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Economic and Financial Crises in Fifteenth-Century Egypt: Lessons From the History

Author

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  • ISLAHI, ABDUL AZIM

    (Islamic Economics Institute, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah)

Abstract

The present paper attempts to study the economic and financial crises of 15th century Egypt, which was ruled by Mamluk dynasty. Two social thinkers of the time – al-Maqrizi at the beginning of the century and al-Asadi at the middle – addressed the situation. To the former, deterioration of Egypt’s monetary system was the single most important cause of its economic and financial difficulties. As a panacea, he prescribed a return to gold and silver standard and restricting copper coinage to petty transactions. The latter divided the factors responsible for economic and financial crises into socioeconomic factor and monetary factor. He advocated for an overall reform and strict management of the whole economy. The main financial problem, in his opinion, was debasement of currency leading to unrestricted supply of money, not the issue of copper coins. The paper concludes with an appraisal of their diagnosis of the problem, the solution suggested by them and the lessons learned from them.

Suggested Citation

  • Islahi, Abdul Azim, 2013. "Economic and Financial Crises in Fifteenth-Century Egypt: Lessons From the History," Islamic Economic Studies, The Islamic Research and Training Institute (IRTI), vol. 21, pages 71-94.
  • Handle: RePEc:ris:isecst:0012
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Muhammad Aslam Haneef & EMAD RAFIQ BARAKAT, 2006. "Must Money 'Be Limited to Only Gold and Silver? A Survey of Fiqhi Opinions and Some Implicatlons هل تقتصر النقود على الذهب والفضة ؟," Journal of King Abdulaziz University: Islamic Economics, King Abdulaziz University, Islamic Economics Institute., vol. 19(1), pages 21-34, January.
    2. Boaz Shoshan, 1983. "Money Supply and Grain Prices in Fifteenth-Century Egypt," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 36(1), pages 47-67, February.
    3. International Association for Islamic Economics, 2009. "Economic Solutions From Islamic Finance: Position Statement of the International Association for Islamic Economics الحلول الاقتصادية من التمويل الإسلامي: بيان موقف الجمعية الدولية للاقتصاد الإسلامي," Chapters of books published by the Islamic Economics Institute, KAAU or its faculty members., in: Islamic Economics Institute (ed.),Issues in the International Financial Crisis from an Islamic Perspective-05 قضايا في الأزمة المالية الدولية من منظور إسلامي, edition 1, chapter 16, pages 265-269, King Abdulaziz University, Islamic Economics Institute..
    4. M. Fahim Khan, 2009. "World Financial Crisis: Lesson form Islamic Economics الأزمة المالية العالمية: الدرس شكل الاقتصاد الإسلامي," Chapters of books published by the Islamic Economics Institute, KAAU or its faculty members., in: Islamic Economics Institute (ed.),Issues in the International Financial Crisis from an Islamic Perspective-05 قضايا في الأزمة المالية العالمية من منظور إسلامي, edition 1, chapter 3, pages 19-24, King Abdulaziz University, Islamic Economics Institute..
    5. Zubair Hasan, 2008. "Ensuring Exchange Rate Stability: Is Return to Gold (Dinar) Possible ضمان استقرار سعر الصرف: هل يمكن الرجوع إلى الذهب؟," Journal of King Abdulaziz University: Islamic Economics, King Abdulaziz University, Islamic Economics Institute., vol. 21(1), pages 3-25, January.
    6. Hasan, Zubair, 2007. "Ensuring exchange rate stability: Is return to gold (Dinar)possible?," MPRA Paper 8134, University Library of Munich, Germany.
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    Cited by:

    1. Irfan Nurfalah & Aam Slamet Rusydiana & Nisful Laila & Eko Fajar Cahyono, 2018. "Early Warning to Banking Crises in the Dual Financial System in Indonesia: The Markov Switching Approach التحذير المبكر من الأزمات المصرفية في النظام المالي المزدوج في إندونيسيا: مقاربة ماركوف للتحويل," Journal of King Abdulaziz University: Islamic Economics, King Abdulaziz University, Islamic Economics Institute., vol. 31(2), pages 133-156, July.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Financial History; Financial Crisis; Islamic Economics;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E40 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Money and Interest Rates - - - General
    • E49 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Money and Interest Rates - - - Other
    • G01 - Financial Economics - - General - - - Financial Crises
    • N15 - Economic History - - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics; Industrial Structure; Growth; Fluctuations - - - Asia including Middle East

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