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9. Mu‘amalat as the Way Forward

10. Mu‘amalat as the Way Forward



بسم اللَّه الرحمن الرحيم وصلى الله على سيدنا محمد وعلى ءاله وصحبه أجمعين وسلّم




Title: Mu‘amalat as the Way Forward

Author: Dr. Riyad Asvat

Publication date: 7/12/2014

Assalamu alaykum. Welcome to the Civilisation and Society Programme of the MFAS. This is the 10th of 12 sessions which make up the Question concerning Economics module. The lecture will last approximately 40 minutes during which time you should make a written note of any questions that may occur to you for clarification after the lecture. 

Mu‘amalat as the Way Forward

This paper is divided into three parts: the first part will investigate how mu‘amalat was understood and practised in the pre- and early-modern period; the second part will survey what happened to the practise of mu‘amalat in the modern period; and finally we will look at mu‘amalat as the way forward. Prior to discussing these three aspects we will define what mu‘amalat is.

Definition of Mu‘amalat

Mu‘amalat means bilateral transactions in all spheres of life be they social, economic, political or spiritual. The application of the law, that is the fiqh, with regards to mu‘amalat aims at regulating the conduct of people amongst themselves. Although the writings of Imam Malik, Imam al-Shafi’i and al-Tabari refer to mu‘amalat as the determination of trade transactions and credit operations we need to remember that marriage, divorce, inheritance etc. also constitute mu‘amalat. Mu‘amalat must in fact be viewed as one aspect of a unified whole, which includes aqida, shari‘a and tasawwuf.  These are the three elements of the deen that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, spoke of in the famous Hadith Jibril recorded in the Sahih of Imam Muslim. The fiqh of mu‘amalat is part of the corpus of fiqh that regulates all aspects of a Muslim’s life. Imam Malik encapsulated the relation of outward behaviour to the inner state of the human being when he said: “Whoever takes on tasawwuf without taking fiqh becomes heretical and whoever takes on fiqh without taking tasawwuuf becomes a transgressor. Only he who combines the two will attain to the truth.”1 There is no distinction between ibadat and mu‘amalat. The distinctions that certain jurists have made are illusory and not substantive. Imam Muhammad al-Shaybani for example said: “Permissible earning is in the category of cooperation in acts of devotion and obedience.”2 Imam al-Ghazali linked the acquisition of material wealth with success in the Hereafter when he said: “Indeed, those who seek the world in order to be assisted by it towards attaining to the Afterlife, how could they disregard the profit of the Afterlife when the market and the mosque and the home are for them [governed by] one law (hukm wahid) and salvation is only through piousness (al-taqwa).”3      

 

1. Mu‘amalat as understood and practised in the pre- and early-modern period

In the pre- and early-modern period the institutions of Muslim society were intact and it was within these institutions that the mu‘amalat was practiced and around them that the society functioned. These institutions were: the market; hisba – the office of the muhtasib; law courts that adjudicated Islamic business contracts; the guilds; the mint; and the bayt al-mal – the treasury. 

Market  

Suq, (market) refers to both the place where commercial transactions take place and the commercial exchange of goods and services itself. Markets existed long before the Prophet’s experience of them in Makka and Madina. The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, propagated his message in the market place much to the dismay of the Quraysh4 and after capturing Makka he appointed Sa‘īd ibn Sa‘īd ibn al-‘As as amil al-suq (the proto-muhtasib).5 A woman named Samra bint Nuhayk al-Asadiyya was employed in this post by the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, in Madina. Al-Shifa bint ‘Abd Allah, also a woman, was employed in Madina by ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab for the same task some time later.6 The market was an open space situated adjacent to the mosque and no buildings were to be constructed in it. 

