Abū al-Faḍl Jaʻfar ibn ʻAlī al-Dimashqī (; fl. 12th-century) was a prosperous

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

merchant from

Damascus Damascus ( , ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in the Levant region by population, largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. Kno ...

. He is best known for being the author of ''Kitab al-Isharah ila Mahasin at-Tijarah wa Marifat Jayyid al-Aʼrad wa Kadiiha wa Ghush-ush al-Mudallisin fiha'' (A Guide to the Merits of Commerce and to Recognition of Both Fine and Defective Merchandise and the Swindles of Those Who Deal Dishonestly). Almost nothing is known about al-Dimashqi's life. He was among the Muslim writers who were influenced by Greek sources, particularly by the neo-Pythagorean

Bryson of Heraclea Bryson of Heraclea (, ''gen''.: Βρύσωνος; fl. late 5th-century BCE) was an ancient Greek mathematician and sophist who studied the solving the problems of squaring the circle and calculating pi. Life and work Little is known about the lif ...

Economic views

In contrast to many other Muslim writers, Al-Dimashqi approved of wealth for its own sake. His work praises trade as an economic activity and demonstrates a thorough understanding of the roles of

supply and demand In microeconomics, supply and demand is an economic model of price determination in a Market (economics), market. It postulates that, Ceteris_paribus#Applications, holding all else equal, the unit price for a particular Good (economics), good ...

and the uncertainty associated with them. According to Louis Baeck, professor of International Economics and Development at the Catholic University of Leuven (Belgium), al-Dimashqi "formulated what modern economists would call price theory". In this theory, al-Dimashqi "makes a distinction between normal periods in which market prices are based on cost of production, as opposed to periods of scarcity or oversupply, in which speculators' drive manifest itself". In the Guide to the Merits of Commerce, he expresses disapproval of the state becoming directly involved in the economy. Al-Dimashqi also emphasizes the necessity of

division of labour The division of labour is the separation of the tasks in any economic system or organisation so that participants may specialise ( specialisation). Individuals, organisations, and nations are endowed with or acquire specialised capabilities, a ...

for

economic development In economics, economic development (or economic and social development) is the process by which the economic well-being and quality of life of a nation, region, local community, or an individual are improved according to targeted goals and object ...

"No individual can, because of the shortness of his life span, burden himself with all industries. If he does, he may not be able to master the skills of all of them from the first to the last. Industries are all interdependent. Construction needs the carpenter and the carpenter needs the ironsmith and the ironsmith needs the miner, and all these industries need premises. People are, therefore, necessitated by force of circumstances to be clustered in cities to help each other in fulfilling their mutual needs"

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abu Al-Fadl Ja'far Ibn 'Ali Al-Dimashqi 12th-century scholars Muslim writers Economists of the medieval Islamic world People from Damascus Syrian economists 12th-century Arab people 12th-century Arabic-language writers

Economic views

See also

References