THE MARKET SOCIETY OF GREATER SYRIAN CITIES IN THE LATER MIDDLE AGES (1250-1517) (SYRIA, MUSLIM, ISLAMIC SOCIAL HISTORY)

This study examines the office of market inspection, hisbah, and the role of the market inspector, al-muhtasib, in the economic and social life of the Syrian city in the later Middle Ages.; Chapter One introduces the reader to a historical back-ground emphasizing the social structure, the relationship of various groups and the administrative body of the Islamic city.; Chapter Two is a survey of the literature. The primary sources used for analysis were in Arabic, mainly hisbah manuals written by people, such as al-Shayzar(')i and Ibn al-Ukhuwwah, who were concerned with the subject from the practical point of view and how its laws and regulations were applied to society. Other primary works were those of jurists, such as al-Maward(')i and al-Ghazal(')i, who treated hisbah among other topics and concentrated on its legal and juridical origin.; Chapter Three examines the office of hisbah, its Islamic origin, its development and the foreign influence of the Greek agoranomos. The theory of a complete adoption of the Greek institution by Muslims is rejected.; The next five chapters examine the economic, religious and moral role of the muhtasib. The muhtasib, who was responsible for upholding fair and honest practices of trades and crafts, came to be in charge of religious and ethical duties as well as moral censorship. Thus, he represented the interests of the religious establishment which was concerned with the enforcement of law and order in the city and regulation of its moral life.; Chapter Nine presents a case study of hisbah writing in which Ibn Taymiyyah's treatise, al-Hisbah wa Mas'uliyyat al-Hukumah al-Islamiyyah, is examined. Ibn Taymiyyah presented a new approach in dealing with the subject of hisbah, that is, from a theoretical point of view. He emphasized the economic side of hisbah in relation to the government in which he discussed new issues within the Islamic perspective. Government intervention in the economic life, price regulation and the laws of supply and demand are among the topics he discussed.; Other related issues treated by Ibn Taymiyyah and presented here are his discussions of labor, wage regulation, the obligation to work and the social value of labor.; In the Appendices I present my own translations of selected passages of original Arabic texts that illustrate some of the hypotheses discussed in the dissertation.