the abbasìd’s golden age 197and (f ) the book could still be regarded as a reference book by the
standards of today. For that, Abù-Yùsuf deserved a special treat-
ment. Not all the writers following Abù-Yùsuf will enjoy the same
expanded coverage. Due space will however be given when the need
arises, as we will see later.
Following Abù-Yùsuf ’s Kitàb al-Kharàj, the writing of specialized
books on Islamic economics took an interesting turn. It moved away
from Abù-Yùsuf ’s area of public finance, into a much more entre-
preneurial area with more of, to use a modern term, a micro eco-
nomic approach to economics. Borrowing a nineteenth century term,
we could say without much exaggeration that it was the beginning
of writing on political economy. An example of this is the treatise
of al-Shaibànìon “Earnings”.
Al-Shaibànì(132–189 A.H., 750 –804 A.C.): From Macro-Economics to
Micro-Economics: Kitàb al-Iktisàb, Book of EarningsThe significance of the work of al-Shaibànìis that his book is purely
on micro economics. No public finance or state taxation; instead it
concerns consumption, production, value and distribution. In addi-
tion, he wrote his book on his own initiative without being com-
missioned by a government authority or a caliph’s request—at least
there is no evidence to suggest otherwise. In that sense it can be
said that with al-Shaibànì’s writing, economics was beginning to
develop as an independent body of literature. More important, his
ideas on economics seemed to coincide, partially, with some of the
economic thought that came a few centuries after him.
The Author
He is Muœammad ibn-al-Œassan al-Shaibànì(132–189 A.H./750–804
A.C.). Like his predecessor Abù-Yùsuf, al-Shaibànì, whose life span
overlapped with that of Abù-Yùsuf (731–798 A.C.), he was a jurist
and a judge, though he did not reach the position of chief justice.
He was another Œanafìwho received his juridical education from
Abù-Hanìfah, the founder of the school, then he became one of
Abù-Yùsuf ’s followers after Abù-Hanìfah’s death in 150 A.H./767
A.D. He was highly regarded by his contemporaries. Financially, he
seemed to have been well off. His inheritance from his father was