Summary
Benedikt Koehler: Early Islam and the Beginnings of Capitalism
From the very beginning, the slum was deeply imbued with the mercantile and entrepreneurial traditions of Arabia, while the Prophet Muhammad's economic approach was directly shaped by his rich experience in the caravan trade and Meccan business environment. After moving to Medina, he established a large tax-free public market, introducing rules that encouraged free competition, consumer protection and market transparency. Monopolies, price manipulation, artificial shortage of goods for additional profit, as well as administrative price fixing are strictly prohibited. Although Islam forbade usury, it opened wide the door to trade, partnerships and profit-sharing, laying the foundations for the development of sophisticated financial and commercial institutions. This symbiosis of religious ethics and market economy enabled the flourishing of free trade that networked China, India, Africa and Europe. Many historians therefore justifiably believe that these institutions had a decisive influence on the shaping of European business practices, directly contributing to the rise of commercial republics such as Venice and Florence, and laying the economic foundations for the later development of the European Renaissance.
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