Salah al-Din Recruits a Crusader Princess, Gangs of Thieves, Employment of Women Spies, and the Use of Birds

The Islamic Intelligence Institution Salah al-Din Recruits a Crusader Princess, Gangs of Thieves, Employment of Women Spies, and the Use of Birds

“I didn’t need it to be at my door four people who would not be at my door more virtuous than them They are the pillars of the kingdom and the kingdom is not reformed without them: As for one of them is a judge ( Minister of Justice) who does not take the blame of the blamer in God, and the other is a policeman”  Minister of the Interior) does justice to the weak from the strong, and the third is the owner of an abscess ( Minister of Finance) who investigates and does not oppress the subjects, and the fourth a postal owner ( intelligence director) writes with the news of these people on health.

This is a saying that al-Tabari (d. 310 AH / 922 AD) - in his history - attributed to the true founder of the Abbasid state, Caliph Abu Jaafar al-Mansur (d. 158 AH / 775 AD), and it indicates to what extent the complexity and detail of institutional thought within the system of the Islamic state, especially in its square The strategy we call today “sovereign ministries”: justice, security, the economy, and information. It also reveals - contrary to what some people think - the ingenuity of this state in the structural administrative division, and the accuracy in distributing the functional roles of government departments.

The truth is that the establishment of an information-gathering apparatus is a logical thing in the history of the Islamic State, which has been on the line of fire throughout its history. The inter-fighting between it and its global competitors did not stop for a moment, nor did the attempts to penetrate it from the inside with agents and spies did not abate. Consequently, it was necessary for the Islamic countries to go through the paths of the kingdoms of intelligence darkness, and they reached the maximum that can be observed in the arts of this type of specialized hidden work, and by tracing the history of the Islamic intelligence service, the researcher finds that there is a kind of continuous development and cumulative heritage in experiences and practices.

Perhaps one of the important facts here is to say that no matter how tight and efficient these devices were, their role remained mainly focused on protection and combating rival opponents, and it was not - in most of the times - controlling the masses by counting breaths, silencing opinions and interfering in life details, as is currently known. The aim of this article is to unveil a much unknown pattern of the historical institutional thought of the Islamic state; Briefly exhibiting the emergence of its intelligence apparatus, and reviewing some of the growth and complexity it witnessed in the goals and mechanisms, and its wit and ingenuity in messages and means, which makes it a pioneering and wonderful model in security work, administrative thought and intentional jurisprudence.

The Seeds of Foundation

During the time of the Prophet - may God’s prayers and peace be upon him - and his rightly-guided caliphs, Muslims did not know an organized type of security work. However, that early era witnessed great security efforts to inquire about the enemies and to combat their spying activities, which intensified the suffering of the first Islamic community.

In the Meccan period; We find that "Al-Hakam bin Abi Al-Aas was spying on the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, and convey his news to the infidels"; As narrated by the tribe of Ibn al-Jawzi (d. 654 AH / 1256 AD) in 'Mirat al-Zaman'. And when the Muslims immigrated to Medina, the targeting intensified, with its Jews joining the Quraysh and their allies in communicating with them. Among the examples of this is what Al-Bolazari (d. 279 AH/892 AD) mentioned - in 'Ansab al-Ashraf' - that "Malik bin Abi Quqal was a seeker ( pretender) of Islam, transmitting the news of the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, to the Jews"!

As a result of these dangerous espionage activities, Muslims paid a heavy price for the security breach. Among the facts of this is what was narrated by Imam al-Bayhaqi (d. 458 AH / 1066 AD) - in 'Dalaa' al-Nubuwwah' - that when the Prophet - may God bless him and grant him peace - returned from the Umrah of the Judiciary in the year 7 AH / 629 AD, he sent a company to the tribe of Banu Sulaym near Medina. ( Spy) Banu Sulaym was with him, so when the [company] separated from Medina, the eye went out to his people and warned them, and told them, so they gathered a large crowd When the companions of the Messenger of God - may God’s prayers and peace be upon him - saw them and saw their gathering, he invited them to Islam and threw them with arrows. And they didn't hear what they were saying."

The Prophet - may God’s prayers and peace be upon him - had eyes that penetrate the ranks of his enemies and bring him their detailed news; In Sahih al-Bukhari, he - may God’s prayers and peace be upon him - once made a state of ihram to perform Umrah “and he sent an eye for him from (the tribe) Khuza’ah” to feel for him the news of the road

The Prophet - may God’s prayers and peace be upon him - and his companions had many stories in combating their enemies’ spies, including what was narrated by al-Bukhari (d. 256 AH / 870 AD) - in his Sahih - that “one of the polytheists came to the Messenger of God”, and when he came out secretly, he said, may God’s prayers and peace be upon him : «Ali the man, kill him»! So they raced to him, and Salama ibn al-Akwa' (d. 74 AH / 693 AD) killed him.

In contrast; The Prophet - may God’s prayers and peace be upon him - had eyes that penetrate the ranks of his enemies and bring him their detailed news; In Sahih al-Bukhari, he - may God’s prayers and peace be upon him - once made a state of ihram to perform Umrah, “and he sent an eye for him from [the tribe of] Khuza’ah” to feel for him the news of the road. Quraish.

And this spy said to the Prophet, may God’s prayers and peace be upon him: “The Quraish have gathered a crowd for you and they are your fighters and pushed you away from the House ( the Kaaba)!” And it was stated in the book 'Assimilation' by Ibn Abd al-Bar (d. 463 AH/1070AD) that al-Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib (died 32 AH/652AD) "had converted to Islam before [the Battle of] Badr, and he.writes the news of the polytheists to the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace. And he liked to come to the Messenger of God, may God’s prayers and peace be upon him, so the Messenger of God, may God’s prayers and peace be upon him, wrote to him: Your station in Makkah is better.

