Historical Islamic Fiscal Solutions in Times of Crises and Its Contemporary Equivalences

Historical Islamic Fiscal Solutions in Times of Crises and Its Contemporary Equivalences

The COVID-19 crisis led to great pressure on the world governments’ fiscal budgets as governments scrambled to find new ways to finance and expand social protection and health programs. In order to provide for their populace, many Islamic countries had to pursue loans from international institutions. These loans have been observed to be followed by a phase of austerity that affects the access of the populace to health and education services. In this paper, the researchers seek to put forward a number of fiscal policies to finance the fiscal needs of the countries inside the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) by utilizing countries’ own internal resources. By surveying the fiscal tools used by past Islamic empires during the times of plague and famine, we find that past Islamic empires used different policies that shared a distinctive characteristic, this characteristic is the voluntary and mandatory just redistribution of resources. Based on this concept, the researchers recommend the redistribution of the community resources through the early payment of zakat, extrabudgetary funds, wealth tax and the utilization of excess bank reserves.

___

  • Abū Dā’ūd, S. (2002). Sunan Abu Dawood. Ghiras for publishing.
  • Advani, A., Chamberlain, E., Summers, A., & Hamberlain, E. (2020). A wealth tax for the U.K.
  • Afanasyeva, O., & Korovin, D. (2020). The impact of reserve requirements of central banks on macroeconomic indicators. Entrepreneurship and Sustainability Issues, 8(1), 413–429. https://doi.org/10.9770/jesi.2020.8.1(29)
  • Agenceecofin. (2020). Mali : Banque Atlantique apporte un soutien financier de 100 millions de FCFA au fonds special Covid-19. https://www.agenceecofin.com/banque/1804-75840-mali-banque-atlantique-apporte-un-soutien-financier-de-100-millions-de-fcfa-au-fonds-special-covid-19
  • Al-Bazzaz, M. al-A. (1992). Tarikh Al-Awbiah wa Al-Maja’at fi Al-Maghrim fi Al-Qarnin Al-Thamin wa Al-Tasi'’ashar [The history of plagues and famines in morocco in the 18th and 19th century]. Faculté des Lettres et des Sciences Humaines.
  • Al-Bukhari, M. (2001). Sahih al-Bukhari. Dar Taouk Al-Najah.
  • Al-Duri, A. A.-A. (1948). Tarikh Al-Iraq Al-Iktisady fi Al-Qard Al-Rabi'’ashar Al-Hijri [The economic history of Iraq in the fourth hijri century ]. Al-Ma’arif.
  • Al-Ghazali, A. H. (1971). Shifa’ al-ghalil [Satiation of the thirsty]. Irshad house of printing.
  • Al-maqrizi, T. A. (2007). Ighathat Al-ummah bi-kashf Al-Ghuma[Relief for the nation in revealing sorrow ]. ein for human and social studies.
  • Al-sharbini, A. (1997). musadarut Al-amlak fi Al-dulat Al-islmiyah asr salatin Al-mamalik [Property confiscation in times of the mamluk sultans]. General Egyptian Book Organization.
  • Al-sharq Al-awsat. (2020). millions of donations to lebanon to fight the crisis. https://aawsat.com/home/article/2196106/تبرعات-بالملايين-في-لبنان-لمواجهة-الأزمة-رغم-الضائقة-الاقتصادية
  • Al-Shatibi, I. (n.d.). Al-Iʻtiṣām. Al-Tuhid library.
  • Allen, F., Jackowicz, K., & Kowalewski, O. (2013). The Effects of Foreign and Government Ownership on Bank Lending Behavior During a Crisis in Central and Eastern Europe. SSRN Electronic Journal, 48059. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2287081
  • Andrianova, S., Demetriades, P., & Shortland, A. (2012). Government Ownership of Banks, Institutions and Economic Growth. Economica, 79(315), 449–469. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-0335.2011.00904.x Arabnews. (2020). Jordan pools $131m in COVID-19 donation fund. https://www.arabnews.com/node/1682046/middle-east