Prefacing his comments on the market and referring to the Islamic scholars of the early period Ghazanfar points out that: “Consistent with the tenor of the time, economics did not dominate their writings, though some Islamic scholars did write specifically on economic issues. All discourses during this era reflected a unified, holistic approach to knowledge, pursued with a teleological orientation, with salvation as the supreme objective of human endeavours”.7 He summarises “certain key ‘market-oriented’ characteristics as to the functioning of economic/business activities”, that are found in the writings of Abu Yusuf, al-Ghazali and Ibn Taymiya, as follows: “1. … markets evolve as part of the ‘natural order’ of things in an interdependent, competitive environment … 2. Demand and supply forces are fundamental determinants of prices … 3. … greed in human affairs is shunned and profits are not to be ‘excessive’. 4. While economic pursuits are part of one’s divinely ordained duty (‘calling’), the production of necessities is specifically viewed as socially obligatory. 5. A society’s welfare function is defined in terms of a tripartite hierarchy of mutually reinforcing individual and social utilities: necessities, conveniences or comforts, and refinements or luxuries … 6. Money as a medium of exchange evolves as a social necessity, for without it barter results in problems such as lack of a common denominator, the double-coincidence of wants and lack of indivisibility. And hoarding of money for its own sake is against divine rules, as would be counterfeiting and debasement. Further, as with the Judeo-Christian tradition, usury is ‘sinful’, for money in itself is useless and sterile.”8

The economic principles outlined above had the force of the law behind them. The caliph, the amirs, the judiciary and the muhtasibs were responsible for their practical implementation. Much of the administration was the duty of the muhtasib, for example, the giving of full measure and weight, proscribing fraudulent business practices, ensuring the legality of contracts, prohibiting improper gain like riba, and arbitrary manipulation of the market like hoarding of necessities.9 

This raises the question of the legal powers of the muhtasib. Al-Mawardi wrote that it “must be appreciated that hisba lies between the activity of the judiciary and that of the investigation of complaints and abuse. Unless the muhtasib is part of the judiciary he may only adjudicate in cases: 1. concerning cheating and deceit in sales and price; 2. concerning short measure and underweight; and 3. concerning repayment of debts.10 This short list should not lead one to assume that the power wielded by the muhtasib was insignificant; on the contrary he exercised enormous power in preventing objectionable practices. The objectionable practices are divided into those pertaining to: the mosque; the markets; the public highways; the public baths; in hospitality; and those in general. Finally there is the matter of ordering the political leaders to do good and forbidding them from evil. 

Hisba

Governance of the city is the responsibility of the muhtasib. Hisba or public order relates to the Qur’anic injunction: “And so there must be from amongst you a group who calls to the best and commands the good and forbids what is bad.”11 Although this applies to every Muslim the muhtasib is obliged to do so because of his appointment by the caliph.12 He cannot transfer this obligation to another and people must have recourse to him with regards to their complaints. Under the Umayyads the caliphs or their governors carried out this function themselves. It was under the Abbasids that it became established as a separate institution.13 The muhtasib has to investigate unacceptable behaviour in order to discourage it and renew good behaviour that has been abandoned. He may have assistants in order to discharge his duties more efficiently and he receives a stipend from the bayt al-mal for his services. He may impose punishments for misdemeanours as long as they do not exceed the limits set for the hadd-punishments (specific fixed penalties laid down in the shari‘a). Although the muhtasib has certain judicial powers these are conditional. 

The muhtasib is expected to be just and of sound judgment. If his appointment includes the power to compel others through his own ijtihad and judgment he must be a mujtahid. If that is not part of his brief he should, nevertheless, be aware of the legality of the disputed matters.14 

The task of the muhtasib covers all spiritual, political and economic considerations and reflects the unity that Islam has always sought to achieve between the ma‘ash and the ma’ad i.e. the Muslim’s material and spiritual life.   It is customary to divide the muhtasib’s duties into two categories. The first, those relating to the “spiritual” life of the city, some of which include: the arrangements for the Friday-prayer, the Eid-prayer, the five daily prayers, the adhan (the call) at the time of prayers; maintenance of mosques and public baths. The second category of his duties deals with the physical environment of the city (the heart of which is the market) and comprehensively covers trade and commerce. In this sense he is also the ombudsman charged with the responsibility to guarantee that all goods and services that enter the market place are good for society and the environment. His economic functions included: “1. ensuring the supply of necessities (foodstuffs, etc.); 2. supervision of industry (product standardisation, arbitration, minimum wages, etc.); 3. supervision of services (professional services – medical practioners, pharmacologists, teachers, etc.); 4. supervision of trading practices (weights and measures, product quality, enforcing laws against forbidden practices, etc.); 5. civil and municipal functions (public safety, business locations – even enforcing anti-pollution rules).”15  

Supply and provision of necessities include: water distribution in the city; upkeep and cleanliness of the streets; prevention of overcrowding; observation of funerals (prohibition of funeral songs and lamentations) and vigilance against the desecration of graves; and maintenance of buildings.

