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Islam and Mammon: The Economic Predicaments of Islamism
The doctrine of "Islamic economics" entered debates over the social role of Islam in the mid-twentieth century. Since then it has pursued the goal of restructuring economies according to perceived Islamic teachings. Beyond its most visible practical achievement--the establishment of Islamic banks meant to avoid interest--it has promoted Islamic norms of economic behavior and founded redistribution systems modeled after early Islamic fiscal practices.
In this bold and timely critique, Timur Kuran argues that the doctrine of Islamic economics is simplistic, incoherent, and largely irrelevant to present economic challenges. Observing that few Muslims take it seriously, he also finds that its practical applications have had no discernible effects on efficiency, growth, or poverty reduction. Why, then, has Islamic economics enjoyed any appeal at all? Kuran's answer is that the real purpose of Islamic economics has not been economic improvement but cultivation of a distinct Islamic identity to resist cultural globalization.
The Islamic subeconomies that have sprung up across the Islamic world are commonly viewed as manifestations of Islamic economics. In reality, Kuran demonstrates, they emerged to meet the economic aspirations of socially marginalized groups. The Islamic enterprises that form these subeconomies provide advancement opportunities to the disadvantaged. By enhancing interpersonal trust, they also facilitate intragroup transactions.
These findings raise the question of whether there exist links between Islam and economic performance. Exploring these links in relation to the long-unsettled question of why the Islamic world became underdeveloped, Kuran identifies several pertinent social mechanisms, some beneficial to economic development, others harmful.
In this bold and timely critique, Timur Kuran argues that the doctrine of Islamic economics is simplistic, incoherent, and largely irrelevant to present economic challenges. Observing that few Muslims take it seriously, he also finds that its practical applications have had no discernible effects on efficiency, growth, or poverty reduction. Why, then, has Islamic economics enjoyed any appeal at all? Kuran's answer is that the real purpose of Islamic economics has not been economic improvement but cultivation of a distinct Islamic identity to resist cultural globalization.
The Islamic subeconomies that have sprung up across the Islamic world are commonly viewed as manifestations of Islamic economics. In reality, Kuran demonstrates, they emerged to meet the economic aspirations of socially marginalized groups. The Islamic enterprises that form these subeconomies provide advancement opportunities to the disadvantaged. By enhancing interpersonal trust, they also facilitate intragroup transactions.
These findings raise the question of whether there exist links between Islam and economic performance. Exploring these links in relation to the long-unsettled question of why the Islamic world became underdeveloped, Kuran identifies several pertinent social mechanisms, some beneficial to economic development, others harmful.
240 pages, Paperback
First published April 12, 2004
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216 people want to read
About the author
Timur Kuran
22 books69 followersBorn in 1954 in New York City, where his parents lived while graduate students at Yale University, Kuran spent his early childhood in Ankara, where his father taught at the Middle East Technical University. When he was a teenager, his family moved to Istanbul. For a decade, he lived just off the campus of Boğaziçi University, where his father was president and professor of Islamic architectural history.
Kuran obtained his secondary education in Turkey, graduating from Robert College in Istanbul in 1973. He then studied economics at Princeton University, graduating magna cum laude in 1977. He went on to Stanford University to obtain a doctorate in economics. His doctoral supervisor was Kenneth Arrow, a Nobel laureate.
Kuran obtained his secondary education in Turkey, graduating from Robert College in Istanbul in 1973. He then studied economics at Princeton University, graduating magna cum laude in 1977. He went on to Stanford University to obtain a doctorate in economics. His doctoral supervisor was Kenneth Arrow, a Nobel laureate.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
February 18, 2023
الكاتب ابتعد في أجزاء كبيرة من الكتاب عن الاقتصاد وكان اهتمامه الأكبر بتاريخ الأفكار والايديولوجيا الاسلامية فجائت الأفكار سطحية وانتقائية وبها كثير من التعميم. ظهرت أفكار الكاتب مشحونة بانحيازاته الشخصية وهو ما يزعج القارئ الباحث عن التحليل الرصين. الكتاب كذلك به الكثير من التكرار.
