Regulation of economic life in Hisbah literature - 9th to 14th century C.E.

Abstract

This dissertation investigates the nature of economic regulation as mirrored in hisbah treatises that were composed, during the ninth to the fourteenth century C. E., as administrative manuals or operational handbooks of al-hisbah. Al-hisbah was the institution of Islamic governance for the official performance of ihtisab. The most notable function of it was regulation and supervision of economic activities. hisbah treatises facilitated the mu[llasib, the person-in-charge of al-hisbah, in his practical supervision of various crafts, trades and professions. Towards revealing the nature of the hisbaic economic regulation, this dissertation first looks into theoretical-historical context of economic regulation. It discusses the conceptual rationale behind the regulation from both modem and Islamic perspectives, and describes the train of major historical events and issues relating to the supervision of economic activities in Islam. The dissertation then engages in a long investigation of the nature of the hisbaic economic regulation. Using Ghazalian four-component frame of ihtisab (almuhtasib, al-muhtasab `a/ayhi, al-mu~tasab fihi and nafs al-hisbah ), it explicates four broader aspects of economic regulation, namely (I) economic regulators, (2) economic actors, (3) issues of regulation and (4) modes of regulation. The findings of this investigation run counter to the usually conceived image of the muhtasib as the one who was invariably occupied with hunting down munkar. Insofar as the regulation and supervision of economic activities was concerned, he was preponderantly concerned with amr bi al-ma`riif, not nahy `an al-munkar, and hence his predominant approach to regulation had been preventive, not punitive. Inseparably tied with these findings is the distinct status of the economic actors. They were automatically treated as mu[tlasab `alayhi because of their engagement in economic activities; commitment of munkar was not the typical reason for their exposure to hisbaic measures. Another significant, but mostly concealed, aspect of the regulation is economic standards. Following an inductive reading of hisbah treatises and putting aside the overwhelming and overshadowing presence of the mu[llasih in them, the dissertation brings to the forefront a set of economic standards that is considered a concomitant development, as well as a corollary, of historical endeavour of al-hisbah toward regulation of economic life. The dissertation, thus, develops a detailed and systematic exposition of the !zishaic economic regulation, which will advance our understanding of why and how economic regulation was carried out by a/-hisbah in the Islamic society.