'Mawali' or ''mawala'' (
Arabic,'موالي') is a term in
Classical Arabic used to address non-Arab Muslims. In the second half of the seventh century, the Mawali were considered a second class in Arabian society beneath free tribesmen. The term gained prominence in the centuries following the
Arab Muslims conquests in the
7th century AD, when many non-Arabs such as
Persians,
Egyptians, and
Turks entered Islam. These new Muslim converts were treated as second class citizens by the ruling Arab elite, until the end of the
Umayyad dynasty. Under the
Abbasid rulers of the
9th century AD, the Mawali comprised an important part of the mercenary army. The fragmentation of the Abbasid Caliphate, took place with the mawali's rise to power, the
Saffarids in the
Greater Iran, the
Ghaznavidss in
Sind, and the
Qarmatians in the
Arabian Peninsula Together, the rise of these ethnic groups to power, forced the retreat of the Abbasid Caliph back to Baghdad around 900 AD.
References
Hourani, Albert.
A History of the Arab People . Chapter 1.
Mas'udi
The Meadows of Gold Trans. and Eds. Paul Lunde and Caroline Stone.
See also
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Anti-Persianism by Arabs
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Dhimmi
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Jizya
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Mawla
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Ajam
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Shu'ubiyya
External links
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Mawali definition