EXCERPT] . . . .

Lewis Anthology

Questions from Bernard Lewis' the Faith and the Faithful

Though there was no legal distinction between the upper and lower classes in Muslim society at the time Lewis focuses on here, there was a definite distinction between the khassa or special class and the amma or general class of people, the masses that had no special privileges in society. Some of the privileges that were enjoyed by the khassa class included education, governmental authority, and often (though not always, as Lewis is quick to point out), wealth and power. This class was essentially that of the "movers and shakers," with whom the news of the day and current historical investigations are primarily concerned. Eventually, as tends to happen with individuals in power, some legal recognition of the different classes and the right for some citizens to have certain privileges while others are denied these same things. The educational aspect of life as a member of the khassa class was hugely important to the development and perpetuation of the class divide; despite local dialects and languages being highly varied throughout the Muslim world, the khassa class spoke several key languages commonly in all regions. This would conceivably allow for greater degrees of trade between these groups as well as presenting a true barrier to the lower classes' moving up due to a lack of sharing the same common languages.

2)

In addition to the classes of khassa and amma, Muslim society can be further subdivided into different groups. Lewis identifies four such categories, each containing a different group of people with different rights and obligations in society. These categories were more legal in their division than the class divisions, though the strength of these legal divisions changed greatly over time. At first, the freemen or hurr were the leaders of Muslim society, and remained an exclusive group made up almost entirely of Arabs. As the Muslim population grew and began to contain many non-Arabs, and as slaves gained ascendancy through military service. Some of these individuals could become a part of the malawi or freedmen group, which were essentially "adopted" Arabs, and of a class just below the hurr and often with specific obligations to certain members of this first category. The malawi eventually gained complete equality with the hurr, but this was not true of the non-Muslim al-dhimma group. This group essentially received the protections of Muslim society without the right to carry weapons and with an obligation to pay higher taxes, existing almost as resident aliens in Muslim states. This group was generally tolerated, though was definitely aware of its status as essentially non-citizens throughout the Muslim world, and they were also subject to periodic attempts to convert to Islam and even more fanatical attempts to purge Muslim states of these individuals. The final category of individuals in Muslim society were the slaves, which the laws of Islam gave many protections, but who were still severely limited in their rights had had an almost total obligation to serve their masters.

3)

As the above categorization makes clear, Islam and the Muslim world definitely allowed the institution of slavery to persist. Prior to the arrival of Islam, however, slaves in the region had absolutely no rights; under Islamic law, slaves were supposed to be treated kindly and it was even encouraged to set slaves free or allow them to buy their freedom after certain periods of service. Not everyone could be a slave in Muslim society, either, both according to the law and how the law was interpreted and applied; slavery was essentially limited to individuals born to slave mothers and non-Muslims captured in war. Slaves also were purchased from lands bordering the Muslim territories and were given as tribute by foreign governments that had succumbed to Muslim armies in various wars. These two methods of slave procurement, both of which were not allowed within Muslim territories and therefore were not officially recognized methods of obtaining slaves, became increasingly important as time wore on, with purchasing slaves from the borderlands becoming especially important. This was a huge part of driving the Islamic world's economy, but the military service that allowed slaves to obtain new rights also began changing Muslim society in major ways as this population continued to grow ever larger.

4)

Muslim women also enjoyed somewhat greater rights under Islamic law and society than they had in previous times, but this was limited to women of the free Muslim class and even for these women there was not true equality. Polygamy was still allowed, though it was not really widely practiced outside of ruling circles, and concubines -- female slaves who were at the full mercy of their male owners -- were fairly common as well. Women slave owners did not enjoy the same rights over their male slaves. Slave women and their children had virtually no rights at all, and could be dealt with by their masters in almost any way (though kind treatment was still ostensibly a part of Islamic law). Free Muslim women had the ability to choose their own husbands as long as they were of the same class, and had some property rights as well.

5)

The two main professions that made up the "men of the pen" in Islamic society were the religious leaders and other members of the clergy, and civilian bureaucrats who worked as scribes and official in government capacities. Though there was not an official distinction between the Church and state scholars, one began to develop and eventually became quite clear in the Muslim world; even their specific styles of dress distinguished these different classes of scholars. Non-religious scribes or katibs wore a kind of cloak called a darra a that denoted their status. This group became less and less important as military regimes grew in power in the Muslim states, but it still continued to remain important and was heavily influenced by the Persians, Coptics, Turkish, and several other conquered non-Arab groups. The religious scholars of the Muslim world, the ulema, were comprised of groups of imams, jurists of the laws of the Koran, theologians, and other types, and they formed a strong and definite class of society despite the fact that Islamic law establishes no official and hierarchical priesthood such as exists in the Catholic Church. These religious scholars were marked by the turban they wore, and especially in the early days of the caliphs were largely in control of interpreting and applying religious, while the political/governmental leaders concerned themselves strictly to non-religious affairs of state.

6)

Ulema is a general term referring to a wide variety of religious scholars that served Muslim society in various capacities, and was generally marked by the turbans that they wore. They enjoyed a high social status and were respected as men of learning and righteousness through their religious scholarship and ability to assist in issues of property, marriage, and other common problems and disputes. In the Shia practice of Islam, mujtahids were essentially a counterpart to the Sunni ulema; they claimed some interpretive rights over the Islamic laws and scriptures, but in practice were more men of learning and less jurists and interpreters. There is some contrast between how these two groups were viewed differently, but practically speaking they were highly similar. Eventually, another type of religious scholar or judge arose. The qadis were religious judges appointed by state leaders, and regarded the non-state-sanctioned ulemas with a great deal of mistrust, but the people generally regarded the qadi and their learning with the same mistrust. Ulema eventually became state-sponsored as well, to some degree, but also relied heavily on waqf or endowments of income-producing land, eventually making them a very powerful and wealthy force in Islamic society and within the world economy of the time.

7)

Large landowners in… READ MORE

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