Merchant Capital and Islam By Mahmood Ibrahim. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1990, 246pp.

Abstract

This book, based substantially on the author's doctoral dissertation
(UCLA, 1981), presents an economic interpretation of the early history of
Islam. By studying the trends and consequences of pre-Islamic Makkah's
commercial activities, it seeks to bring out both the material bases of the
rise of Islam and the element of continuity between pre-Islamic Makkah and
early Islamic history.
The author bases his work on the following postulate: the development
of merchant capital in sixth-century Makkah allowed it to become the dominant
political and economic power in Arabia. The most successful wielder of this
status, the Banii Umayyah, eventually consolidated its position as the wielder
of authority. The growth of commercial capitalism, which caused social transformations within Makkah and made the effective regulation of its external
relations a necessity so as to safeguard its commercial interests, resulted in
the development of several institutions, such as sadaqah (charitable offerings),
rifadah (support), siqayah (providing water to the pilgrims to Makkah), ilaf
(a pact guaranteeing safety and safe-conduct), hums (those people inhabiting
the haram at the time of the Prophet’s appearance who observed rigorous
religious taboos), and hilf (confederacy). However, institutional development
in Makkah proved inadequate to the demands created by rapid economic
progress.
The resultant problems gradually formed the material basis which caused
the advent of Islam. Islam, in turn, sought to promote Makkah’s commercial
capitalism through, for example, the concept of a monotheistic God’s absolute
and everlasting authority, which solved the problems associated with the
breakdown of pre-Islamic Makkah’s tribal authority, and through its concept
of an ummah which transcended tribal barriers and made social and economic
mobility possible ...