As for the era of the Rightly-Guided Caliphs; The tribe of Ibn al-Jawzi - in “Mirror al-Zaman” - mentioned evidence of the care taken by the security work of the Caliph Abu Bakr al-Siddiq (d. 13 AH / 624 AD); So he came in his will to his military commander, Yazid bin Abi Sufyan (d. 18 AH / 629 AD): “And if the messengers of your enemy come to you and make a good home for them, then it is your first best to them. your camp, and excite ( activate) the eyes and guards" in your camp.

So did Omar Ibn Al-Khattab (d. 23 AH / 645 AD), who was sent to Muawiyah bin Abi Sufyan (d. 60 AH / 680 AD) instructing him to take care of the coasts of the Levant and “set up guards on their landscapes and take the ropes for them”; According to Al-Baladhuri in "Futuh Al-Buldan". It was known about him that he would go out at night "guarding the people"; As mentioned by Ibn Shibba (d. 262 AH / 876 AD) in 'Tarikh al-Madina'.

Al-Waqidi (d. 207 AH/822 AD) - in "Futuh al-Sham" - tells us many of the espionage quirks between Muslims and the Romans; However, the "security services" were not known in their "institutional" form except in the Umayyad state, in comparison with what Ibn Hajar (d. 852 AH / 1448 AD) mentioned about the emergence of the Shatta apparatus, he said - in 'Fatah al-Bari' - that "'the policeman' (  the police chief) was not present in the Prophet’s era with any of the workers, but rather it happened in the state of the Umayyads.”

Umayyad leadership

Perhaps the most dangerous security apparatus adopted by the Umayyads in their state was the "post" system, which was run by "the owner of the mail" or "the owner of the news", which in our time is equivalent to the "director/chief of intelligence". Which can be considered the basic core of the "intelligence service" in the Arab-Islamic civilization. And about the Umayyad establishment of the postal system, al-Askari (d. about 395AH/1004AD) - in 'Al-Awael' - says that "the first person to put mail in Islam was Muawiyah bin Abi Sufyan, and Abd al-Malik (bin Marwan, d. 86 AH / 716AD) ruled."

Then al-Askari added that Abd al-Malik appointed his clerk Salem Abu al-Za’aza to the post of “mail owner” in the Arab Islamic state, stressing that “when the mail comes from day or night, it is not veiled, and it may spoil the people’s management of their Sunnah by locking them up in the mail for an hour!” It seems that some of the Umayyad caliphs had special “eyes” of trustworthy men; It was also reported by Ibn Hajar - in 'Tahdheeb al-Tahdheeb' - that the modern scholar "Khalid bin Abi al-Salt was an eye of Omar bin Abdul Aziz (d. 101 AH / 720 AD) in Wasit" which was located in southern Iraq.

The mail was not - as it is today - a means of correspondence used by governments and the general public. Rather, it performed exclusively the official tasks that we will mention to the intelligence service; It is no wonder that we find the person in charge of the post called in the first Islamic centuries: “The owner of the news.” Al-Subki (d. 771 AH / 1369 AD) said in “Tabaqat al-Shafi’i”: “The owner of the news means that he is reading the news of the city.” Perhaps this name is the source of the modern name for information security agencies, as in the words: “intelligence” and “intelligence.”

It seems that Muslims took the "mail" in this sense from the Persians; Al-Muhaddith Ibn al-Atheer (d. 606 AH / 1210 AD) says - in “Al-Nihaayah” - that “mail is a Persian word that is originally intended: mule, and its origin is: ‘mail is blood’, that is: omitted ( cut) sin, because mail mules were omitted tails. Like a sign for her, she expressed ( Arabized)" the word when it was translated into Arabic.

And they used to make post stations, which they called "postal railways", in which Al-Khalil Al-Farahidi (d. 170 AH / 786 CE) says in his book 'Al-Ain': "The post rails, each of them is twelve miles ( 22 km)". On each rail, the bearer of news would change his beast or hand the "map" - the bag of news reports - to another postal employee; Al-Futni (d. 986 AH / 1578 AD) said in the 'Bihar Al-Anwar Complex': "The postal horses are the ones that are monitored on the way to carry news from the country, from them in every place there is something [prepared] for that."

Muslim historians have mentioned the Persian Empire’s precedent to the use of mail in the manner that took place later in the Islamic state, and they mentioned the existence of “companions of news” appointed in the regions of the state; In Ibn al-Jawzi’s al-Muntadhim, it is reported that Khosrau Anushrouan (d. 579 AD) “reported to him by the 'owner of the news' in Niyaspur that a man appeared in whose image nothing of the king's image, and that his name was Anusharwan"; Perhaps he feared that in his presence - despite his great resemblance to the king - there would be a security threat to the government. It seems that the Romans resembled the Persians in using the mail for security, as can be learned from poems narrated by Al-Jahiz (d. 255 AH / 868 AD) in his book 'The Mules'.

Abbasid boom and

after a period in which the two names were called together on one employee whose administrative position was known as “Diwan Al-Khobar and Al-Barid”, as Ibn Katheer (d. 774 AH / 1372 AD) called him in “The Beginning and the End”; It seems that the designation of “the owner of the news” has technically separated - since about the fourth Hijri century - from the job of “the owner of the post”, although the latter remained responsible for helping to deliver the news by virtue of his possession of the approved means of transportation, but the responsibility of collecting news and managing intelligence elements became the specialty of “the owner of the news.” The news alone.

However, we find that the Fatimids used to call this information device “the diwan of arrangement,” and its supervisor “the owner of the arrangement”; Al-Maqrizi (d. 845 AH / 1441 AD) says in 'Ita'az al-Hanafa': "This arrangement is said to him in other than this [Fatimid] state 'the owner of the post', so he wrote to the person in charge of this office with the news with readings that reached him translated ( subtitled) in the position of the Caliph, and he presented it from his hand and responds to it with his handwriting."

