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ISLAMIC ECONOMICS THEMES IN ISLAMIC STUDIES A (new) Brill Series including short histories and concise surveys of appealing themes in the field of Islamic and Arabic Studies The various titles give an accessible overview of a specific aspect or topic. Scholars and graduate students find in this series easy reference tools to current subjects in Islamic history and culture. Several titles are edited compilations of articles from the Encyclopaedia of Islam (second edition). VOLUME 3 ISLAMIC ECONOMICS A SHORT HISTORY BY AHMED A.F. EL-ASHKER AND RODNEY WILSON LEIDEN•BOSTON 2006 This book is printed on acid-free paper. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data El-Ashker, Ahmed Abdel-Fattah, 1943- Islamic economics : a short history / by Ahmed El-Ashker and Rodney Wilson. p. cm. — (Themes in Islamic studies) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN-13: 978-90-04-15134-5 ISBN-10: 90-04-15134-6 (hardback : alk. paper) 1. Economics—Religious aspects—Islam. 2. Islam—Economic aspects. I. Wilson, Rodney II. Title. III. Series. BP173.75.E42 2006 330.088’297—dc22 2006049043 ISSN 1389-823X ISBN-13: 978-90-04-15134-5 ISBN-10: 90-04-15134-6 © Copyright 2006 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill, Hotei Publishing, IDC Publishers, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers and VSP. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from the publisher. Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use is granted by Brill provided that the appropriate fees are paid directly to The Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Suite 910 Danvers MA 01923, USA. Fees are subject to change. printed in the netherlands To the memory of our fathers. CONTENTS Preface ........................................................................................ xi Acknowledgement ...................................................................... xiii Transliteration of Arabic Letters .............................................. xv Chapter One Pre-Islamic Arabia: Poetry, Tribal Rivalry and Heroism (800 B.C.–610 A.C.) ...................................... 1 Introduction ............................................................................ 1 Biblical Connections .............................................................. 1 The Land and the People .................................................... 3 Social Organization and Settlement Patterns ...................... 4 Arabian Civilizations .............................................................. 10 Trade and Finance in Makkah ............................................ 21 The Bedouin in Islam .......................................................... 24 Chapter Two The Birth of the Islamic State: Economic Thought in the Qur"àn and Sunnah (610 A.C.–632 A.C.) .............................................................. 30 Introduction ............................................................................ 30 Sources of the Islamic Economic Thought .......................... 32 Economic Thought in the Qur"àn and the Sunnah .......... 37 Basic Philosophy .................................................................... 37 Application of Basic Philosophy ............................................ 44 Islamic Economics in the Qur"àn and Sunnah and the Present Time ...................................................................... 89 Chapter Three Economic Thought of the Rightly Guided Caliphs (632 A.C.–661 A.C.) ................................................ 92 Introduction ............................................................................ 92 The Caliphate ........................................................................ 93 The First Caliph Abù-Bakr (632–634) ................................ 95 The Second Caliph Umar (634–644) .................................. 99 The Third Caliph Uthmàn (644–656) ................................ 116 The Fourth Caliph Ali (656–661) ........................................ 120 viii contents Chapter Four The Dynastic Caliphates: The Umayyads and the Reforms (661 A.C.–750 A.C.) ................................ 126 Introduction ............................................................................ 126 The Caliphate and the Dynasty .......................................... 126 Islamic Expansion and the Need for Administrative Reform ................................................................................ 128 Administrative and Economic Reforms ................................ 130 Monetary Reform .................................................................. 134 Islamic Urbanisation .............................................................. 135 Agriculture .............................................................................. 137 Trade and Commerce .......................................................... 139 Legal Forms of Business ........................................................ 142 State Finance .......................................................................... 145 Chapter Five The Abbasìd’s Golden Age: The Florescence of Islamic Economics (750 A.C.–1000 A.C.) ...................... 155 Introduction ............................................................................ 155 Leading Specialised Work on Islamic Economics .............. 155 Main Changes in the Economic Features .......................... 158 Intellectual Development ...................................................... 161 Jurisprudence Schools of Thought ........................................ 167 The First Specialised Books on Islamic Economics ............ 169 Abù-Yùsuf (113–182 A.H., 731–798 A.C.) .......................... 171 Kitàb al-Kharàj, Treatise in al-Kharàj ............................ 171 Al-Shaibànì (132–189 A.H., 750–804 A.C.): From Macro-Economics to Micro-Economics: Kitàb al-Iktisàb, Book of Earnings .................................. 197 Abù-Ubaid (d. 224 H., 838 A.C.) ........................................ 205 Kitàb al-Amwàl, Book of Wealth .................................... 205 The Contribution of Sùfìsm to Islamic Economic Thought ................................................................................ 208 Abdullah al-Œarith bin Asad al-Muœasibì, (d. 243 A.H., 857 A.C.) .................................................... 214 Kitàb Risalat al-Iktisàb wa al Wara", Treatise on Earning and Asceticism ................................................................ 214 Chapter Six Political Fragmentation and Cultural Diversity (1000 A.C.–1400 A.C.) .......................................................... 222 Introduction ............................................................................ 222 Political Fragmentation .......................................................... 222