to pay for the building, maintenance, and staff-
ing of mosques, madrasas, qUran schools, Sufi
hospices, hospitals, and public fountains. These
revenues have also been used to maintain holy
sites in mecca and medina and to care for the
needs of Muslims performing the haJJ. A substan-
tial part of Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh) is con-
cerned with regulating commercial transactions,
and the Ulama considered the bazaar an important
arena for enforcing public morality. abU hamid
al-ghazali (d. 1111), for example, drew attention
to market practices that were violations of the
Islamic moral code, such as usury, price gouging,
selling defective merchandise, cheating with the
scales, and trading in forbidden goods (e.g., wine,
musical instruments, and silk clothing for men).
Following a fundamental ethical principle, when
they encounter such wrongdoing, good Muslims
are obliged to command what is right and forbid
what is wrong. Indeed, the medieval office of
the market inspector (muhtasib) was specifically
charged with regulating conduct in the market-
place, commercial and otherwise.
Religious authorities have been linked to
the bazaar in other ways, too. Many have come
from the merchant class, and even if they have
not, a considerable amount of their income has.
They have customarily managed funds from the
charitable bequests. Studies of the ulama in iran
and iraq reveal that they have been supported by
donations received from lay members of the com-
munity, especially the bazaaris, or merchants. The
economic relations between these two groups are
further cemented by their intermarriage.Public market in Marrakesh, Morocco (Federico R. Campo)
bazaar 97 J