The post owner had a permanent headquarters in the main city centers from which informants and their espionage activities were managed, and security reports were deposited there in order for them to be sent to the "Department of Post and News" (the General Directorate of Intelligence) in the capital. It was preserved for us from its headquarters, "The House of the Postal Person" in Mecca, whose exact location was determined by Al-Fakihi (d. 272 ​​AH/885 AD) - in 'Akhbar Makkah' - and he mentioned that from the "houses that receive the Grand Mosque from its sides outside. from what follows the Levant. is a house The owner of the post, which is inhabited by the owners of the cold ( postal collection) in Makkah.

The importance of the “Diwan Al-Khobar” grew and the traditions of its intelligence institution were entrenched in the days of the Abbasids, who overthrew the Umayyads through a fierce armed revolution. Security and intelligence work was one of its deadly weapons, and therefore they cared for this institution from the beginning.

The importance of the “Diwan Al-Khobar” grew and the traditions of its intelligence institution were consolidated in the days of the Abbasids, who overthrew the Umayyads through a fierce armed revolution, and security and intelligence work was one of its deadly weapons. Therefore, they cared for this institution from the beginning; We have previously mentioned the founding saying of their second caliph and the real founder of their state, al-Mansur on the four “pillars of kingship,” which al-Tabari narrated.

Proceeding from that; The Abbasids took care of providing the resources to support the intelligence establishment to perform its work to the fullest extent in a vast country that extends from China to Morocco. It was stated in the book 'Mufid al-Ulum and Exterminator of Concerns' attributed to al-Khwarizmi (d. 383 AH / 993 AD) that "Al-Ma'mun, the Caliph (d. 218 AH / 833 AD) arranged for the postal owner four thousand camels - with their supplies and machines - to inquire about them the affairs of the kingdom, so he knew the affairs of the world in one day One"!

It is not surprising that "the wise ( sane) kings take out of their treasuries very great money to the 'people of news', and they do not increase it alongside what they benefit from from their sides"; As Miskawayh (d. 421 AH / 1030 AD) says in 'Experiences of Nations'.

Politicians and scholars have talked about the importance of intelligence agencies that are disciplined in the public interest and the qualities required in their competent and trustworthy elements, which are many qualities and conditions for which al-Qalqashandi (d. 821 AH / 1418 AD) singled out a chapter in his book 'Al-Asha'.

Perhaps the most unanimous text on this is what Imam al-Mawardi (d. 450 AH/1058 AD) said in “Ijtiel al-Nisa’”: “The king is worthy that neither the young nor the old should be disturbed by the news of his flock and the affairs of his entourage, and the biographies of his successors and his representatives in his work, by constantly informing about them and broadcasting 'companions' The news 'in them secretly and publicly. And he delegates ( chooses) for that he is honest and trusts with his news, and advises the king in his absence and his scene, not greedy for slander, nor a whim who narrates or abuses, so that the soul is to his experience static, and to reveal the facts of things stagnant.

A lofty position

The "Diwan Al-Khobar" (the General Directorate of Intelligence) was of high importance in the Islamic State due to the gravity and sensitivity of its missions, just as the intelligence services are today. Therefore, some of those in charge of this apparatus were called “the danger of the state,” such as Al-Hussein bin Ibrahim Al-Baghdadi (d. 552 AH / 1158 AD); According to Al-Safadi (d. 764 AH / 1363 AD) in 'Al-Wafi with Deaths', and the source of his danger is that he is "an expert in all that is necessary and aware of what has been decided"; According to the comprehensive expression of Ibn al-Fawti (d. 723 AH / 1323 AD) in the 'Majma' of Arts'.

The rulers would choose for the position of "the owner of the news" - who is the director of the General Intelligence or one of its sub-stations in a city - men of trust, culture and intelligence due to their high position in decision-making circles; That is why Al-Khwarizmi said that the first layer of “the properties of the king” includes “the owner of the post because he is like hearing the king [so] he informs him of the kingdom’s interests and corruptions.” Then he adds - explaining the vitality of this institution for the stability of states - that "from the etiquette of war is the implementation of ( sending) the eyes, spies and news owners, for they have a great intrigue."

Therefore, we find among those who took this position famous scholars and writers, and sometimes they even made it hereditary in their families in order to stabilize the work of this sensitive apparatus for the security of the state and society. Among these famous people is the writer Hariri (d. 516 AH / 1122 AD), the author of Maqamat for Hariri; Al-Asbahani (d. 597 AH / 1200 AD) said in 'Khurrayat al-Qasr': "Al-Hariri was still the owner of the news in Basra in the Caliph's Court, and I found this position for his children until the end of the Al-Muqtafi era", that is, the era of Caliph Al-Muqtafi Allah (d. 566 AH / 1171AD).

Among the manifestations of the importance of the intelligence service to the sultans is that they were only assigned to it by those with culture and trust, and therefore we find among those who took over this institution famous scholars and writers, and sometimes they even made it an inheritance in their families in order to stabilize the work of this sensitive apparatus for the security of the state and society

One of the indications of the importance of this position is the promotion of some of its directors to the position of prime minister; Al-Dhahabi mentioned - in 'History of Islam' - that Abu Nasr al-Kandari (d. 456 AH/1064 AD) contacted Sultan Tughrul Bey Al-Saljuqi (d. 455 AH/1063 AD), and made him "the owner of his news", that is, director of his intelligence, and then "asked him ( appointed him as a minister) and he has Thirty-one years., and the Caliph [Abbasid] called him: 'Master al-Wazir'.

And this office was seen as a security necessity that should not be neglected - as long as it was disciplined within the limits of its legitimate powers - no matter how noble the motive for compromising was, and perhaps they considered its neglect a reason for the collapse of states. Al-Asbahani tells - in 'The History of the State of the Seljuk Family' - the story of the assassination of the Assassin Division of the Minister Nizam al-Malik (d. 485 AH/1092 AD), after which the disruption of the Seljuk state began with the internal fighting between the princes of the ruling family.

