4.How does the Islamic law influenced the development of civil society in the Middle East?
Key institutions of the pre-modern Middle Eastern economy, all grounded in Islamic law, blocked the
development of democratic institutions. Islam’s original tax system failed to produce lasting and
credible constraints on governance. The waqfs (Islamic trusts) founded to provide social services to
designated constituencies were politically powerless. Profit-making private enterprises remained small
and ephemeral, hindering the formation of stable coalitions capable of bargaining with the state.
Islam gave the region a common economic legacy through Islamic laws that were enforced widely
until recently, and these laws contributed to holding the region back economically (Kuran 2011). If
Islam influenced economic patterns, perhaps it affected political patterns as well.
Economic opportunities shape political possibilities through various mechanisms. Here is a pertinent
example. Under a wide range of situations, the enrichment of private merchants will strengthen civil
society by increasing the resources available to non-state organizations; in turn, a stronger civil
society will make it harder for the state to trample on property rights. For another relevant example, a
globally competitive economy that provides broad employment opportunities will enhance, in the eyes
of the citizenry, the legitimacy of the incumbent political system. People with a happy future are
unlikely to revolt.
There are three economic institutions that played important roles in Middle Eastern economic history.
Each institution is grounded in Islamic law, and it contributed, in some way, to the Middle East’s
economic underdevelopment.
First the Islam’s Initial Tax System based on zakats.Zakat is a form of alms-giving treated in Islam as
a religious obligation or tax, which, by Quranic ranking, is next after prayer in importance.
As one of
the Five Pillars of Islam, zakat is a religious duty for all Muslims who meet the necessary criteria of
wealth.It is a mandatory charitable contribution, often considered to be a tax. The payment and
disputes on zakat have played a major role in the history of Islam.
Paradoxically, the wealthy groups that decimated the zakat system through loopholes before the
seventh century was out were left without protection against arbitrary takings. They began searching
for a new institution to protect their assets. The result was the inclusion in Islamic law, a century after
the emergence of Islam, of the distinctly Islamic trust known as the waqf.
A waqf also known as hubous or mortmain property, is an inalienable charitable endowments under
Islamic law. It typically involves donating a building, plot of land or other assets for Muslim religious