January 6, 2018
١- يلقي الكتاب نظرة سريعة على تطورات الاقتصاد الاسلامي منذ منتصف القرن الفائت، ثم يناقش مستقبله، و ما يراه كوران ان هذا الاقتصاد بمصارفه ودورته المالية بين الاعمال الذي تعلن هويه اسلامية رغم فشله في احداث اي تغيير وسط الانظمة الرأسمالية الا انه سيستمر كاقتصاد فرعي موازي نتيجة الفساد وحاجة الحركة الاسلامية له
٢- استعرض كوران النقاش الذي دار خلال العقود الأخيرة حول الاقتصاد الإسلامي بشكل استقصائي معقول
٣- يعطي الكتاب لمحة حول تغلغل الاسلام السياسي في المجتمعات الاسلامية ع المستوى الاقتصادي.. وهذا له طرف علاقة بالنقاش حول مستقبل هذا التيار
٤- الكتاب على اهميته لكل مهتم بالحركات الاسلامية يعيبه التكرار ..لأن كوران كتبه على شكل بحوث اكاديمية سته منفصلة .. على فترات زمنيه متباعده
٥- الفصل الاخير مهم ، يستعرض فيه النظريات حول علاقة الإسلام بالتنمية
٢- استعرض كوران النقاش الذي دار خلال العقود الأخيرة حول الاقتصاد الإسلامي بشكل استقصائي معقول
٣- يعطي الكتاب لمحة حول تغلغل الاسلام السياسي في المجتمعات الاسلامية ع المستوى الاقتصادي.. وهذا له طرف علاقة بالنقاش حول مستقبل هذا التيار
٤- الكتاب على اهميته لكل مهتم بالحركات الاسلامية يعيبه التكرار ..لأن كوران كتبه على شكل بحوث اكاديمية سته منفصلة .. على فترات زمنيه متباعده
٥- الفصل الاخير مهم ، يستعرض فيه النظريات حول علاقة الإسلام بالتنمية
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April 3, 2011I definitely had issues with this book. Kuran uses broad brushstrokes to paint Islam in a negative light without using concrete evidence. Furthermore, his analysis focuses on few Islamic countries. His focus when it comes to facts and figures is centered around Turkey with little compare/contrast between other Islamic countries.
July 2, 2023
I was tempted to give the book a 4 stars. Despite a lot of repetitiveness (due to the format of collection of articles, I’m sure) i actually found this work from Dr Timur Kuran to be worthwhile and indeed very commendable.
There are many valuable and relevant points raised in this text. It is rare - unfortunately - to read Muslim intellectuals being so openly and bravely critical of touchy subjects such as the one at hand. Besides, constructive criticism should always be welcome and the debate of ideas encouraged.
However, i do have a few remarks on how the book sort of let me down a little, at times. Let’s slot that one in a box tagged “some gentle constructive criticism of my own”:
1. The author is way too influenced by the Turkish secular thought of Ataturk &Co. He can’t help having a dig at the Islamic Tradition, sometimes without any value addition.
2. The man is also a bit too much in awe in front the superior West.. there is good and bad and a lot of luck-of-the-draw in everything.. including in the circumstances that led to the rise of the West. Like with everything in history, there were countless critical moments that could very easily have yielded completely different outcomes, triggered different chain of events and opened alternative sliding doors. Same applies to the rise and fall of the anterior Muslim dynasties.. and indeed all major political forces of the past( Greeks, Carthaginians, Romans, Persians… etc). Hindsight is a beautiful thing!