Supervision of industry meant overseeing the quality of manufacture and workmanship of the many different trades. Goitein points out that the Cairo Geniza records16 show the vast number of occupations and the high degree of specialization and division of labour apparent in them. There were about 265 manual occupations, 90 types of person engaged in commerce and approximately the same number of professionals, officials, religious functionaries, and educators. This total of around 450 professions exceeds by far the listed professions for all other pre-modern cities.17  These records of commercial documents are from the Fatimid and Abuyyid periods (10th to 13th centuries) when Cairo was one of the world’s most prominent economic, political and cultural centres of the world.

Supervision of services meant that the muhtasib was in charge of examining the following professionals: physicians (atibba), pharmacists (sayadila), perfumers (‘attarun), syrup manufacturers (sharabiyyun), cuppers (hajjamun), bloodletters (fasadun), oculists (kahhalun), surgeons, and orthopaedists (jarrahun, mujabbirun).18 

The civil and municipal duties of the muhtasib with regards to trade and commerce included the maintenance of the markets; free access to public thoroughfares (that they are not invaded by merchants’ booths); public safety and hygiene; contamination of foodstuff; pollution; supervision of trading practices; control of weights and measures; coinage; the monitoring of fraudulent transactions, unlawful sales and collusion; and elimination of riba (usury) in all its guises.  The muhtasib had to see to it that illegal and fraudulent sales/transactions were punished.

The Law Courts and Business Contracts

The judiciary, whilst relying on the political authorities to execute their judgments, was nevertheless responsible for ensuring justice in relation to wealth, property, trade and commerce together with all other matters relating to the society. As a compendium of Islamic law the Muwatta includes: The Book of Business Transactions; The Book of Sharecropping; The Book of Renting Land; and The Book of Judgments.

Judgements, in general, were expected to be given in accordance with the opinion of the madhhab (law school) to which the judge belonged. It was not necessary for the qadi (judge) to belong to the same juridical school as the person who appointed him but he could be directed to follow a certain school when adjudicating a particular case. In practice, however, the political authorities preferred qadis “of their own juridical school; under the Abassids this was at first the Hanafi and later on the Shafi‘i, under the Ottomans, most decidedly, the Hanafi, whereas under the Umayyads of Spain the Maliki school had a jealously-guarded monopoly.”19 In the interests of the populace allowance was made for the adherence of different schools, for example, in 1131 in Cairo several judges belonging to different schools were appointed from among whom the parties could choose freely. Beginning with the Abbasids, the judge of the capital occupied a prominent position and was given the title of qadi al-qudat (the chief judge). He supervised the judiciary and the first to occupy this position was Abu Yusuf (d. 798, co-founder of the Hanafi madhhab) under the Caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786-809).

Some Examples of Islamic Partnerships and Commercial Contracts:

Qirad (or Mudaraba); Wealth provided by an investor in the trust of an agent for commercial purposes, the agent receiving no wage but taking a previously agreed share of the profits after the capital has first been paid back to the investor.   

Sharika; Sharikat are profit sharing partnerships between two or more partners. There are several different sharika partnerships available.

(a) sharika al-a‘mal (or al-abadan): labour partnership, based on the partners’ work

(b) sharika al-‘aqd: contractual partnership

(c) sharika al-mal: finance partnership based on the partners’ contribution of money

(d) sharika al-mulk: proprietary partnership

(e) sharika fil-ba‘y: the transfer, at cost price, of goods from one partner to another who then becomes a partner in those goods and agrees to sell it for both of them. The profit is then shared between them

(f) sharika wujuh: credit partnership


Murabaha; Partnership between an investor and entrepreneur in which the investor buys equipment, goods or commodities to re-sell to the entrepreneur at a mark-up which is predetermined and fixed.  

Ijara; A contract in which the leaseholder pays for the temporary use of a house, beast or piece of equipment for a specific period of time and stipulated hire charge.  