And he mentioned that that assassination was only “because the state had no 'owners of news', and the drawing in the days of Daylam ( the Buyids) - and the kings before them - was that they were not devoid of part of the 'owner of news and mail', so the news of al-Adani was not hidden from them. and the ends, and the state of the obedient and the disobedient.”

Then he adds that the reason for neglecting this is that Sultan Alp Arslan said to Nizam Al-Malik: “We do not need a reporter, for the world is not without every country in it of our friends and enemies. The friend is in the image of the enemy, and the enemy is in the image of the friend. So the Sultan dropped this drawing because of the illusion that had occurred to him, and he only felt the appearance of the people ( the Hashashin) and their bases were firmly established. The strange thing is that this king's regime held a nice chapter in his book 'Siyasat Namah' on the importance of the intelligence service and its role in the stability of states.

Among those who were known for neglecting the intelligence apparatus and underestimating the importance of its efforts, historians considered this as one of the distant reasons for the Tatars toppling the Abbasid state in the year 656 AH / 1258 AD; Caliph al-Zahir (d. 623 AH / 1226 AD), who refused to see the secret security reports that were submitted to him, "When he died, they found. in his house thousands of patches ( security reports), all sealed and he did not open them, so he was told to open them, and he said: We have no need for them. All are endeavors! According to Golden in the 'History of Islam'.

Between two approaches,

what Al-Zahir did was in contrast to what his father, the Caliph Al-Nasir (d. 622 AH / 1225 AD) was known for, was very careful about the intelligence apparatus and reading its reports daily, as serious heads of state do today; During his reign, we find that "the guards of the paths used to raise to the Caliph - every morning - what they had of the good and bad conditions of the people, so he [his son and his successor] ordered Al-Zahir to nullify that, and said: What is the benefit in revealing the conditions of people? He was told: If you leave that Corrupt the people! He said: We are calling for them to reform. According to Ibn Taghri Bardi (d. 874 AH / AD 1469 AD) in 'Al-Nujum al-Zahira'.

If we try to determine the tasks that the "Diwan Al-Khobar" apparatus has been performing throughout the centuries; We will find it mainly located in four directions: The first: following up on the important news and the general conditions of the state's regions; Second: Monitoring senior employees to ensure their integrity and to ensure the validity of their loyalty; The third: the pursuit of opponents, critics, protesters and potential revolutionaries; Fourth: Gathering news about the external enemy.

Muslims have excelled in following the news of the enemies to ensure the advance preparation of their plans, according to what the “news people” provide them with from the spies who infiltrate the ranks of the enemies on the battlefields, or who live with them in their countries disguised as merchants or owners of crafts, and sometimes these spies are among the enemies themselves.

The "people of the news" would monitor all the hadiths and facts and then send them to the relevant higher authority, regardless of their security, military or political importance. Oraib al-Qurtubi (d. 369 AH / 979 AD) transmits to us - in the 'Relationship to the History of al-Tabari' - a rare document of a complete report sent by a 'owner of news', and it does not contain important information, but rather a strange story about a mule who was born a filly!

Oraib Al-Qurtubi said: "The book 'The Postman' was received in dinars ( a city located in western Iran) mentioning that a mule there placed a caeman, and the copy of his book: . etc." Then he cited the text of the report, including the news of the mule with complete accuracy, with a mention of its direct source and its interactions between people; This is despite the insensitive nature of the news, so what if it was news that had security or political repercussions?!

Muslims have excelled in tracking the news of the enemies to ensure that they are prepared in advance for their plans, according to what the “news people” provide them with from the spies who infiltrate the ranks of the enemies on the battlefields, or who live with them in their countries disguised as merchants or owners of crafts, and sometimes these spies are among the enemies themselves. Muslims recruited them to penetrate the security of the hostile front. Perhaps one of the most wonderful activities of Muslims spying on enemies is what the history books have reported from the stories of their deep and qualitative security penetration of the Crusader kingdoms on the coast of the Levant.

Here is the historian Abu Shama al-Maqdisi (d. 665 AH / 1267 AD) telling us the story of the recruitment of Salah al-Din al-Ayyubi intelligence (d. 589 AH / 1193 AD) for a distinguished Crusader woman, the wife of the Crusader King of Antioch Bohemond III (d. 598 AH / 1201 AD). In order to obtain dangerous information from a high-ranking crusader source; This Sultan - who is known for his deep religiosity - was not embarrassed to enlist a crusader woman. Rather, we find that he gives her precious gifts for that, and honors her by releasing prisoners from her family in order to continue her intelligence assistance to his country.

Abu Shama says in 'Kitab al-Rawdatain': "The woman of Abrins ( Amir) of Antioch known as Dam ( Madame) 'Sabil' (Sibylla died after 584 AH / 1188 AD) was loyal to the Sultan [Salah al-Din], an eye for him on the enemy, guiding him, advising him and informing him. On their secrets, and the Sultan honors her for that and gives her the most precious gifts. When he opened (in the year 584 AH / 1188 AD) the fortress of Barzieh [near Antioch] and he was captured by this group ( sister of Sabeel and her relatives) and the hands of Muslims separated with them, the Sultan followed them and saved them from captivity and blessed them, He prepared them and led them to Antioch for the woman of Al-Abrnas, so she thanked him [Sabil] for that, and her affection and benefit for the Muslims continued.

Defense and rooting

and half a century later; We find his grandson, the Great King of Damascus, Issa al-Ayyubi (d. 624 AH / 1227 AD) - he was a jurist of the Hanafi school of thought - repeating the same method in recruiting Crusaders women, and his intelligence agrees with them on security "codes" to inform news of the Crusader army's movements, and even uses his intelligence to bring down an assistant The commander of this army is large, and then he is also used to direct the enemy in the direction desired by the Muslim leaders!