3. His ref. is almost always Turkey and Ottoman Empire. Fair enough, but we, Muslims, do not all have the same historical trajectory. For example, in my part of the world - Moroccan heritage -
i. Moroccans are not and never have been that impressed nor wowed by the West! True it took them some time to recognise and accept the west’s superiority and that did cost them a lot (still does). An earlier accurate reading of the bitter reality would have saved them a lot of time and effort! Many of the reasons why that was the case have to do indeed with concepts and ideas developed in the book. The sclerosis promoted by the ruling class and even more so the religious leaders (foqaha’a) is definitely among the major factors at the root of the issue. But they never let this sorry state of affairs dent their collective self-confidence or question their abilities. There are of course a number of people who fall in that sort of intellectual servitude. After all, it is only normal to see the dominated admire and seek to copy the dominant. Be that as it may, that servitude has never taken hold at the societal level. Still today, anything branded “beldi” (local) is considered superior to “roumi”!
ii. The Amazigh culture has a highly sophisticated ancestral concept of banking with very old yet very modern notions such as collective safe-keeping and custody, settlement processes, time value, compensation mechanisms.. etc. So the generalisation about No Banking technologies ever emerged in the Muslim world comes a bit short.
iii. The merchants might have been looked at with disdain in the Ottoman World - I didn’t know that - but not in the Moroccan. In the North African kingdom, throughout history, a merchant is a very respectable and high-status occupation. So much so, that in the Moroccan Arabic dialect, Tajer (Merchant) is synonymous with a well-to-do person. Same goes in Arabic Gulf and the peninsula, for example. The Merchant is and has always been a very highly regarded and respected fellow in the historic Hejaz,for instance. It is still the case in modern Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
4. Finally, our friend Timur would do well to take a quick refresher in statistics, proba theory and the risks and fallacies that come with empirical studies. Basic stuff like correlation vs causality…
Steve Jobs (may he rest in peace) was a very successful man. He used to wear very ugly turtleneck sweaters.. let’s examine the impact of wearing such rubbish pieces of garment on successful entrepreneurial spirit and creativity. I suggest we do a Principal Component Analysis. Suggest the following regression factors:
Fes tarbouch (or Shashiya)
Jellaba/Caftan
Turkish Jabador
Expensive hand made tailor suit and high quality leather shoes from Bond Street in London
Nike Sneakers
Funny T-Shirts
I am sure this study will offer ample justification to the 1920s New Turks to ban the traditional Anatolian dress-code. I bet you 100% of people who set up Apple Inc were not dressed that way. Shall we deduce that one needs not wear the Tarbouch El Fassi if one wants to create Apple Inc?
There are many valuable and relevant points raised in this text. It is rare - unfortunately - to read Muslim intellectuals being so openly and bravely critical of touchy subjects such as the one at hand. Besides, constructive criticism should always be welcome and the debate of ideas encouraged.
However, i do have a few remarks on how the book sort of let me down a little, at times. Let’s slot that one in a box tagged “some gentle constructive criticism of my own”:
1. The author is way too influenced by the Turkish secular thought of Ataturk &Co. He can’t help having a dig at the Islamic Tradition, sometimes without any value addition.
2. The man is also a bit too much in awe in front the superior West.. there is good and bad and a lot of luck-of-the-draw in everything.. including in the circumstances that led to the rise of the West. Like with everything in history, there were countless critical moments that could very easily have yielded completely different outcomes, triggered different chain of events and opened alternative sliding doors. Same applies to the rise and fall of the anterior Muslim dynasties.. and indeed all major political forces of the past( Greeks, Carthaginians, Romans, Persians… etc). Hindsight is a beautiful thing!
