A Historical Critique of Arab Trade in the Book “Early Islam and the birth of Capitalism”

Taghavi, Hedieh

doi:10.30465/crtls.2025.50057.2869

Document Type : Research

Author

Hedieh Taghavi

Associate Professor, Department of History, Faculty of Literature, Alzahra University, Tehran, Iran

https://doi.org/10.30465/crtls.2025.50057.2869

Abstract

The book “Early Islam and the birth of Capitalism” is significant for the author's historical approach, which attributes the origins of capitalism not to the West, but to the economic and commercial structures of Arab society before and after Islam. However, the historical data, arguments, premises, and conclusions presented in the book are insufficient to support such a hypothesis and reflect a lack of historical knowledge on the part of the author. This article focuses on the concept of trade—which, according to the author, is the most significant link to the emergence of capitalism—and offers a critical analysis of the book, aiming to assess the extent to which its arguments align with historical realities. The findings of this study indicate that the author's analysis of the connection between Arab trade and the rise of capitalism lacks historical accuracy and coherence, due to insufficient attention to the social and cultural context of pre-Islamic Arab society, Islamic economic traditions and values, and the broader history of global trade among other civilizations such as Greece and Rome. As a result, the author's conclusions prove to be unsuccessful.

Keywords

Main Subjects

History

References

Ibn Ja‘far, Qudamah. (1981). Al-Kharaj wa Sina‘at al-Kitabah. Baghdad: Dar al-Rashid.

Ibn Khaldun. (1987). Muqaddimah Ibn Khaldun. Beirut: Dar al-Fikr.

Ibn Sa‘d. (1990). Al-Tabaqat al-Kubra. Beirut: Dar al-Kutub al-‘Ilmiyyah.

Ibn ‘Abd al-Barr. (1992). Al-Isti‘ab fi Ma‘rifat al-Ashab. Beirut: Dar al-Jil.

Ibn Faqih, Ahmad ibn Muhammad. (1996). Al-Buldan. Beirut: ‘Alam al-Kutub.

Ibn Qutaybah Dinawari. (1994). Al-Ma‘arif. Qom: Sharif Razi Publications.

Ibn Hisham.( n.d.) Al-Sirah al-Nabawiyyah. Beirut: Dar al-Ma‘rifah.

Scalavé, Enrico. (2015). Archaeology of Ancient Iranian Societies (in the Third Millennium BCE). Tehran: Pazina Publications.

Asghari, Mojtaba.( 2023). “Introduction and Critique of The History of Early Islam and the Birth of Capitalism.” Ayeneh Pazhohesh 34, no. 4: 173–183.

Al-Baladhuri, Ahmad ibn Yahya ibn Jabir. (1988). Futuh al-Buldan. Beirut: Dar Al_Maktabat al-Hilal.

Al-Baladhuri, Ahmad ibn Yahya ibn Jabir. (1996). Ansab al-Ashraf. Beirut: Dar al-Fikr.

Bahmanabadi and Others, (2023). “10 Notes and Interviews on the Book Early Islam and the Birth of Capitalism.” Bavar Magazine, Azar and Dey, no. 4.

Bianki, Robert, and Seyyed Hossein Mir Jalili. (2009). “Islam and Capitalism.” In Encyclopedia of the Modern World of Islam, Tehran: Congress Publishing and Marja Book Publishing.

Pakravan, Mahdieh. (2019). Hidden in History. Tehran: Panah Publications.

Pikulskaya, N. (2008). Cities of Iran in the Parthian and Sassanian Eras. Translated by Enayateollah Reza. Tehran: Elmi va Farhangi Publishing.

Tousali, Gholam Abbas. (1994). “A Critique of Orientalist and Sociological Research on the Relationship between Islam and Capitalism.” Social Sciences Letter, University of Tehran, 1–32.

Hakimpour, Mohammad. (1998). “Islam and Capitalism.” Ketab Naqd Journal, Year 3, Nos. 9–10, 117–133.

Hakimpour, Mohammad. (1999). “Islam and Capitalism (2).” Ketab Naqd Journal, Year 3, No. 11, 2–37.

Dehghani, Reza. (2011). “What Is Historical Criticism?” Pazhuhesh Journal, Year 3, No. 1, 145–174.

Diakonoff, Vladimir Nikolayevich,and Others. (1974). History of the Ancient World. Translated by a group of translators. Tehran: Andisheh Publishing.

Dinori, Abu Hanifa Ahmad ibn Dawood. (1989). Akhbar al-Tiwal. Qom: Al-Razi Publications.

Zilabi, Negar. (2007). "Entry on Jahbadh." In Encyclopedia of the World of Islam, Vol. 11. Tehran: Islamic Encyclopedia Foundation.

Rodinson, Maxime. (1979). Islam and Capitalism. Translated by Mohsen Salasi. Tehran: Pocket Books Company.

Zubayri, Musab. (1999). Nasab Quraysh. Cairo: Dar al-Ma'arif.

Zargari Nejad, Gholamhossein. (1999). History of Early Islam (Prophetic Era). Tehran: Samt Publications.

Zuzani, Husayn ibn Ahmad.( 1926) Al-Masadir. Mashhad.

Saeedi, Gholamreza. (1950). "Economic Regimes and Islam." Forugh Elm, No. 3, 4–11.

Shiyira, Edward.( 1996). Babylonian Tablets. Translated by Ali Asghar Hekmat. Tehran: Elm va Farhang Publications.

Sanobar, Naser, Motafakker Azad, Mohammad Ali, and Razi, Nasrin. (2010). "A Comparative Study of Islamic Views and Capitalist System in Marketing Mix Decisions." Jostarhaye Eghtesadi (Economic Studies), Vol. 7, No. 13: 173–207.

Tabarsi, Fazl ibn Hasan. (1993). Majma‘ al-Bayan fi Tafsir al-Quran. Tehran: Naser Khosrow Publications.

Tabari, Muhammad ibn Jarir. (2008). Tarikh al-Tabari. Beirut: Dar al-Turath.

Tusi, Muhammad ibn Hasan. (n.d). Al-Tibyan fi Tafsir al-Quran. Beirut: Dar Ihya’ al-Turath al-Arabi.

Qarachanlu, Hossein. (2008). Historical Geography of Islamic Lands. Tehran: Samt Publications.

Qomi, Hasan ibn Muhammad. (1982). Tarikh Qom. Translated by Hasan ibn Ali Qomi, edited by Jalal al-Din Tehrani. Tehran, Tus Publishing.

Kordali, Mohammad. (1983). Khutat al-Sham. Beirut: Maktabat al-Nuri.

Köhler, Benedict. (2023). Early Islam and the Birth of Capitalism. Translated by Jafar Kheirkhahān and Mohammad Māshīnchīān. Tehran: Ney Publishing.

Gardizi, Abu Sa‘d Abd al-Hayy ibn Dhiḥāk ibn Mahmūd. (1984). Tarikh Gardizi. Edited by Abd al-Hayy Habibi. Tehran: Donya-ye Ketab.

Māshīnchīān, Mohammad. (2025). "The Earliest Manifestations of Capitalism in Early Islam." Bourgeois Online Journal, No. 8, pp. 1–3.

Māwardī, Ali. (2014). Al-Aḥkām al-Sulṭāniyya. Edited by Mohammad Fahmi. Sarjani, Cairo.

Majidzadeh, Yūsuf.( 2013). History and Civilization of Mesopotamia: Art and Architecture. Tehran: University Press Center.

Mas‘udi, Ali ibn Husayn. (1988). Murūj al-Dhahab wa Ma‘ādin al-Jawhar. Qom: Dār al-Hijra.

Muqaddasi, Abu Abdullah Muhammad ibn Ahmad. (1990). Aḥsan al-Taqāsīm fī Ma‘rifat al-Aqālīm. Cairo: Maktabat Madbuli.

Muṭahhar ibn Tahir al-Muqaddasi. (n.d.) Al-Bad’ wa al-Tārīkh. Port Said: Maktabat al-Thaqāfa al-Dīniyya.

Wāqidī, Muhammad ibn ‘Umar.( 1988). Al-Maghāzī. Beirut: Mu’assasat al-A‘lami.

Vassigh, Mansoureh. (2008). Danānir: The History of the Dinar in Iran’s Monetary History. Tehran: Setoudeh Publications.

Ya‘qūbī, Abi Waḍiḥ. (n.d). Tarikh Ya‘qūbī. Beirut: Dār Ṣādir.

Pizhuhish nāmah-i intiqādī-i mutūn va barnāmah hā-yi ̒ulūm-i insāni (Critical Studies in Texts & Programs of Human Sciences)

A Historical Critique of Arab Trade in the Book “Early Islam and the birth of Capitalism”

References

References

Volume 25, Issue 2 - Serial Number 120
August 2025
Pages 1-35

A Historical Critique of Arab Trade in the Book “Early Islam and the birth of Capitalism”

References

References

Volume 25, Issue 2 - Serial Number 120August 2025Pages 1-35

Volume 25, Issue 2 - Serial Number 120
August 2025
Pages 1-35