The tribe of Ibn al-Jawzi says in “Mirrat al-Zaman”: “And [Al-Mu’azzam] in the days of the annulment ( the end of the armistice) with the Franks would arrange fires on the mountains from the gate of Nablus to Acre, and on Acre a mountain near it called Al-Karmel. Signs, and in Acre he had 'Akhbar Companions' and most of them were cavalry women [the Franks], and their energies ( their windows) were in front of [Jabal] Carmel. They were two hundred [lighted] two candles, and if they wanted to go to Hauran, and the region of Damascus, it referred to that region, as well as to Nablus, so [by doing so] he narrowed the roads for the Franks if they went to a destination that his army had preceded.

Then the tribe of Ibn al-Jawzi - and he was a famous preacher - narrates a dialogue between him and al-Moazm that reveal to us the details of this intelligence penetration, its mechanisms and its benefits: “So I told him some days: This is extravagance in money houses! The Germans) to leave for the Levant wanted to descend from Acre suddenly and walk to the gate of Damascus, so he sent a great knight and said to him: Hide our coming to the country so that we can change suddenly!

Ba'akah was a well-received woman, so she wrote to me telling me [of the matter], so I sent her colored clothes, amber, and silk masks, and she put them on and met the knight. She said: From a friend of ours among the Muslims! He said: Who is he? She said: Al-Kuraidi ( the most prominent Kurdish lineage), so he crucified ( the drawing of the cross) on his face and got up and got out of her, still that woman was kind to the knight and gifted him until the books of the Anbar came to him sealed, so he sent them to me, and I tell him to write what I want, if I did not turn from The Muslims came suddenly, and the people of the Levant, their livestock, and their wealth brought innumerable and uncountable wealth, so I ransom the Muslims with an easy thing.

There are many stories of women being used in intelligence missions in Islamic history, whether by Muslims or their enemy. Perhaps the oldest of them is the story of the woman with whom the companion Hatib bin Abi Balta’ah (d. 30 AH / 652 AD) sent an information message to the leaders of Quraysh.

Al-Bukhari narrated - in his Sahih - that when the Prophet, peace and blessings of God be upon him, found out about her, he sent a group following her under the leadership of Ali. The Prophet, then, from Hatib bin Abi Balta’ah to some of the polytheists who were in Makkah, telling them about some of the Prophet’s affair.” In this hadith we see that Ali - for his well-known piety - does not take the blame of a blamer in carrying out his security mission!

Multiple tasks

One of the most important functions of 'Saheb al-Khabar' was to monitor senior officials, including ministers, governors, judges, and military and security leaders. And the historian Ibn al-Atheer (d. 630 AH / 1232 AD) mentions - in 'Al-Kamil' - that the King of Tunisia Tamim bin Al-Muizz Al-Sinhaji (d. 374 AH / 984AD) "had in the country 'news' owners, providing them with Sunni livelihoods, to inform him of the conditions of his companions so that they would not oppress people." .

Therefore, we find that those with political and security experience advise princes to monitor their senior officials; Taher bin al-Hussein (d. 822 AD), who was one of the senior leaders of the Caliph al-Ma’mun and the founder of the Tahirid state in Khorasan, recommended his son Abdullah bin Taher (d. 230 AH / 844 AD) when al-Ma’mun appointed him some country; He said to him: “Make in every quarter ( region) of your work a trustee who will inform you of the news of your workers, and write to you about their biography and deeds, even as if you are with every worker in his work, an observer of all his affairs”; According to Ibn Tayfur (d. 280 AH / 894 AD) in the 'Book of Baghdad'.

It is surprising that the rulers would arrange a security informant over the employee, then place another informant on this informant, and then a third informant on all of them, which is the most accurate thing that can be imagined in what is known today as “administrative intelligence” to combat corruption! Al-Maqrizi mentions in the translation of Abdullah bin Dasuma (d. before 270 AH / 884 AD) that Ahmad bin Tulun (d. 270 AH / 884 AD) established him as “a trustee of Abu Ayyub Ahmed bin Muhammad bin Shuja’ when he approved it on the Kharaj ( Ministry of Finance) by him, and he made it a blessing Known as 'Amin al-Dhoib', an eye on them.

The “people of the news” used to monitor the expenses of senior officials, especially judges among them, and compare them with their incomes to expose their corruption through bribery; Ibn al-Jawzi reported - in al-Muntazim - that al-Ma'mun reprimanded Judge Bishr ibn al-Walid for the corruption of his fellow judges.

The “people of the news” used to monitor the expenses of senior officials, especially judges among them, and compare them with their incomes to expose their corruption through bribery. Ibn al-Jawzi reported - in al-Muntazam - that al-Ma'mun reprimanded Judge Bishr ibn al-Walid (d. 238 AH / 852 AD) for the corruption of his fellow judges; So he addressed him, saying: "We assigned a man - you indicated to us - the district of Al-Abla ( today the Al-Ashar area in Basra), and we paid him a thousand dirhams ( today approximately 1200 thousand US dollars), and he has no estate, property or money, so the 'owner of the news' came back to the side that His expenditure per month is four thousand dirhams, so where do these three thousand dirhams come from?!” This was repeated in the days of Al-Mutawakkil with “Sahib Al-Kharaj” in Ahwaz Omar bin Faraj Al-Rakhji (d. about 240 AH / 854 AD).

And no one was spared from this monitoring, even the Crown Prince of the Caliph! Al-Tabari tells - in his history - on the authority of the poet Al-Mu'amel Al-Muharibi (d. about 190 AH/806 AD) a story that happened to him with the Mahdi (d. 169 AH / 785 AD) and his father Al-Mansur; The poet says: "I offered him [i.e.: Al-Mahdi] Al-Rayy, and he is a crown prince, so he ordered me twenty thousand dirhams ( today approximately $25,000) for verses that praised him, so he wrote to Al-Mansour, the 'postal owner' ( intelligence employee), so he wrote to him. Al-Mansour. he blames him." Then he was arrested and sixteen thousand dirhams were recovered from him.

