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THE ORIGINS OF THE ISLAMIC STATE

Barḳah. "Ye have to sell your children and wives in order to pay the poll-tax on you." Commenting on this, al-Laith said, "If they were slaves, that would not be a legal thing for them to do."

Bakr ibn-al-Haitham from Yazîd ibn-abi-Ḥabîb:—ʿUmar ibn-ʿAbd-al-ʿAzîz wrote regarding the Luwâtah women, "Whoever has a Luwâtah woman, let him either be engaged to her through her father, or return her to her people." Luwâtah[1] is a village inhabited by Berbers who had a covenant.

  1. Cf. Khurdâdhbih, pp. 90 and 91; ibn-Khaldûn, Kitâb al-ʿIbar fi-Aîyâm al-ʿArab w-al-ʿAjam w-al-Barbar, vol. ii2, p. 128 (Bûlâḳ, 1284).