8 chapter one
which could be considered as of common concern. The role of the
individual and that of the state in running the economy, to use mod-
ern terms, was therefore outlined.
That system of democracy in pre-Islamic Arabia survived the com-
ing of Islam, though it was modified so that it would conform to
Islamic norms (ibid.). Islam does not deny the sense of individual-
ity, though it does not overemphasize it. Nor does Islam discard the
feeling of clanism, although it does not support group conflicts. Islam
redirects the natural feeling of belonging, and probably the need for
that feeling, and replaces the concept of the clan by the concept of
Islamic community, ummah. Between these two pivots, the individual
and the community, and with no supremacy of either, Islamic polit-
ical philosophy and economic theory is established.
Hospitality. Hospitality was a dominant feature of life in pre-Islamic
Arabia. It was a principle that was deeply rooted in the desert life,
and a virtue that was sung by early poets, the journalists of the time,
alongside bravery, fortitude, enthusiasm and endurance (Al- ̨abarì,
1991). No matter how much of an enemy a person was, if he
descended on someone as a guest he should be treated with the
utmost hospitality. A breach of hospitality would bring dishonour to
the individual and probably to the clan. Such deeply rooted princi-
ples of hospitality might seem contradictory to the kind of life the
Arabian lived, with its lack of economic resources. But the princi-
ple could be indeed a product of such life. The mutual feeling of
helplessness in such a hostile environment developed a need for the
establishment of hospitality as a highly regarded duty.
The principle of hospitality, nevertheless, signals an important
observation: the needs of a helpless individual were taken into account.
In addition, as the assertion of the pride and the honour of the indi-
vidual and that of his clan was a main motivation for hospitality,
besides mutual interests, it can be said, in purely economic terms,
that the consumer utility function of the Arabian could be twofold:
the satisfaction of goods consumption and moral satisfaction. In
Islamic economic theory the utility of the Muslim consumer is three-
fold: the satisfaction of goods consumption, moral satisfaction and
the satisfaction from a divine reward during life and thereafter (as
will be discussed later).
Invasion for economic gains. Driven by the lack of economic
resources, the tribes that did not have enough to feed their mem-