Musaqa; Sharecropping, tending to an existing plantation in exchange for a share of the yield

Muzara‘a; Farming partnership in which the owner of land allows the land to be cultivated in exchange for a portion of the produce

Salam; A sale in which the price is paid at once for goods to be delivered later. Ownership passes to the buyer as soon as the contract is made and the delivery date is specified. 

Craft, Artisan and Trade Guilds

Craft, artisan, and trade guilds were variably known as asnaf, ta’ifa and futuwwa in the Muslim world. The guilds were integrated into an economic milieu that included the professions, markets and physical localization of each profession in their own quarters in the market. Economic activity varied according to the size and importance of each city. Cairo contained more than two hundred guilds and four hundred and thirty five professions.20 Court records of Damascus and Aleppo in the 16th and 17th centuries show that between 160 and 180 guilds brought cases to the courts. This figure does not indicate the actual number of guilds that existed in these cities.21 Guilds were autonomous organizations in which members “of the same craft got together, elected a head (shaykh) from among their ranks, and appeared in the law court to have their nominee endorsed by a qadi.”22  Rafeq notes that the fatawa (legal opinions) of the Syrian qadis during the 17th, 18th, and 19th century indicate that the crafts and craftsmen were regulated by the shari‘a.23 The muhtasib supervised the guilds, checking on weights, measures, quality and prices.

The internal organization of the Ottoman guilds had two aspects, administrative and professional. The professional ranks were apprentice (al-ajir or al-mubtadi), journeyman (al-sani) and master (al-mu‘allim or al-ustadh). Administrative officials included the shaykh al-mashaykh, the shaykh, the naqib, the yikit bashi, the mu‘arrif and the chawush. 

Lewis says that the Islamic guilds displayed four distinctive qualities: 1. they developed spontaneously from the craftsmen themselves and not in response to state needs; 2. the masters, journeymen and apprentices did not develop into different economic and social classes; 3. membership was not restricted to Muslims; and 4. they possessed an inner spiritual life.24 The guilds provide a good example of how the political, economic, social and spiritual dimensions of human nature are welded together. Guild members “are reminded to ‘close seven doors’ (avarice, violence, envy, worldly pleasures, reliance on man, vainless speech and evil deeds) and to ‘open seven doors’ (generosity, kindness, contentment, ascetic discipline, trust in God, glorification of God with readings from the Qur’an and pious deeds); moreover not to disobey, not to hate, to cover up the errors of others and to earn one’s living by carrying on a trade, not for personal enrichment but for a modest life with support for the poor and needy etc.”25 

Shkodra states that the guilds formed the dominant economic and social institutions in the Balkans26 and Rafeq notes that the stability of the economic and social life in Syria can be attributed to the guilds. “For the craftsmen the ta’ifas ensured an organized way of work, a balanced income, a minimum of competition, and more important a high standard of work ethics cutting across religio-ethnic barriers. In short the ta’ifas helped perpetuate the stability of the social and economic fabric of the country.” 27


Three economic functions performed by the guilds are noteworthy here: inhibiting monopoly capitalism28, providing social security29 and protecting the integrity of the bi-metallic currency. The use of debased coins was frowned upon as a grave sin and their withdrawal from circulation was obligatory.30 

Bayt al-Mal        

Literally the ‘house of wealth’, which institutionally developed to become the treasury of the Muslim state. The origin of this institution can be traced back to the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, when the revenues that came into it were distributed almost immediately. It maintained similar characteristics during the time of the first caliph, Abu Bakr but developed into a complex institution in the time of the second caliph ‘Umar when huge amounts of wealth were acquired by Muslims after Persia, Syria and Egypt were conquered by them. The revenue that went into the bayt al-mal was from the following sources: 1. zakat, 2. kharaj, the tax on lands not confiscated from the inhabitants of conquered or surrendered lands; 3. ghanima, booty captured from the enemy; 4. jizya, the poll-tax taken from non-Muslims in the Muslim state; 5. ‘ushr, one tenth of the harvest of agricultural produce (one twentieth if the land has been irrigated by human endeavour); 5. properties with no known owner; 6. properties of apostates; 7. estates of deceased persons; 8. revenues from state lands; and 9. judicial fines. The state raised income for construction and maintenance of physical infrastructure and public works relating to land, water and civilization through the taxes listed above. However, it has to be remembered that Islamic society was financed through the waqf system31. Hoexter explains that: “prior to the twentieth century a broad spectrum of what we now designate as public or municipal services e.g., welfare, education, religious services, construction and maintenance of the water system, hospitals, etc. were set up, financed and maintained almost exclusively by endowments ….”32  Kuran notes that: “waqfs supported so many economic sectors that the evolution of Islamic civilization is incomprehensible without taking account of them.”33

