232 chapter six
the oldest surviving university was built by the Fatimids in 972, and
Dar al-Hikmah, hall of wisdom or of science, which was established
by them in 1005, are both still, in addition to being a visiting tourist
attraction, operating for the purpose for which they were built as
centres of learning in the heart of Cairo.
It could be argued, even with caution, that the political decline
of the state, the religio-political uncertainty in the Islamic world, and
the division of the central government did not provide the ideal envi-
ronment for the development of the Islamic economic literature and
this may have slowed down the writing on Islamic economics during
that period. The political decline could be said to have restricted the
potential support provided by the state to scholars in the field. Never-
theless, such a suggestion may have to be taken with caution, as it
cannot be proved empirically since there is no pattern to compare
it with. What is left for us is perhaps to hypothesize. It could be said
further that the attention given to the Greek philosophy could have lead
to a further diversion of the interest of writers who could have been
potential writers on economics. Moreover, the intellectual preoccu-
pation by religion-political issues may have also lead to the disper-
sion of the attention of scholars and may have limited their contribution
to the development of economics. Furthermore, all these factors
together could be said to have influenced writing on the subject.
The fact remains that the writing continued, despite frequent inter-
ruptions, reflecting the political instability of the Islamic world. During
the raids of the first Crusade campaign in 1099, for example, Imam
al-Ghazàli (1058–1111) wrote his master piece al-Ihya"a, and under
the Mongols’ destruction Imam Ibn-Taymìya (1263–1328) wrote his
al-Œisbah in Islam. Their work will be explored in the next chapter.
To sum up, it might fair to say that Muslim writers on Islamic
economics, who were the Ulama"of the day, mostly judges and
jurists, were too preoccupied by several factors to give the Islamic
economic literature a further impetus during that period. These fac-
tors were mainly the consolidation of coherent schools of religious
sects and the need to respond to them, the novelty of the Greek
philosophy and the curious desire to explore it and react to it
Islamically, and the exogenous military aggression of the neighbouring
forces. These factors were perhaps more influential than the break-
down of the central government of the caliphate.
Despite these limiting factors, some scholars managed to leave for