Fatima.Mernessi_The-Forgotten-Queens-of-Islam-EN

60 Queens and Courtesans
with a person with a large nose is lost effort, because that denotes
a fool. A person with a high forehead is lazy but a low forehead is
no better, because that person is ignorant. A large mouth denotes
courage, and thick lips are the mark of a fool. 31 But where Ibn
Batalan breaks all records is when he advises the slave buyer on
the attributes of each race. After the Arabs, it is the Hindu jawari
that he recommends for their faithfulness and tenderness; but, he
says, 'their problem is that they die very young'. The Turks are
recommended for their good qualities and beauty, but they are
rather stocky, and one very rarely finds a slender one. The Romans
make very good slaves and often possess good manual skills. The
monsters to avoid are the Armenians, who are faithless and thieving;
you have to use the rod to get something out of them. 32
What is astonishing about a text like this is that the Muslim
countries, whose Prophet and Koran directed them towards the
elimination of slavery, are found instead to be its supporters and
defenders, right up until the nineteenth century when the European
nations renounced it. In the middle of the eighteenth century a
Muslim published a book of tips for examining a slave in order to
avoid being swindled. Lutfallah al-Ghazali, a citizen of Ottoman
Egypt, gave his text the very edifying title of The Best Way for
Buyers to Inspect Slaves. 33 As the size of the Muslim Empire began
to stabilize during the time of Harun al-Rashid, and since for
centuries Islam had not been a conqueror, but rather the object of
conquest, one might well ask where its slaves came from. The
answer is that they could only be Muslims. How is it that the
religious authorities, so solicitous of Islam and the defence of its
essential principles, including justice and equality, did not organize
campaigns against slavery? This is a question which must sooner or
later be investigated.
Upon the unexpected death of her husband Caliph al-Mahdi in 169
(785), Khayzuran took centre stage. The death of a caliph was
always a period of unrest, and her two sons were far from Baghdad.
She summoned the viziers for consultation and ordered them to
unblock funds immediately to disburse to the army the equivalent
of two years' pay, a substantial sum. It was necessary to calm the
soldiers, who were beginning to be restless upon hearing the news.
In the course of an expedition to Tabaristan with his son Harun,
al-Mahdi had been taken ill with a malady which proved fatal. He
died immediately, and after consultation Harun decided to bury
him on the spot and return to Baghdad. There he rejoined Khay-