Contribution of Muslim Scholars to Development of Economics as a Science
Contribution of Muslim Scholars to the Development
Of Economics as a Science
By Talha Waqar
Generally, Western historians of ideas trace the beginnings of intellectual history from the Greco-Roman period, which ended around 300 BC, and then focus on the Renaissance (13th-16th century AD). The history of scientific, social and cultural thought during the period 300 BC to 12th century AD is either glossed over or ignored altogether. This presumed gap in the history of ideas is called "History's Black Hole", also sometimes referred to as the Great Gap". It is argued that the "the Arabic, Turkish and Persian-speaking East has no continuity of economic ideas such as those which come from the Judeo-Christian West". It is further postulated that the Renaissance somehow arose like "a phoenix" from the "ashes" which had been smoldering for a millennium since the end of the classical Greco-Roman period.
A cursory look at the seminal contributions made by early Muslim thinkers and scholars makes it abundantly clear that no such gap ever existed. In fact one notices a remarkable continuity in the history of ideas between the classical period, the Islamic era and the Renaissance. During the Middle Ages, when Islamic civilization was at the zenith of its intellectual and cultural development, Muslim scholars not only carried forward the legacy of the ancients but also made highly original contributions to various areas of learning and scholarship, including philosophy, medicine, astronomy, history, mathematics, chemistry, logic, and the social sciences. Bernard Lewis, a virulent critic of Islam, recognizes that Islamic civilization during the medieval period had attained the highest level of excellence and accomplishment in the sciences and arts while medieval Europe was surrounded by ignorance, superstition and cultural backwardness.
The basic sources of Islamic economics are the Quran and Sunnah which contain a number of economic teachings and rules. The Qur’an gave clear
Of Economics as a Science
By Talha Waqar
Generally, Western historians of ideas trace the beginnings of intellectual history from the Greco-Roman period, which ended around 300 BC, and then focus on the Renaissance (13th-16th century AD). The history of scientific, social and cultural thought during the period 300 BC to 12th century AD is either glossed over or ignored altogether. This presumed gap in the history of ideas is called "History's Black Hole", also sometimes referred to as the Great Gap". It is argued that the "the Arabic, Turkish and Persian-speaking East has no continuity of economic ideas such as those which come from the Judeo-Christian West". It is further postulated that the Renaissance somehow arose like "a phoenix" from the "ashes" which had been smoldering for a millennium since the end of the classical Greco-Roman period.
A cursory look at the seminal contributions made by early Muslim thinkers and scholars makes it abundantly clear that no such gap ever existed. In fact one notices a remarkable continuity in the history of ideas between the classical period, the Islamic era and the Renaissance. During the Middle Ages, when Islamic civilization was at the zenith of its intellectual and cultural development, Muslim scholars not only carried forward the legacy of the ancients but also made highly original contributions to various areas of learning and scholarship, including philosophy, medicine, astronomy, history, mathematics, chemistry, logic, and the social sciences. Bernard Lewis, a virulent critic of Islam, recognizes that Islamic civilization during the medieval period had attained the highest level of excellence and accomplishment in the sciences and arts while medieval Europe was surrounded by ignorance, superstition and cultural backwardness.
The basic sources of Islamic economics are the Quran and Sunnah which contain a number of economic teachings and rules. The Qur’an gave clear