The 'people of the news' used to spend a great deal of effort in monitoring the public and the opponents, which almost approximated - while preserving the differences of time, place and possibility - to what the contemporary intelligence is doing; But it was included from praising wrath of power , even if after their death, Valzhba tells At 'history Alasalam'- that since the core of Jafar (Ben Yahya Barmaki T. 190 AH / 806 AD) stop Alrqashi poet and established says:

As for God , without fear snitch ** And an eye for the Caliph not to sleep, we

wrapped around your torso and received us ** as people receive with a stone!

Among the wonders of the security pursuit of opponents after their death is what Ibn al-Jawzi narrated - in 'The Regular' - within the events of the year 237 AH/852 AD; He said that, “On Eid al-Fitr of this year, he ordered (the Caliph) al-Mutawakkil (d. 247 AH/861 AD) to take down the body of [the crucified revolutionary Imam] Ahmad bin Nasr al-Khuza’i (d. 231 AH/846 AD) and gave it to his guardians So the common people gathered to anoint his funeral and the tree of his head; So 'the owner of the post' wrote that, so Al-Mutawakkil forbade the public meeting."

Careful monitoring and

who was known for the efficiency of his intelligence, the Abbasid Caliph Al-Nasir, so that historians mention from its strength that reports were submitted to him, including details of the tables offered to the guests, and they tell stories about that. They say that "he had 'news' owners who would watch him about what was happening and what they saw of things in every place ( side), so people feared him greatly and feared him, and man in Iraq did not dare to run in his home and solitude what he feared denial of him, until he was delusional From the people of his house and the most special of people with him to pass on his news to the Caliph!” According to the expression of Ibn Wasil al-Hamawi (d. 697 AH / 1298 AD) in 'Mufarrej al-Kurub'.

Before him, the intelligence of the Fatimid ruler (d. 411 AH/1021 AD) was famous, who entered every home and recorded even the details of the love stories between men and women; Ibn al-Jawzi (d. 597 AH/1200 AD) tells us - in 'The Regular' - that he "arranged in every street ( street) 'news' owners who read it what they knew, and arranged for them old women to enter the houses and bring to them the news of women, and that So-and-so loves so-and-so and so-and-so loves so-and-so. And that she meets with her friend and this is with his companion, so the 'people of the news' would raise this to him, and he would implement ( send) someone to arrest the woman he had heard about like that.

Then the Fatimid ruler - in one of the fluctuations of his well-known decisions - did not soon turn against his intelligence in the year 399 AH, so he "killed the 'people of the news' from the last of them because they frequently harmed people by lying to them and taking money from people"; According to al-Maqrizi in 'Ita'az al-Hanafa'.

As for the stories of critics following up on the performance of the authority and persecuting the mere word of protest, they are abundant and abundant, no matter how marginal the critic’s position is. We find, for example, in Ibn Al-Amrani’s “Al-Anba’ fi Ta’rikh Al-Caliphs” (d. 580 AH / 1184 AD) that Al-Mutadhid Al-Abbasid (d. 289 AH / 902 AD) “had 'people of news' who brought to him everything that was going on in the markets, so some of the 'companions of the news' raised to him that a cobbler. ( a shoemaker) said to Kattan ( a cotton seller) who demanded from him a debt he owed and was slandering him with it: The Muslims have no one left to look into their conditions! Al-Mu'tadid became angry at this and sent someone to terrorize this poor poor man.

Because of the large number of whistleblowers who were spying on intellectuals and scholars in their teaching sessions; The jurists - for themselves and their students - allowed lying during the security investigation sessions with them. Al-Dhahabi quoted - in “Sir of the Nobles’ Flags” - on the authority of one of the students of the imam and the great minister, Rajaa bin Haywa (d. 112 AH / 730 AD) that he said: “We were with Rajaa bin Haywa, so we remembered the gratitude of the blessings, and he said: No one can thank Nima! He had a cloak on his head, so he said: Not even the Commander of the Faithful? We said: What is the Commander of the Faithful mentioned here?! But he is a man of the people.

He ( disciple of Raja’): So we neglected him, so Raja’ turned and did not see him, so he said: You came from the owner of the cloak! If you are called and take an oath, then swear [a lie]. He said: We only learned of my guard had approached him. He said: Hey, please! He mentions the Commander of the Faithful, so do you not need him?!” He denied the incident and swore a pious oath on that, so Al-Harsi went back to the informer and beat him for his “false” slander.

Ambushes and Patrols

One of the security arrangements of the states was the running of military ambushes called “armours” to monitor the borders between the regions, and they were often accompanied by those assigned with intelligence missions; Al-Isfahani (d. 356 AH / 966 AD) - in “Muqatil al-Talibeen” - stated that when the Abbasids decided to go after Idris Al-Alawi (d. 177 AH, the founder of the Idrisid state in Morocco) they put “on the road weapons and with them ‘news owners’ searched everyone who permitted the road.”

In the face of the inspection of the informants of these "arms"; Secret correspondences were conducted, the owners of which were very elaborate in the ways of concealing them; Al-Tabari says - in his history - that prior to the outbreak of the conflict between Al-Amin (d. 198 AH / 814 AD) and Al-Ma’mun Abbasids over the throne of the caliphate (193-198 AH/808 AD - 813 AD), the Minister of the Secretary “Al-Fadl bin Al-Rabee’ (d. 208 AH/823 AD) … took care of observatories so that the books would not go beyond The border ( the border), so the Messenger ( the Messenger of Al-Ma’mun in Baghdad) wrote with a woman, and made the book a deposit in pecked sticks of reward sticks ( a donkey’s stick), and wrote to the 'postal owner' to speed up the news. The village, do not be agitated and do not search! The news came to Al-Ma’mun in agreement with all the books that were reported to him” regarding Al-Amin’s conspiracy to depose him from the mandate of the Covenant.

