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IMC 2014: Sessions

Session 1308: Social, Political, and Economic Developments in the Islamic World

Wednesday 9 July 2014, 16.30-18.00

Moderator/Chair:Leigh Chipman, Rothberg International School, Hebrew University of Jerusalem / Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan
Paper 1308-aCapitalism, Business Associations, and Banking Instruments in the Medieval Islamic World
(Language: English)
Samir Hesham Kamal Safar-Aly, Independent Scholar, London
Index terms: Canon Law, Economics - Trade, Islamic and Arabic Studies, Religious Life
Paper 1308-bThe Islamification of the Seljuk Turks: The Evidence of the First Crusade Chronicles
(Language: English)
Nicholas E. Morton, School of Arts & Humanities, Nottingham Trent University
Abstract

Paper -a:
During the European Middle Ages, the Muslim world had grown to cover lands as far reaching as southern France, Mozambique, Ghana, and the Philippines, primarily through trade. This vast empire of mercantile networks connected geographically dislocated traders and economic centers under a common religion, language and currency, operating under a theological framework that promoted 'conscious capitalism' and the entrepreneurial spirit. On the other hand, prior to the Reformation, Europe was faced with an economic jurisprudential framework that by in large worked against business growth. This paper challenges the Eurocentric provincial notion and sentiment allocated to capitalism and its heritage, by presenting the theological business framework that Muslim traders turned to for guidance in comparison to medieval Canon Law, and the economic realities that led to the growth of the 'Islamic Commercial Empire'.

Paper -b:
There is an ongoing debate about the Seljuk Turks’ conversion to Islam. The traditional interpretation is that they adopted this faith very swiftly; within a few decades of their first incursions into the Near East in the early eleventh century. This is certainly the tale told by most Muslim chroniclers and also by many modern academics. Nevertheless in recent years historians have begun to challenge this orthodoxy. Several thought-provoking articles and monographs have recently disputed this interpretation, advancing a case for a far slower process of religious accommodation lasting well over a century. Many point out that whilst the ruling Seljuk family itself may have converted to Islam in the 11th century, it would have taken far longer for these beliefs to have filtered down into the various tribes with which they were affiliated.

This article will contribute to this debate by exploring the various descriptions of the Turks produced by the members of the First Crusade. Certainly these European warriors encountered the Turks on many occasions and were often curious about their culture and beliefs. Thus these materials are of relevance to this debate on the Turks' acculturation into the Islamic world. Naturally some of the crusaders’ views are polemical in nature but in many cases their observations chime closely with those made in Arabic, Byzantine and Persian sources. Thus, this paper will show how these sources can provide new data on a very important issue.