The Book of Revenue

Abstract

With the revival of Islamic finance, the translation of this seminal work on fiscal matters is a significant landmark. While such Islamic thinkers as Baqir al-Sadr, Abu’l A`la al-Mawdudi, and others were formulating the thinking that eventually engendered Islamic banks and finance houses, most of the classical reference works in Arabic remained obscure and unpublished. Over the past 50 years, however, much has changed. Of course, the Qur’an and Sunnah provide a wealth of material on transactions (mu`amalat). However, during the first few centuries, Muslim jurists expended great energy on the subject, especially as Muslims encountered business practices and legal customs that differed from those found in seventh-century Arabia. That this body of law was ignored for several centuries, however, is part of the legacy of colonialism and, in part, a very natural phenomenon. After the colonial and other powers marginalized Islam’s social and cultural institutions, it is not surprising that fiqh was relegated to academic settings. Moreover, in order for it to become vibrant once again, it required practitioners who were conversant with the classical discipline as well as cognizant and appreciative of the world’s new realities. Beginning with the theoretical musings of such thinkers as Baqir al- Sadr, Mawdudi, and Qutb, the growth of Islamic banks and investment houses in the decades of the seventies and eighties provided the incentive for more practical studies; and a new generation of Muslim jurists began work in earnest on modern finance. What began as a handful of small banks in the Gulf in the 1970s, developed in the 1980s into over 100 such ...