Capitalism in Islamic World--II
January 6th 2007 07:47
Lewis then describes how the growth in trade brought about growth in banking, an advantage that the Muslim world still enjoys:
The growth of large-scale trading and enterprise gave rise during ninth century to a development of banking.... Despite many attempts to stabilise the relative value of the metals of which they were made, and the Sarraf, or money-changer, came to be an essential feature of every Muslim market. In the ninth century, he developed into a banker on a large scale, no doubt supported by wealthy traders with money to invest. We hear of banks with a head office in Baghdad and branches in the other cities of the Empire and of an elaborate system of cheques, letters of credit etc, so developed that it was possible to draw a cheque in baghdad and cash it in Morocco. In Basra, the main centre of the flourishing eastern trade, we are told that every merchant had his bank account and that payments in the bazaar were effected only by cheque and never in cash.........
But, still more astonishing is the impact on literature:
The flourishing commercial life of the time was reflected in its thought and literature, where we find the upright merchant held up as an ideal ethical type. Traditions attributed to the Prophet inlcude such statements as " In the day of Judgement the honest truthful Msulin mechant will take rank with the martyrs of the faith", "The truthful merchant will sit under the shadow of the throne of God on Day of Judgement,"..... The Caliph Umar I is most improbably quoted as saying, " There is no place where I would be more gladly overtaken by death than in the market place, buyin and selling for my family." The essayist Jahiz in an essay entitled "In praise of mechants and in condemnation of officials" remarks that the approval of God for trading as a way of life is proved by His choice of the trading community of Quraish for his Prophet. The literature of the time includes portraits of the ideal upright merchant and much advice on the investment of money in trade.....
The self-consciousness implicit in such sayings probably indicates that this was a new way of life for the Muslims and the Arabs and hence, religious interpretation was necessary. It may also mean that there was a threat to this way of life.was a threat to this way of life then and that's why so much importance
And indeed there was. The glorious epoch also spawned a myriad revolts and the emergence of many sects like Ismailis who all would practise "communism of property and women." Most progressives would warn you about reactionaries. It occured to me that progressivism, socialism, communism, one of those isms are the true reactionary idealogies that crop up every time there was a burst of wealth and trade. Nothing like a full crop to attract a swarm of locusts.
The growth of large-scale trading and enterprise gave rise during ninth century to a development of banking.... Despite many attempts to stabilise the relative value of the metals of which they were made, and the Sarraf, or money-changer, came to be an essential feature of every Muslim market. In the ninth century, he developed into a banker on a large scale, no doubt supported by wealthy traders with money to invest. We hear of banks with a head office in Baghdad and branches in the other cities of the Empire and of an elaborate system of cheques, letters of credit etc, so developed that it was possible to draw a cheque in baghdad and cash it in Morocco. In Basra, the main centre of the flourishing eastern trade, we are told that every merchant had his bank account and that payments in the bazaar were effected only by cheque and never in cash.........
But, still more astonishing is the impact on literature:
The flourishing commercial life of the time was reflected in its thought and literature, where we find the upright merchant held up as an ideal ethical type. Traditions attributed to the Prophet inlcude such statements as " In the day of Judgement the honest truthful Msulin mechant will take rank with the martyrs of the faith", "The truthful merchant will sit under the shadow of the throne of God on Day of Judgement,"..... The Caliph Umar I is most improbably quoted as saying, " There is no place where I would be more gladly overtaken by death than in the market place, buyin and selling for my family." The essayist Jahiz in an essay entitled "In praise of mechants and in condemnation of officials" remarks that the approval of God for trading as a way of life is proved by His choice of the trading community of Quraish for his Prophet. The literature of the time includes portraits of the ideal upright merchant and much advice on the investment of money in trade.....
The self-consciousness implicit in such sayings probably indicates that this was a new way of life for the Muslims and the Arabs and hence, religious interpretation was necessary. It may also mean that there was a threat to this way of life.was a threat to this way of life then and that's why so much importance
And indeed there was. The glorious epoch also spawned a myriad revolts and the emergence of many sects like Ismailis who all would practise "communism of property and women." Most progressives would warn you about reactionaries. It occured to me that progressivism, socialism, communism, one of those isms are the true reactionary idealogies that crop up every time there was a burst of wealth and trade. Nothing like a full crop to attract a swarm of locusts.
| 53 |
| Vote |
Subscribe to this blog