There are many branches of Islamic intelligence; Among them was the civil branch known as “Sahib al-Khabar” at launch, and among them the military branch, which was called “Sahib al-Askar,” and in the Ayyubid and Mamluk era it became called “Al-Yazak.”

And with the multiplicity of branches, the sources of information abounded from the eyes and spies, and they mastered the means of concealment, camouflage and encryption until they put in it the books “The Art of the Blind” for teaching how to install and solve the “cipher”, and their methods varied in delivering reports even using the homing pigeons which they called “messaging pigeons” or “ Cards bird", that is, the small scraps of paper that he carries containing the news in abbreviated and encrypted writings they call "moisturizers".

Al-Qalqashandi tells us about how this pigeon was used through operating towers that are considered “airports” for his intelligence flights; He says that "it is the custom to write two cards and date them by the hour of their writing of the day, and hang them in a bird's wing of the messenger pigeon and are sent, and it is not enough for one of them because of the possibility of an accident that prevents him from reaching his destination. ( the tower worker) and took the card from his wing and attached it to a bird’s wing from the bathroom of the tower next to it, until it ends at the tower of the castle [in Cairo], so the flying tower - and the card in its wing - and brings it in the hands of the great rooster ( the Sultan’s secretary) so it is presented to him, He places the card on his wing with his hand."

It is surprising that the "work interfaces" of the old intelligence services are not very different from what is going on today in the intelligence work around the world. For example, they were disguised as merchants roaming countries with their goods. Yaqut al-Hamawi (d. 626 AH / 1229 AD) tells - in the 'Dictionary of Countries' - that al-Mansur ordered - on the advice of one of the Roman Patriarchs - to establish markets outside the wall of Baghdad, because he "accompanies the spy From all sides, he enters [the city]. for the reason of trade - and the merchants are hail ( collect mail) of the horizons - so he spies the news and knows what he wants, and leaves without anyone knowing about it!

Sometimes these spies disguise themselves in the form of a ragged beggar, to the extent that he is accused of communicating with the scholars and ascetics who are very austere in his clothes. Al-Dhahabi mentions - in “History of Islam” - that the ascetic Imam Abu Al-Fadl Al-Ijli (d. 454 AH/1062 AD) “entered Kerman ( is located today in Iran) in the form of a shabby …, so he was carried to the king and they said: He is a spy”! Then when the king learned his truth, he honored and glorified him. Al-Dawadari (d. after 736 AH / 1335 AD) tells us - in 'Kinz al-Durar' - that "because of the spies who disguised themselves as the poor ( Sufis), a group of the righteous poor were killed by stoning" because they thought they were spies.

Perhaps the security suspicion aroused the scholars and students of knowledge to appear in a remarkable and unusual dress for their likes, even if it was not austere; This may result in them being prevented from participating in the academic achievement sessions of their professors; Imam Majd al-Din Ibn al-Atheer (d. 606 AH / 1209 AD) - in 'Jami al-Usool' - in the translation of Imam al-Muhaddith al-Nasa'i (d. 303 AH/915 CE) - the author of the book 'Sunan' - stated that he entered Egypt for a hadith, when he came to its judge, al-Muhaddith al-Harith. Ibn Miskeen al-Maliki (d. 250 AH/864 AD) “could not attend his scientific council.

Ibn al-Atheer adds that one of the narrations justifies this prohibition by the fact that “Al-Harith was engaged in matters related to the Sultan ( criticizing the authority), so Abu Abd al-Rahman [An-Nasa’i] came and entered him in a dress that he denied. A long head covering, so he denied his dress and was afraid that he might be one of the Sultan’s spies, so he prevented him from entering it.”

Therefore, when he came to Al-Harith’s scientific episode, Al-Nasa’i used to “cover up in a place and hear [him] where he does not see him, so he was cautious and investigated” in his narration about him in commitment to scientific honesty. And he does not say in it: “Tell us” or “Tell us” as he says about the rest of his sheikhs.

Multiple Recruitment

Judge al-Tanoukhi (d. 384 AH / 994 AD) - in 'Faraj after hardship' - reported a long story of the strangeness of the intelligence imagination, talking about the spying of al-Mu'tadid on his minister, al-Qasim al-Harithi (d. 291 AH / 904 AD), through a man from the Hashemites who worked as an informant for him The body of a lame beggar, who comes daily to the minister’s house and keeps moving from one room to another until the kitchen, monitoring what happened in it and who visited him. )". This text has a unique indication of the magnitude of the salaries of security informants in those ages!

As for the most amazing methods of intelligence cover-up, it is - as it happens a lot today, unfortunately - that made the leading of worshipers in mosques a front for intelligence activity! Ibn al-Jawzi - in al-Muntazim - mentioned the story of the poet Ali bin Aflah al-Absi (d. 535 AH / 1140 AD), who was a writer close to the Abbasid Caliph Al-Murshid (d. 529 AH / 1134 AD).

Then it became clear that Al-Absi had a relationship with the Emir of the desert of Iraq, Dubais bin Sadaqah Al-Asadi (d. 529 AH / 1134 AD), and that “in the mosque adjacent to Dar al-Sammak there was a man called ‘Makki’ who prayed with the people and recited the Qur’an. The poor ( the Sufis), so he found out about that the janitor of Ibn Aflah, and it was agreed that Ibn Aflah got angry at his gatekeeper and hit him, so he sought intercession for the people for him, but he did not want him back. the spy, and Ibn Aflah and the imam of the mosque ran away!

