Given this mentality it was natural for the male population of Egypt to hate the army into which they were dragged by Mehmed Ali’s military machine and to seize every opportunity to evade it whenever and wherever they could. Nothing can be further from the truth than al-Rāf‘ī’s allegation that the fellahin eventually saw that “military life was more comfortable than their village life [which, in fact, is not saying much], and even became proud of it.” In all the numerous cases about conscripting the male population of Egypt into Mehmed Ali’s army there was only a single instance of a man voluntarily requesting to join the army.

XREF: Pays off the ongoing theme of coerced conscription and fellahin resistance seen throughout the earlier highlights, most directly loc 92 'Egyptians fiercely resisted forced military service under the Pasha.' Pays off: "Egyptians fiercely resisted forced military service under the Pasha."

Khaled Fahmy, All the Pasha_s Men_ Mehmed…, loc. 1359