Mawali

Mawali or mawālá (Arabic: موالي‎) is a term in Classical Arabic used to address non-Arab Muslims. The term gained prominence during the Umayyad Caliphate (c. 661-750 CE/41–132 AH), as many non-Arabs such as Persians, Turks and Kurds converted to Islam. The influx of non-Arab converts to Islam created a new difficulty in incorporating them into tribal Arab society. The solution appeared to be the contract of wala', through which the non-Arab Muslims acquired an Arab patron. They continued to pay a similar tax that was required from the people of the book and were generally excluded from government and the military until the end of the Umayyad Caliphate. In Khorasan and Persia, the Arabs held most of the higher positions in the armed forces and in the upper echelons of government. Therefore, many of mawali were drawn to the anti-Umayyad activities of the Kaysanites Shia.