The Mint  

The minting of coins was the prerogative of the caliph and a symbol of his authority. In subsequent history this right was exercised by governors as well. The currencies that the Muslims used in their commercial transactions were the gold (dinar) and silver (dirham) coins. The office of the mint was responsible for standardising the quality of the coins and guarding against their falsification (clipping). The rulers mark on the coins indicated their good quality and purity. Shaykh ‘Umar Vadillio explains the significance of the dinar and dirham as follows: “Islam has its own economic model. This model is not capitalist, nor is it socialist. It stems from the Qur’an and the Sunna. It has a history of 1400 years, from the beginning of Islam up until the dissolution of the Khalifate in the 20th century. This model protects and acknowledges private property as well as the property of Allah (awqaf) and it is based on Islamic contractual law. The Islamic model uses physical commodities as money. The Gold Dinar and Silver Dirham are known as the Shari‘ah currency. These two commodities (gold and silver) have a special status because they are mentioned in Qur’an and they are the measure for fundamental matters such as Zakat and issues concerning hudud. The Dinar and Dirham are fundamental in preserving a stable currency, that is, currency that fluctuates in value but does not suffer inflation. It does not suffer inflation because it cannot be substituted by credit money (inflated), since credit money has no validity in Islamic law.”34 

2. Extinction of the Practice of Mu‘amalat in the Modern Period

In the modern period first Christian and then Muslim modes of trade and commerce were replaced by capitalist means of production, distribution and consumption. Modernist Muslims have devised legal methodologies to justify involvement in the capitalist system. David Johnston in an article entitled: “A Turn in the Epistemology and Hermeneutics of Twentieth Century Usul Al-Fiqh” says:

“I argue here that an epistemological shift has taken place in the twentieth century usul al-fiqh: away from the classical/orthodox Asha‘ri position in which the human mind simply discovers the divine law and extends it to new cases on the basis of consensus (ijmā‘) and analogical reasoning (qiyas); and toward a position in which reason is empowered to uncover the ratio legis [reason for the law] behind the divine injunctions... This shift has been accompanied by a privileging of universal ethical principles (kulliyyat), now identified as the aims of the Law (maqāṣid al-sharī‘a), over the specific injunctions of the text (juz’iyyat) – a hermeneutic strategy that has often favoured public interest (maslaha) as the chief criterion for developing fresh legal rulings in the light of new socio-political conditions. The main theoreticians discussed here are Muhammad ‘Abdu, Muhammad Rashid Rida, ‘Abd al-Razzaq Sanhuri, ‘Abd al-Wahhab Khallaf, Muhammad Abu Zahra, and Muhammad Hashim Kamali.”35 

Abduh had blamed the ‘ulamā’ for their impervious judicial outlook which “fostered the misconception that Islam by its very nature is incapable of coping with the growing complexity of modern life, and Muslims had therefore to have recourse to foreign laws”.36 ‘Abduh’s methodology called for a return to the original sources of the law. He claimed that this was necessary in order to “liberate” thought from the shackles of taqlid and thereby unleash the ability for exercising ijtihad. Taqlid is referred to pejoratively by him as blind imitation and involves the unquestioning and uncritical conformity with decisions made by past mujtahids. In order to bring out the latent dynamism of the shari‘a Abduh promoted istislah (public interest) and talfiq (legal eclecticism). Rida went further and spoke of the need for ishtira‘ (legislation). He takes the division that the shari‘a makes between ibadat (devotional and ritual acts) and mu‘malat (social transactions) and proposes legislation in the mu‘amalat. All administrative, juridical, political and military acts are therefore subject to man-made legislation. Rida claimed that the foundation of his methodology leads to legal dynamism. The evidence, however, indicates that contrary to his claim this methodology ends up in the abandonment of Islamic law. With regards to the Egyptian reformer which includes Abduh and Rida, Layish points out that their legal reforms are deliberately secular legislative acts which were carried out in a traditional medium but outside Islamic law. He contends that although the source of inspiration for the reforms is in the West “technical resemblance to the ijtihad may create the illusion that they are an internal overhaul of the shari’ah.37

