Contribution of Al-Maqrizi to the Development of Economic Thought

Abstract

This research paper examines the contribution of one of the eminent and renown early Muslim scholars, Taqiyuddin Ahmad ibn Ali Al-Maqrizi (1364-1442) to the development of mainstream economic theory and Islamic economic thought and who preceded the so-called ‘father of economics’ Adam Smith (1723-1790) by more than three-hundred years. The paper presents, analyses and discusses Al-Maqrizi's biography, education, career, writings, publications and contribution to some of the theories of mainstream economics. The study assesses also the relevance of some of the relevant economic issues that Al-Maqrizi propounded, which have left a significant and noteworthy impact on the development of economic thought generally, and of Islamic economic thought specifically. This research paper follows a descriptive qualitative research work based on library research, historical approach, technical analysis and content analysis (the descriptive, the inductive- deductive and the historical approaches). This is done by reviewing a large number of related references and sources, out of which some of Al-Maqrizi’s economic ideas are inferred, extrapolated, analysed and discussed, in order to reach the findings of this research and suggest some recommendations. It is found that Al-Maqrizi (1364-1442) is one of the early renown Muslim scholars, who contributed significantly, not only to Islamic theology, history, geography, sociology but also to the economic thought. For instance, from the economic perspective, Al-Maqrizi preceded Thomas Gresham (1519–1579) in his theory or law of “bad money drives out good money” and wrote about many economic issues including corruption, inflation, money and taxation, among many other topics and themes. Further research is surely and obviously needed to highlight and expose more of Al-Maqrizi ideas and the contributions of many other similar early Muslim scholars, who contributed significantly to the field of economics generally and Islamic economics especially, long before many of the known Western economists, who claim to have come up with many of the economic theories.