Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – Historical narratives record that Islam once triumphed in the fields of science, technology and economics around the 8th to 11th centuries AD. At that time, many scientists and philosophers emerged whose thoughts became the foundation of modern science. Call it Ibn Sina, Ibnu Khaldun, Al-Khwarizmi and so on. Then, at the same time, many cities in the Middle East emerged as centers of knowledge.
Unfortunately, now that progress is just history. It could be said that the Muslim world is now experiencing decline. One interesting thing that can be used as a lesson for today's development is how could Islam be successful at that time? Not many people know, it turns out that the central role of this success was held by an unexpected group, namely traders.
This fact was revealed by San Diego University lecturer, Ahmet T. Kuru, in Islam, Authoritarianism, and Underdevelopment (2019). He explained that the progress of Islam in the 8th to 11th centuries or the Umayyad and Abbasid dynasties was caused by ulama and scientists deciding to distance themselves from power.
They think that getting closer to the authorities could hinder freedom of thought. As a result, to make their knowledge grow, they choose to be close to traders. At that time, traders did have a special place in the socio-economic structure of Muslims. This is because they have religious legitimacy because Islam has been close to traders from the start. Statistically, Ahmet T. Kuru also noted that 72.5% of ulama or their families also work as traders.
Apart from that, traders are also known as a group that supports the development of science. This can happen, according to Ahmet T. Kuru, because they need the knowledge itself for their benefit.
During this period, they were able to control trade routes between Europe, India and China. This large business network of course requires accounting, pricing, credit and mathematical skills. Realizing they couldn't do it, the only way was to ask Muslim scientists for help in developing knowledge, especially those related to trade.
At this point, traders have two positions, namely as research funders and participants in knowledge development. Then, scientists could also freely develop science and religion because they were supported by traders. Thanks to relationships like this, Islamic civilization was able to progress very rapidly.
Moving on from here, Kuru said “traders became the main agents of economic activity in the Muslim world and became the mainstay of the brilliance of Islamic civilization.”
At the same time, different conditions occurred in Europe. If Islam and the Middle East are in a golden era, in Europe it is the opposite: science and the economy have stagnated. This can happen because the strong dominance of religion and the state intervenes in scientists, something that Muslim scientists have been restricted from the start.
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