Finance

Finance

Published 2002

For commerce and trade to work in the vast distances of Muslim land, extending from the far east of Asia to Western Europe and Africa, Muslims introduced municipal administration concepts and invented the check, called the sukk, and the banking institutions. A check was issued in Baghdad for certain commodities and cashed in Indonesia.

Other Arabic words reflecting the lasting influence of Muslims on commerce are traffic (from tafriq meaning distribution), magazine (from Makhzan meaning store), mancus, a term used for coin (from vanquishing meaning encrypted), almanac (from al-Manakh meaning the climate), average, caliber, coffer, cipher, gabelle (from jabee meaning tax collector), nadir, zenith and zero.

The development of partnerships and joint-stock companies was another direct outcome of this financial invention of the check. Examples from the 9th and 10th centuries are the partnerships between the Muslim Damascus, Syria, and Christian merchants of Italy and North Africa’s cities.

Abu al-Qasim M. ibn Hauqal in his book, Book of Routes and Kingdoms, recorded his visit to two Italian municipalities about the year 977, and they were dealing with the North African cities of Ajdabyiah. In Libya and Kairouan and Sijilmassa in the Maghreb (Morocco.) Kairouan was the largest municipality and seat of government in the Maghreb. Sijilmassa was the terminal for caravans to the gold-exporting areas of Senegal. Ibn Hauqal wrote of private accounts of some citizens of Sijilmassa for 400,000 dinars.
Islamic Trade Routes 

Arabia Felix, fertile Arabia, from the 7th to the 9th century, was the exchange point for many items: linen and glass from Egypt and Syria were traded for cotton, silk, and spices from India, China Indonesia.
Others were trading horses, tigers, panthers, ebony, coconuts, rubies, silk, chinaware, paper ink, incense, grapes, rose water, pearls, quail, curtains, carpets, fine mats, sugar, tea, and coffee.