Rida’s thinking promoted secularism, constitutionalism, democracy, legislation and capitalism. Rida was the conduit linking the ideas of Jamal al-Din al-Afghani (1838/39-1897) and his disciple ‘Abduh to Hassan al-Banna (1906-1949) who went on to become the founder of the Muslim Brotherhood (al-Ikhwan al-Muslimun). In her book entitled An Islamic Response to Imperialism Keddie has shown that the aim of al-Afghani was to subvert the Islamic ethos.38   

The method that the modernists use in order to achieve their goals is called islah, which is the Arabic term for reform. Reform calls for new interpretations of Islam due to changing historical and social realities. In Islamic legal terms this process would come under the rubric of ijtihad. Reform, they say, has to be achieved through changes in the laws of Islam. The legal techniques used by the religious reformers for effecting changes in law were maslaha (considerations of public interest) and siyasa shar’iyya (administrative regulations). The stated objective of the modernists is “to rid the Muslim ummah of a centuries-long mentality of taqlid (blind imitation) and jumud (stagnation), to restore Islam to its pristine form, and to reform the moral, cultural and political conditions of Muslims.”39 They also claimed that they desired to free Muslims from political despotism and foreign domination. Despite making these claims the reality is that the modernists accept the entire political and economic methodology of democracy and capitalism. Their political philosophy includes such Western concepts as statism, nationalism, constitutionalism, democracy, parliamentarianism, capitalism, banking, the International Monetary System, and the United Nations Organization. It should be noted here that these concepts are commonly accepted by Sunni, Shi’i and Wahhabi modernists. There is a considerable philosophical and political affinity between them. All modernists, through their principle of reformism, played a major role in the secularization of Islamic law. The net result of this “islamisation” process was that capitalism and the modern state did not become “Islamised”. On the contrary the Muslim countries and people continued to modernize and continued to be incorporated into the global capitalist network.

3. Mu‘amalat – the way forward

The way forward is through action with regards to trade and commerce. This will be done through the establishment of the United Kingdom Mu‘amalat Network.  The Network aims to create self-employment through partnerships in businesses and to attract investments for the setting up of these business enterprises.  The Network will provide training, mentoring and auditing for the businesses are established under its supervision. The services provided by the Network will include:

1. Islamic Partnerships and Commercial Contracts

2. Training

3. Guild Development

4. Markets

5. Wakalas

Training will cover the following areas:  

1: Mu‘amalat in the Qur’an and Sunna

2: The Fiqh of Trade and Commerce

3: Partnerships and Commercial Contracts

4: Markets and Muhtasibs

5: Currencies and Wakalas

6: Caravans 

7: How to Join a Guild and Manufacture or Procure a Product or Provide a Service. 

8: Awqaf

9: Plan to Sell your Product or Services (Business Planning), Pricing, Costing, Break Even and Budgeting.

10: Selling your Product. Marketing

11: Commercial Law. Book-Keeping, Auditing, Legal and Administrative Requirements for Business.

12: Expanding your Business. International Trade        

That brings us to the end of today’s lecture. Thank you for your attention. Assalamu alaykum.





