244 chapter six
Man and Money
It is interesting to note that, although his discussion of money was
brief, al-A›fahànìraised some pertinent points (Donia, op. cit).
First, in the recognition of the vital role of money in the economy
he stated, “Money is one of the ways upon which worldly (economic)
life is established”.
Second, he acknowledged the relationship between money and
availability of goods in saying, “If money has increased in value it
becomes difficult to acquire what is necessary to facilitate people’s
living”.
Third, he pointed out the functional role of money as a means
of exchange in stating, “Serving the process of economic co-opera-
tion was made possible by the use of money. Money is given by a
person to another from whom a benefit is sought, of which some is
given once again by that person to a third in exchange for a benefit
requested, so that their economic affairs are smoothed out”.
Fourth, he detected the relationship between money supply and
price increases in saying, “Hoarding money from being used by peo-
ple in their transactions is like hoarding the interests of people, as
with money their (economic) life is facilitated. Further, this is why,
quoting the Tradition, the use of gold and silver as utensils is for-
bidden as this leads to restricting the availability of these metals in
using them as money in facilitating their transactions, which may
lead to hardship in people’s livelihood”, (Al-A›fahànì, p. 388).
Fifth, he finally stated that money is not needed per se but for
the purpose it serves, “Money has been made by God to be used
for the purposes for which it was created and should not be wanted
for itself ” (ibid.)
Al-A›fahànìhas been credited with influencing the writing of dis-
tinguished authors after him such as al-Ghazàlì. It has been sug-
gested that such an eminent writer, like al-Ghazàlì, had a high regard
for al-A›fahànì’s al-Zarì"ah (Al-Agamy, 1985). “Ihya"a Ulùm al-Dìn”,
by al-Ghazàlìis our next book.
Abù-Hamid al-Ghazàlì(450 –505 A.H./1058–1111 A.C.)
Iœya"Ulùm al-Dìn, The Revival of the Science of ReligionAs a flùfìal-Ghazàlìlooks at economic issues, as well as other issues,
from a particular angle: religious devotion. The behaviour of human