Islamic Trade Networks

THE ISLAMIC WORLD HIST 1301 | History Islamic Trade Networks Trade and travel have shaped the region where Islam emerged. Muhammad and several wellknown early Muslims were traders or sprung from commercial families. And because of the institutional continuity required by Islamic religious law, or sharia, trade quickly became strictly controlled, import duties were systematised, and marketplaces were inspected and run uniformly across the Islamic world. By the sixteenth century, the banners of Islam flew from Spain and Morocco in the west to the gates of China in the east. These regions weren't, however, united under a single governmental figure. Rather than being divided by politics, ethnicity, or language, they were united into a single ummah through a network of trade and travel that spread Islam further than its soldiers could. Trade routes connected distant places throughout the greater Islamic world. Muslim traders travelled by water to trade with East Africa, Egypt, and the Arabian Peninsula, mostly from India and Southeast Asia, particularly Indonesia. Overland commerce was conducted by Muslims in China and Central Asia with traders in Iran, East and North Africa, and the Balkans. Trade into West Africa was expanded by caravans that crossed the Sahara. Many different people, including missionaries, intellectuals, and traders, travelled along these trade routes. Their movement promoted the development of languages like Arabic and Persian, which became the languages of trade, academia, and creative expression, in addition to the growth of Islam. In addition, it made possible the movement and interchange of novel concepts, ideas, precious metals, writing and numbering systems, and an enormous range of agricultural goods that were previously restricted to remote regions of the globe. Because of their links and specialisations in remote places, dhimmi and other non-Muslim groups were often encouraged to engage in commerce. For instance, Armenian Christians played a significant role in the silk trade and were well-liked in important trading hubs. Jewish communities across Europe, North Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia were connected by a trading network they had built. Jewish individuals gained popularity as moneylenders and bankers, typically servicing both Muslim and Christian clientele, because they were immune from the financial requirements of sharia, which prohibited collecting interest on loans. (They were prohibited by Jewish law from lending money to other Jews at interest.) In accordance with Muhammad's often-cited hadith, which said, "Seek knowledge, even unto China," Muslims also engaged in extensive trade and travel. Islamic settlements emerged in East Africa, West Africa, India, and other locations where Muslim traders travelled, as well as along the Silk Roads, which were land routes between the Middle East and China. Merchants who established themselves in non-Muslim towns would frequently marry into the local community, and the offspring of these unions would typically grow up as Muslims. It was common for members of the established merchant society to become Muslims in order to establish stronger ties with Muslim traders. Religious scholars frequently followed to create mosques, schools, and philanthropic organisations once a Muslim community had been founded. Islam expanded in this manner over the Balkans, Africa, and Asia. Upon their arrival in a new city, merchants would often choose a prayer leader, who would typically be an ulama member who also functioned as a judge. A Muslim market inspector confirmed the sizes of cargoes being transported out, checked that enterprises followed sharia, attested to the correctness of weights and measurements, and validated contracts between Muslim merchants. One of the main benefits of using Muslim traders and merchants to move cargo across large distances was their reliability. The extensive use of letters of credit, which were accepted in other Islamic countries and let traders to travel without having to carry significant amounts of gold, was another advantage. There are two ways to trade earned earnings for participating states. The first was by generating direct revenue through the import and sale of luxury goods and enslaved individuals, such as spices, ivory, salt, silks, and other items. Muslim traders often served as middlemen, buying products from one region and selling them to merchants from another due to their strategic location at the intersection of Europe, Africa, and Asia. The collection of state taxes on products passing across their borders was the second financial advantage of trade.Robbers and bandits posed a continual threat because of the potential for profit on the goods exchanged. Thus, on important trade routes, governments funded inns known as caravansaries at regular intervals, often a day's travel apart, where traders could relax and safely store their wares. As a sign of piety, wealthy people may also construct caravansaries, which house travellers. Trade routes frequently moved out of the borders of weak regimes that were unable to provide protection for travellers and traders because they were too dangerous. By means of Islamic trade networks, enslaved persons were transported in addition to tangible things including agricultural products, precious metals, and spices. It became customary to enslave non-Muslims from areas within the reach of Islamic slavers, while sharia prohibits Muslims from enslaving fellow Muslims. Common origins were India, Indonesia, Central and Eastern Europe, and North and Sub-Saharan Africa. Throughout the Islamic world, slaves were exchanged for a wide range of products, including clothing, precious metals, ceramics, and glassware. Muslim traders were the main operators involved in smuggling slaves over the Sahara Desert. They also served as middlemen, transferring enslaved individuals from Africa to dealers in central Asia and Europe. Women made up the majority of the slaves in the Islamic world, outnumbering males two to one. Men were mostly engaged in domestic service or work on the estates of the wealthy, tending to animals or working in mines and irrigation projects. Most women were retained in rich houses, where they became domestic slaves such as nursemaids or were maintained for sexual purposes. Even while those who were enslaved had legal rights to file complaints if they were mistreated or abused, it was challenging for them to do so without the assistance of a sympathetic free person. The mother became free upon her owner's death, and the children were born free, thus there was no social shame to keep a slave owner from identifying his offspring with an enslaved lady. Muhammad advocated for the release of slaves, and a large number of Muslims followed suit. Both men and women in slavery had the option to buy their own freedom. It was challenging to sustain a population of enslaved people in the Islamic world or to make the enslaved population self-reproducing due to this and the fact that the offspring of enslaved women and their masters were born free. As a result, those who wanted to use slaves frequently had to buy more slaves in order to maintain their labour force, which meant that the traffic in slaves continued to be significant in the Islamic world until the nineteenth century.