1 Malik ibn Anas, quoted by Ibn Ashir in Ali Laraki al-Husaini, The Practical Guidebook of Essential Islamic Sciences, The Meem Institute, Leicester, 2012, p. 139

2 Muhammad al-Shaybani, quoted in Adi Setia, The Book of the Properties of Earning and Living, IBFIM, Kuala Lumpur, 2013, 123

3 Al-Ghazali, quoted in Adi Setia, The Book of the Properties of Earning and Living, IBFIM, Kuala Lumpur, 2013, 123

4 Q. 25: 7

5 Shatzmiller, M, Bosworth, C.E., Heffening, W., EI2, “Tidjara

6 Buckley, R.P., The Book of the Islamic Market Inspector, Oxford University Press, Oxford 1999, p. 3

7 Ghazanfar, S.M., Medieval Islamic Economic Thought, p. 229

8 Ghazanfar, S.M., Medieval Islamic Economic Thought, pp. 229-230

9 Ibn Taymiya, Public Duties in Islam: The Institution of the Hisba, tr. Mukhtar Holland, The Islamic Foundation, Leicester, 1982, pp. 29-33

10 al-Mawardi, Abu’l Hasan, al-Ahkam as-Sultaniyyah, p. 339 

11 Qur’an 3: 104  

12 al-Mawardi, Abu’l Hasan, al-Ahkam as-Sultaniyyah, pp. 337-338

13 Bewley, A., Glossary of Islamic Terms, Ta-Ha Publishers, London, 1998, p. 145 

14 al-Mawardi, Abu’l Hasan, al-Ahkam as-Sultaniyyah, p. 338

15 Ghazanfar, S.M., “Medieval Public-Sector Economics”, in Medieval Islamic Economic Thought, ed. S.M. Ghazanfar, Rouitledge Curzon, London, 2003, p. 241 

16 http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-Cairogen.html

17 Goitein, S.D., A Mediterranean Society: An Abridgement in One Volume, revised and edited by Jacob Lassner, University of California Press, Berkeley, 1999, p. 232 

18 Essid, Y., A Critique of the Origins of Islamic Economic Thought, p. 140

19 Shacht, EI2, “Mahkama”

20 Raymond, EI, “Sinf”, 

21 Rafeq, A-K., “Craft Organization, Work Ethics, and the Strains of Change in Ottoman Syria”, p. 498

22 Rafeq, A-K., “Craft Organization, Work Ethics, and the Strains of Change in Ottoman Syria”, p. 497

23 Rafeq, A-K., “Craft Organization, Work Ethics, and the Strains of Change in Ottoman Syria”, p. 496 

24 Lewis, B., “The Islamic Guilds”, pp. 20-34

25 Breebart, D.A., “The Futuvvet-name-i kebir. A Manual on Turkish Guilds”, p. 207

26 Quoted in Rafeq, A-K., “Craft Organization, Work Ethics, and the Strains of Change in Ottoman Syria”, p. 496

27 Rafeq, A-K., “Craft Organization, Work Ethics, and the Strains of Change in Ottoman Syria”, p. 497

28  Rafeq, A-K., “Craft Organization, Work Ethics, and the Strains of Change in Ottoman Syria”, pp. 495-511 

29 Lewis, B., “The Islamic Guilds”, The Economic History Review, pp. 54-55

30 Breebart, D.A., “The Futuvvet-name-i kebir. A Manual on Turkish Guilds”, pp. 203-215

31 Hodgson, M.G.S., The Venture of Islam: Conscience and History in a World Civilization, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1974, p. 124 

32 Hoexter, M., “Waqf Studies in the Twentieth Century: The State of the Art”, Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient, Vol. 41, No. 4. (1998), p. 476

33 Kuran, T., “The Provision of Public Goods Under Islamic Law: Origins, Impact, and Limitations of the Waqf System”, Law and Society Review, Vol. 35, No. 4. (2001), p. 851  

34 Vadillio, U.E., “Fatwa on Banking”, http://www.shaykhabdalqadir.com/content/index.html, accessed 26 November, 2006, p. 63

35 David Johnston, A Turn in the Epistemology and Hermeneutics of Twentieth Century Usul Al-Fiqh, Islamic Law and Society, Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2004, 11, p. 2

36 Enayat, H., Modern Islamic Political Thought,  p. 78

37 Layish, A., “The Contribution of the Modernists to the Secularization of Islamic Law”, Islamic Law and Legal Theory, edited by Ian Edge, Dartmouth, Aldershot, 1996, p. 579

38 Keddie, N.R., An Islamic Response to Imperialism, University of California Press, Berkeley, 1983, p. xvi

39 Shahin, E.E., “Salafiyah”, The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Modern Islamic World, p. 464