In order to use all the energies of society - no matter how rejected - to liberate the homelands; We saw Salah al-Din recruit gangs of thieves in his military intelligence, employing their "savvy" and daring to fight the Crusaders. Therefore, his biographer, Judge Ibn Shaddad (d. 632 AH / 1235 AD) - in the 'Sultan Anecdotes' - says that he "arranged ( recruited.) three hundred thieves from the Shaloh of the Arabs, [they] entered [the Crusaders' camps] and stole from them their money and horses, and stole the men." Sometimes "by kidnapping them - while they are sleeping - at gunpoint, so they bring them captives to the Muslim camp.

Rather, the intelligence recruitment reached one of the most sensitive groups in society, namely the children’s book school teachers who were - and they were of a spontaneous nature - a gateway to collecting all the news of their families’ homes, especially the homes of military leaders in the country; So Miskaweh tells us - in 'Experiences of Nations' - that "the teachers of boys were bound ( obligated) to ask the children of soldiers who were in their offices about their fathers' affairs, and how they were doing in their homes, and they wrote about this to the 'post office', and they had a home based on that (  big salary).

Intelligence recruitment was not limited to men and children; It also included women, especially since they are able - unlike men - to enter the depths of homes, so female informants would enter the homes securely and bring them out with the most accurate news of their families. One of the oldest and strangest stories of this is in the methods of recruitment and the multiplicity of intelligence interfaces in it; What Ibrahim bin Muhammad al-Bayhaqi (d. about 320 AH / 933 AD) narrated - in the 'Advantages and Disadvantages' - that Al-Mansour himself once conducted a security investigation accompanied by torture with a concubine of the Alawites, asking her for information about the leader of their revolution, Muhammad bin Abdullah, known as the 'clean soul' (D. 145 AH / 762 AD).

But the slave girl persisted in the investigation and “repented only to ingratitude, so [Al-Mansur] said to her: Do you know so-and-so? Her face turned black and she changed, and she said: Yes, O Commander of the Faithful! He said: You are right. ., I ordered her to enter your homes, to hold you back, and to know your news.

Then he said: Do you know So-and-so the grocer? She said: Yes He said: By God, he is a speculator ( an investor for me) for five dinars So he told me that a nation ( a servant) for you on such and such day of such and such a month that the Maghrib prayer came asking him henna and paper, and he said to her: What do you do with this? She said: Muhammad bin Abdullah was in some of his estates in Al-Baqi’ district and he was entering the night, so we wanted this so that the women would take from him what they needed when their husbands entered from dusk, so it fell into her hand ( she was surprised) and she gave in to all that he wanted.” Al-Mansur of information.

Al-Dhahabi tells us - in the biography’ - that al-Mansur employed his kings disguised in the dress of Bedouin shepherds, “so he bought. slaves from [from] the Arabs, and he gave one of them two camels, and he separated them in his request ( the pure soul) while he was hidden”!

Spy gifts,

similar to what was reported on the authority of his son, the Mahdi, that he gifted his minister, Yaqoub bin Daoud (d. 187 AH / 803 AD) a maid to spy on him and correspond with him about the secrets of his home affairs. One day, al-Mahdi ordered his minister to kill an Alawites who feared he would revolt against him, so the minister secretly released him, convinced that he was wronged and ran away; Yaqoub said: “I did not feel that the slave-girl had taken note of what had happened and that she was like a spy on me, so she sent her servant to the Mahdi, so she informed him of what had happened. So the Mahdi was sent to that road, and they returned that Alawi and imprisoned him with him.” Then Jacob was arrested, entrapped and imprisoned; According to Ibn Kathir in 'The Beginning and the End'.

And if the Mahdi used gifting the slave girls as a means of spying on his employees, in a behavior similar to what the intelligence services today give the personalities who are targeted by phones and watches mined with wiretapping chips to spy on them from a distance; If he is impressed by what the Abbasid governor of Khorasan, Amr al-Saffar (d. 289 AH / 901 AD), was doing as gifts to the boys for the same purpose; “Amr used to buy the Mamluks, raise them and give them to his commanders, so they would be ‘people of news’ over them, and he would give them the stipends ( salaries) secretly, so no news is hidden from him” of what these leaders do; According to al-Dawadari in 'Kinz al-Durar'.

In the footsteps of the two men; Their grandson Al-Mamoun, who seems to have exceeded them by stages, walked in recruiting women, until he had - if the historical narrative was true - an "army" of old women who would provide him with the secrets of the corners of the houses of his capital, Baghdad. The Hanafi scholar al-Saktoari (d. 1007 AH / 1599 AD) - in 'Al-Ma'moun al-'Awael' - stated that "Al-Ma'mun was the first to take spies from among the elderly. !

The 'owner of the news' - as director of state intelligence in his region - had wide powers, and it seemed that he had a "judicial control" that allowed him to search homes, and even "hearts" by swearing the interrogators with the most solemn oaths!

Al-Dhahabi narrates - in 'History of Islam' - that a report was filed in Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal (d. 241 AH/855 AD) that he was hiding in his house one of the wanted persons of the state, so the 'owner of the news' raided him at night, "So he swore to divorce three times that he did not have the students of the Commander of the Faithful, and they searched The house and the flock, the rooms and the rooftops, and they searched the ark of books, and they searched the women and the houses, but they did not see anything So he wrote that to the trustee and he knew that [Ahmad] was lying about him.”

And if, throughout Islamic history, countries have been keen - in building their intelligence services - on the efficiency of the work of the 'Diwan of Post and News', and what is meant by 'people of news' is most careful; Some of its sultans hated those who volunteered to bring public news to them, above their hatred of the elites and the common people.

Imam Ahmad rejected slander with the sultan, even with the immorality of the people. Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali (d. 795 AH / 1393 AD) says in 'Jami al-'Ulum wa al-Hakam': "Imam Ahmad hated raising immorality to the Sultan in any case." And a saying spread among them that “seeking is ugly, even if it is true”.