Islamic capitalism was active during theIslamic Golden Age andArab Agricultural Revolution, where an earlymarket economy and form ofmerchant capitalism took root between the 8th and 12th centuries. A vigorousmonetary economy was based on a widely-circulatedcurrency (thedinar) and the integration ofmonetary areas that were previously independent. Business techniques and forms of business organisation employed during this time includedcontracts,bills of exchange, long-distanceinternational trade, forms ofpartnership (mufawadha) such aslimited partnerships (mudharaba), and forms ofcredit,debt,profit,loss,capital (al-mal),capital accumulation (nama al-mal),[1][failed verification]circulating capital,capital expenditure,revenue,cheques,promissory notes,[2]trusts (seeWaqf),savings accounts,transactional accounts,pawning,loaning,exchange rates,bankers,money changers,ledgers,deposits,assignments, thedouble-entry bookkeeping system,[3] andlawsuits.[4]Organizationalenterprises independent from thestate existed in the medieval Islamic world, whileagency institutions were also introduced.[5][6] Many of these early capitalist concepts were adopted and advanced inmedieval Europe from the 13th century onwards.[1] Some have argued that these economic activities laid the foundations for the development of modern capitalism.[7][8]
Amarket economy was established in the Islamic world based on an economic system resemblingmerchant capitalism.Capital formation was promoted bylabour in medieval Islamic society, and a considerable number of owners of monetary funds andprecious metals developedfinancial capital. TheQur'an prohibitedRiba (usury), but this did not hamper the development of capital in any way. The capitalists (sahib al-mal) were at the height of their power between the 9th and 12th centuries. Still, their influence declined after the arrival of theikta (landowners) and after the state monopolized production, both of which hamperedindustrial capitalism's development in the Islamic world.[9] Somestate enterprises still had acapitalist mode of production, such as pearl diving inIraq and thetextile industry in Egypt.[10]
During the 11th–13th centuries, the "Karimis", an early enterprise and business group controlled by entrepreneurs, dominated much of the Islamic world's economy.[11] The group was controlled by about fifty Muslim merchants labelled as "Karimis" who were ofYemeni, Egyptian, and sometimes Indian origins.[12] Each Karimi merchant had considerable wealth, ranging from at least 100,000dinars to 10 million dinars. The group had considerable influence in the most important eastern markets and sometimespolitics through its financing activities and through various customers, includingEmirs,Sultans,Viziers, foreign merchants, and common consumers. The Karimis dominated manytrade routes across the Mediterranean Sea,Red Sea, and Indian Ocean, and as far asFrancia in the north, China in the east, andsub-Saharan Africa in the south, where they obtained gold. Strategies employed by the Karimis include using agents, financing projects as a method to acquire capital, and a banking institution for loans and deposits. Another important difference between the Karimis and other entrepreneurs before and during their time was that they were not tax collectors or landlords, but their capitalism was due entirely to trade and financial transactions.[13]
Though medieval Islamic economics appears to have somewhat resembled a form of capitalism, someOrientalists also believe several parallels exist between Islamic economics andcommunism, including the Islamic ideas ofzakat andriba.[citation needed] Others see Islamic economics as neither completely capitalistic nor completelysocialistic, but rather a balance between the two, emphasizing "individual economic freedom and the need to serve the common good."[14] Others point out that Islam has an inherently capitalist nature and argue this most through respect for private property as the foundation of capitalism in Islam, as well as the historical fact thatMuhammad was an entrepreneur, a merchant.[15][16]
Early forms ofcapitalism are thought to have been developed in theIslamic Golden Age,[1][17][18] starting from the 9th century, and later became dominant in European Muslim territories likeAl-Andalus and theEmirate of Sicily.[19][20]
The economy ofIdlib under the rule of theHay'at Tahrir al-Sham got described byAhmed al-Sharaa as afree market model .[21] The HTS weights Islamic capitalism.[22] The organization'sIslamic economic model is seen as closer tocapitalism thancommunism, but with a strongsocial welfare system, some other describe it as economic system in some ways similar to the one ofErdoğan.[23] The Islamic capitalism of the HTS also got described aspro-liberal economics or even asneoliberal.[24][25] After thefall of the Assad regime the government supportsfree market economics.[26][27][28][29][30][31]
