Perception of market and pricing among the sixteenth century Muslim scholars

The present paper investigates the perception of market and mechanism of pricing among the sixteenth century Muslim scholars, a period hitherto unexplored. In the commencement it briefly states the insufficient attention that the subject of market – the most fundamental element of Economics – has received in the conventional economics. To set a proper perspective it examines the situation in the Islamic tradition in earlier centuries before it studies the understanding of market and pricing among the Muslim scholars of the study period. It also deals with their stand regarding the price regulation. For comparison purpose, it examines the treatment of market and pricing in the work of their contemporary Western scholars. The paper ends with a note on 'just price', one of the most important economic concepts in the medieval period.