Abstract
Of the three monotheistic religions, Islam is not only tolerant of but even laudatory toward businesspeople. Muhammad, himself, had experience as a trader, and there are passages in the Qur’an expressing approval of businesspeople and their practices. Islam, though, proved resistant to taking interest upon loans. Islamic leaders sometimes displayed a willingness to employ Jewish and Christians as administrators and business operators; such outsiders possessed two attractive characteristics: a greater prevalence of literacy and a reputation for honesty and probity.
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- 1.
Qur’an (1997, 2:282) contained a passage that advised people to keep a written record of their debts.
- 2.
The Jewish scholar Maimonides held somewhat similar views as Shafi’I (Udovitch 1970, 39).
- 3.
Riba and gharar can be loosely translated respectively as interest and uncertainty.
- 4.
Zinbarg presented a similar edict from the Laws of Manu: “if a man is unable to pay a debt and wishes to make a new contract, he may pay the interest that is due and turn around the legal instrument” (Buhler, Laws of Manu 8:154).
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Surdam, D.G. (2020). Islam and Business Ethics. In: Business Ethics from Antiquity to the 19th Century. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-37165-4_8
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