Islamic Economics: A Short History

CHAPTER ONE

PRE-ISLAMIC ARABIA

POETRY, TRIBAL RIVALRY AND HEROISM

(800 B.C.–610 A.C.)

Introduction

Despite the difficulty that surrounds the study of Arabia before the
rise of Islam, the study, incomplete as it may be, is important to
any researcher in the field of Islamic civilization. Unlike other ancient
civilizations, which were established on riverbanks with the help of
a permanent source of water, Islamic civilisation emerged from arid
land. Arabia, the cradle of Islam, did not have sufficient national
resources that would serve as a prerequisite for establishing a civil-
isation. It was Islam that had played a decisive role in changing the
position of Arabia in early history. It transformed its inhabitants,
the Arabs, into one nation, by unifying them under one religion
and preparing them for a wide series of world conquests. The reli-
gious factor here is quite distinct. A brief description of Arabia before
the coming of Islam is, therefore, important for three main reasons:
(a) to examine, as far as is possible, the level of civilization that had
developed, (b) to investigate how much of this civilization was in
existence at the time of the rise of Islam and how much influence
it may be claimed to have had on Islamic thought and (c) to assess
the effect of the socio-economic conditions of pre-Islamic society on
the early concerns of Islamic economic thought.

Biblical Connections

The term Arabia claims an etymological origin from ancient his-
tory. From Biblical sources, the word suggests a Semitic origin,
derived from the Hebraic root word “aravi” that means “to be arid”
(Aid to Bible Understanding, 1971). The Biblical reference mani-
fests this meaning when it speaks of Arabia as the arid land or
“the desert plain”, Isaiah 21:13. Also, the word could be a different