3. His ref. is almost always Turkey and Ottoman Empire. Fair enough, but we, Muslims, do not all have the same historical trajectory. For example, in my part of the world - Moroccan heritage -
i. Moroccans are not and never have been that impressed nor wowed by the West! True it took them some time to recognise and accept the west’s superiority and that did cost them a lot (still does). An earlier accurate reading of the bitter reality would have saved them a lot of time and effort! Many of the reasons why that was the case have to do indeed with concepts and ideas developed in the book. The sclerosis promoted by the ruling class and even more so the religious leaders (foqaha’a) is definitely among the major factors at the root of the issue. But they never let this sorry state of affairs dent their collective self-confidence or question their abilities. There are of course a number of people who fall in that sort of intellectual servitude. After all, it is only normal to see the dominated admire and seek to copy the dominant. Be that as it may, that servitude has never taken hold at the societal level. Still today, anything branded “beldi” (local) is considered superior to “roumi”!
ii. The Amazigh culture has a highly sophisticated ancestral concept of banking with very old yet very modern notions such as collective safe-keeping and custody, settlement processes, time value, compensation mechanisms.. etc. So the generalisation about No Banking technologies ever emerged in the Muslim world comes a bit short.
iii. The merchants might have been looked at with disdain in the Ottoman World - I didn’t know that - but not in the Moroccan. In the North African kingdom, throughout history, a merchant is a very respectable and high-status occupation. So much so, that in the Moroccan Arabic dialect, Tajer (Merchant) is synonymous with a well-to-do person. Same goes in Arabic Gulf and the peninsula, for example. The Merchant is and has always been a very highly regarded and respected fellow in the historic Hejaz,for instance. It is still the case in modern Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
4. Finally, our friend Timur would do well to take a quick refresher in statistics, proba theory and the risks and fallacies that come with empirical studies. Basic stuff like correlation vs causality…
Steve Jobs (may he rest in peace) was a very successful man. He used to wear very ugly turtleneck sweaters.. let’s examine the impact of wearing such rubbish pieces of garment on successful entrepreneurial spirit and creativity. I suggest we do a Principal Component Analysis. Suggest the following regression factors:
Fes tarbouch (or Shashiya)
Jellaba/Caftan
Turkish Jabador
Expensive hand made tailor suit and high quality leather shoes from Bond Street in London
Nike Sneakers
Funny T-Shirts
I am sure this study will offer ample justification to the 1920s New Turks to ban the traditional Anatolian dress-code. I bet you 100% of people who set up Apple Inc were not dressed that way. Shall we deduce that one needs not wear the Tarbouch El Fassi if one wants to create Apple Inc?
June 11, 2010
Why is it that despite the tremendous amount of wealth that has been created over the centuries, Muslim nations still remain economically backward? Could it be due to the fact that Muslims have stayed away from conventional investments for fear of interest? Or is it a general failure of Muslims in general to truly embrace capitalism in favour of more “Islamic” economic systems?
Timur Kuran discusses these issues in a series of well-researched essays compiled in this timely book. In them, he explores the notion of Islamic Banking, the Muslim charity system and their various pitfalls which he believes has a part to play in the current state of Muslims today.
Some topics may be highly controversial, especially with regards to the discussions on “Islamic” banking and interest in Islam. Nonetheless the work successfully questions conventional wisdom and I would recommend it to everyone wishing to embark on Islamic banking or any other Islamic financial product that is widely sold in the retail markets today.
Timur Kuran discusses these issues in a series of well-researched essays compiled in this timely book. In them, he explores the notion of Islamic Banking, the Muslim charity system and their various pitfalls which he believes has a part to play in the current state of Muslims today.
Some topics may be highly controversial, especially with regards to the discussions on “Islamic” banking and interest in Islam. Nonetheless the work successfully questions conventional wisdom and I would recommend it to everyone wishing to embark on Islamic banking or any other Islamic financial product that is widely sold in the retail markets today.
May 13, 2016
Mammon is a character and concept from the christian bible. But this volume is about islam. Than I discover a mess of terms that can or can not be equivalent: islam, islamism and muslim. And gosh! 200 pages to cover many countries with dramatically different backgrounds? Talking about simple minded. Only whom? The third of the global population or just Timur Kuran?
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews