Banks and banking, historical - Encyclopaedia of Islam, THREE
[Article]
Ackerman-Lieberman, Phillip I.
Leiden
Brill
(2,152 words)
Banks -institutions whose primary concern was dealing in money-were not found in the mediaeval Islamicate world, according to the economic historian Abraham L. Udovitch. Yet financial instruments, such as deposits, credit, loans, and bills of exchange were actively utilised by people who operated as individuals or members of trading networks rather than as representatives of banking institutions. According to Islamic law (fiqh) , both paying and accepting interest on money placed with another individual as a loan or a deposit are understood as conflicting with the Islamic legal prohibition of