The Arabian nation was the champion of Islam; and to fight its battles every Arab was jealously reserved. He must be the soldier, and nothing else. He might not settle down in any conquered province as cultivator of the soil; and for merchandise or other labour, a busy warlike life offered but little leisure. Neither was there any need. The Arabs lived on the fat of the conquered lands, and captive nations served them. Of the booty taken in war, four parts were distributed to the army in the field; the fifth was reserved for the State; and even that, after discharging public obligations, was shared among the Arabian people. In the reign of Abu Bekr this was a simple matter. But in the Caliphate of Omar the spoil of Syria and of Persia began in ever-increasing volume to pour into the treasury of Medîna, where it was distributed almost as soon as received. What was easy in small beginnings, by equal sharing or discretionary preference, became now a heavy task. And there began, also, to arise new sources of revenue in the land assessment and the poll tax of subject countries, which, after defraying civil and military charges, had to be accounted for to the Central Government;—the surplus being, like the royal Fifth, the patrimony of the Arab nation.
New rule of distribution by classes of merit.
At length, in the second or third year of his Caliphate, Omar determined that the distribution should be regulated on a fixed and systematic scale. The income of the Commonwealth was to be divided, as heretofore, amongst the Faithful as their heritage, but upon a rule of precedence befitting the military and theocratic groundwork of Islam. For this end three points only were considered: priority of conversion, affinity to the Prophet, and military service. The widows of Mahomet, ‘Mothers of the Faithful,’ took the precedence with an annual allowance of 10,000 pieces each; and all his kinsmen were with a corresponding liberality provided for.[347] The famous Three Hundred of Bedr had 5,000 each; presence at Hodeibia and the Pledge of the Tree[348] gave a claim to 4,000; such as took part in quelling the Rebellion had 3,000; and those engaged in the great battles of Syria and Irâc, as well as sons of the men of Bedr, 2,000; those taking the field after the actions of Câdesîya and the Yermûk, 1,000. Warriors of distinction received an extra grant of 500. And so they graduated downwards to 200 pieces for the latest levies. Nor were the households forgotten. Women had, as a rule, one-tenth of a man’s share. Wives, widows, and children had each their proper stipend; and in the register, every infant, as soon as born, had the title to be entered with a minimum allowance of ten pieces, rising with advancing age to its proper place. Even Arab slaves (so long as any of that race remained) had, strange to say, their portion.
All other nations a lower class.
Thus every soul was rated at its worth. But the privilege was confined most strictly to those of Arab blood. A few exceptions, indeed, were made of distinguished Persian chiefs; but the mention of them only proves the stringency of the general rule.[349] The whole nation, every man, woman, and child of the militant Arab race, was subsidised. In theory, the rights of all believers were the same. ‘Ye are one brotherhood,’ said Mahomet at the Farewell pilgrimage; and as he spake he placed two fingers of one hand upon his other hand, to enforce the absolute equality.[350] But in point of fact, the equality was limited to the Arab nation. The right of any brother of alien race was a dole of food sufficient for subsistence, and no more.[351]
Principle adopted by Omar disarms Arabian jealousies.
A great nation dividing thus amongst them their whole revenues, spoil, and conquests, first on the principle of equal brotherhood, and next on that of martial merit and spiritual distinction, is a spectacle probably without parallel in the world. The rule itself was well conceived. In no other way would it have been possible to reconcile the jealous susceptibilities of tribal rivalry.[352] Safwân, Soheil, and other great chiefs of the Coreish, who fell into a lower class because they had not joined the Prophet till after the capture of Mecca, refused at first any allowance but the highest: ‘We know of none nobler than ourselves,’ they said; ‘and less than any other we will not take.’ ‘Not so,’ answered Omar; ‘I give it by priority of faith, and not for noble birth.’ ‘It is well,’ they replied; and no reason but this, unanswerable because already axiomatic among the Moslems, would have satisfied them. Apart from tribal jealousy, there were two other sources of danger: first, the rivalry between the Bedouin tribes, on the one hand, and the ‘Companions,’ or men of Mecca and Medîna, on the other; and, second, between the Beni Hâshim (the Prophet’s family), the Omeyyads, and the Coreish at large;—jealousies which by-and-by developed into large proportions, and threatened the very existence of the Caliphate; but which, held in check by the strong arm of Omar, were now for a time avoided by assuming a spiritual test as the main ground of precedence.
Omar perpetuates military organisation of Arabs.
The Arabian aristocracy thus created was recognised by the whole Moslem world. The rank and stipend now assigned descended in the direct line of birth. Even rewards given for special gallantry in the field were heritable.[353] By making thus the revenues of Islam the heritage of the nation militant, their martial genius was maintained, and their employment perpetuated as the standing army of the Caliphate. The ennobled nation, pampered by indulgence, factious and turbulent when idle, were indeed too often a serious element of sedition and intrigue. But they were nevertheless the backbone of Islam, the secret of its conquests, and the stay of the Caliphate. The crowded harems multiplied the race with marvellous rapidity; and the progeny were, by Omar’s organisation, kept sedulously distinct, so as never to mingle with the conquered races. Wherever they went they formed a class distinct and dominant—the nobles and rulers of the land. The subject peoples, even if they embraced Islam, were of a lower caste; and as clients of some Arab chief or tribe, courted their patronage and protection. Thus the fighting nation was set apart for the sacred task of subjugating nations and of propagating Islam; and even after the new-born zeal of the Faith had to some extent evaporated, the martial fire of the Arabs as a whole and undivided people was, owing mainly to Omar’s foresight, kept alive in full activity for two centuries and a half. The nation was, and continued, an army mobilised; the cantonment, not the city, their home; their business, war and the camp;—a people whose hereditary calling it was to be ready to march on warlike expeditions at a moment’s notice.
Register of all Arabs entitled to a stipend.