Rashidun Army
• The Rashidun army was the primary military body of the Muslims during the Muslim conquests of the 7th century, serving alongside the Rashidun navy.
• The size of the Rashidun army was
initially 13,000 troops in 632,
but as the Caliphate expanded, the army gradually grew to 100,000 troops by 657.
• The three most successful generals of the Rashidun army were
• Khalid ibn alWalid, who conquered Persian Mesopotamia
• Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah who conquered Roman Syria,
• 'Amr ibn al-'As, who conquered Roman Egypt.
Army
• Only Muslims were allowed to join the army as regular troops.
• During the Ridda wars, the army mainly consisted of the corps from Madinah, Mecca and Taif.
• Later on during the conquest of Iraq in 633 many bedouin corps were recruited as regular troops.
• In the conquest of Sassanid Persia (633-656), some 12,000 elite Persian troops converted to Islam and served later on during the invasion of the empire.
• During the conquest of North Africa, Berber converts to
Islam were recruited as regular troops, who later made the
bulk of the Rashidun army and later the Umayyad army in
Africa.
Infantry/Piyadah
• Rashidun army relied heavily on their infantry.
Mubarizun were a special part of the army, composed of the champions.
• Their role was to undermine the enemy morale by slaying their champions. The infantry would make
repeated charges and withdrawals known as karr wa farr, using spears and swords combined with arrow volleys to weaken the enemies and wear them out.
• However, the main energy had to still be conserved
for a counterattack, supported by a cavalry charge,
that would make flanking or encircling movements.
Cavalry / Sipahis
• The Rashidun cavalry was one of the most
successful light cavalry forces, provided it was competently led. It was armed with lances and swords.
• Cavalry regiments were initially stationed behind the flanks and center.
• The proportion of cavalry within the Rashidun forces were initially limited to less than 20% due to the inability of the poor economic condition and arid climate of the Arabian Peninsula to
support large numbers of warhorses.
Weaponry/Asliha and Divisions
• Helmets: miğfer Armour: Dir/zırh, Shields: Kalkan Sword: Sayf/kılıç Bows-arrows: yay-ok Siege weaponry: ed Dababah
•The army divisions
•Muqaddimah or The vanguard
•Qalb or The center
•Al-khalf or The rear
•Al-mou'akhira or The rearguard
•In battle
•The army was organized on the decimal system.
•1. Qalb or The center
•2. Maimanah or The right wing
•3. Maisarah or The left wing
•Every tribal unit had its leader called Arifs.
•In such units, there were commanders for each 10, 100, and 1,000 men
•Arifs were grouped and each group was under a commander called Amir-ul-Ashar and
•Amir-ul-Ashars were under the command of a section commander,
•who were under the command of the commander in chief, Amir-ul-jaish.
Warfare ethics-jurisprudence of Muslims
• Development of rulings
• The first military rulings were formulated in accordance with the interpretations of the Qur'an and Hadith
• The key themes in these rulings were the justness of war, and the injunction to jihad. The rulings do not cover feuds and
armed conflicts in general.
• Jihad (Arabic for "struggle") was given a military dimension after the oppressive practices of the Meccan Quraish against Muslims.
• It was interpreted as the struggle in God's cause. Injunctions
relating to jihad have been characterized as individual as well as collective duties of the Muslim community.
• The nature of attack is important in the interpretation —if the
Muslim community is attacked jihad becomes incumbent on all
Muslims.
Ethics of warfare
• The basic principle in fighting in the Qur'an is
– that other communities should be treated as one's own.
– Fighting is justified for legitimate self-defense, to aid other Muslims and after a violation in the terms of a treaty, but should be stopped if these circumstances cease to exist.
– The principle of forgiveness is reiterated in between
the assertions of the right to self-defense.
Civilian areas
