The long divergence : how Islamic law held back the Middle East /
Timur Kuran.
- Princeton, N.J. : Princeton University Press, c2011.
- xvi, 405 p. : ill., maps ; 25 cm.
The puzzle of the Middle East's economic underdevelopment -- Analyzing the economic role of Islam -- Commercial life under Islamic rule -- The persistent simplicity of Islamic partnerships -- Drawbacks of the Islamic inheritance system -- The absence of the corporation in Islamic law -- Barriers to the emergence of a Middle Eastern business corporation -- Credit markets without banks -- The Islamization of non-Muslim economic life -- The ascent of the Middle East's religious minorities -- Origins and fiscal impact of the capitulations -- Foreign privileges as facilitators of impersonal exchange -- The absence of Middle Eastern consuls -- Did Islam inhibit economic development?
Discusses the history of the Middle East and how the region was comparable with the Europe in the year 1000, but fell behind financially, in living standards, and technology, and argues that Islamic law is to blame.