  • Aybar, M. (2017). Osmanlı Devletinde Kıtlık ve İç Göç: 1870-1900 Arası İç Anadolu Örneği. Mavi Atlas, 2(5).
  • Best Citizenships. (2020). List of Countries with Wealth Tax . https://best-citizenships.com/2020/12/11/list-of-countries-with-wealth-tax/
  • Birdal, M. (2010). The Political Economy of Ottoman Public Debt. I.B.Tauris Publishers.
  • BizBizeyeterizTÜRKİYEM. (2021). bizbizeyeterizTÜRKİYEM. https://bizbizeyeteriz.gov.tr/
  • Bosshardt, J., & Cerutti, E. (2020). Why Did Public Banks Lend More During the Global
  • Financial Crisis? In IMF Working Papers. https://doi.org/10.5089/9781513546049.001
  • Bulow, J., Reinhart, C., Rogoff, K., & Trebesch, C. (2020). The Debt Pandemic New steps are needed to improve sovereign debt workouts (Issue September).
  • Calabria, M. A. (2015). Promises of Public Banks Don’t Match Reality. Cato Institute. https://www.cato.org/commentary/promises-public-banks-dont-match-reality
  • Caner, M., Grennes, T. J., & Köhler-Geib, F. (Fritzi) N. (2010). Finding the Tipping Point - When Sovereign Debt Turns Bad. World Bank Conference on Debt Management. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1612407
  • Central Bank of Iraq. (2020). Central bank gather 44 million dinar to fight covid 19. https://cbi.iq/news/view/1469
  • Choi, M. J., Gutierrez, E., & Martinez Peria, M. S. (2016). Dissecting Foreign Bank Lending Behavior During the 2008–2009 Crisis. Financial Markets, Institutions and Instruments, 25(5), 361–398. https://doi.org/10.1111/fmii.12076
  • Christian Aid, CAFOD, OXFAM, Jubillee Debt Campain, & Globla Justice Now. (2020). Private sector debt and coronavirus in developing countries (Issue October).
  • Corps, C. (2020). COVID-19 Funds to Procure Vehicles, Upgrade Blood Banks . ChimpReports. https://chimpreports.com/covid-19-funds-to-procure-vehicles-upgrade-blood-banks/?fbclid=IwAR3k-deNHPBtABLymPqdJ2bkF3pw806lVxiy45AnK18IkaYqtTVB_us9Pxg
  • Diallo, M. (2020). How is the solidarity fund against COVID-19 managed in Niger? Studiokalangou. https://www.studiokalangou.org/index.php/magazines/12853-comment-gere-fonds-solidarite-covid19-niger
  • Dossavi, A. (2020). Togo: the response against Covid-19 cost 107 billion FCFA. Togofirst. https://www.togofirst.com/fr/gouvernance-economique/2112-7018-togo-la-riposte-contre-la-covid-19-a-coute-107-milliards-fcfa
  • Durán-Valverde, F., Pacheco-Jiménez, J. F., Muzaffar, T., & Elizondo-Barboza, H. (2020). Financing gaps in social protection: Global estimates and strategies for developing countries in light of the COVID-19 crisis and beyond. https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed_protect/---soc_sec/documents/publication/wcms_740724.pdf
  • Elahi, K. Q.-I. (2004). Are Commercial Banks Prejudiced Against The Poor? Bangladesh Journal of Agricultural Economics, 27(1), 37–51.
  • Eldem, E. (1999). A History of the Ottoman Bank. Ottoman Bank Historical Research Center.
  • Ertem, Ö. (2015). British Views on the Indian and Ottoman Famines: Politics, Culture, and
  • Genç, M. (2014). Osmanlı İmparatorluğunda devlet ve ekonomi. In Kültür serisi (11th ed.). Ötüken Neşriyat
  • Giansante, S., Fatouh, M., & Ongena, S. R. G. (2020). Does Quantitative Easing Boost Bank Lending to the Real Economy or Cause Other Bank Asset Reallocation? The Case of the U.K. In Bank of England staff working paper (Issue 883). https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3676508
  • Giles, C. (2020). IMF calls on rich nations to boost public investment . Financial Times. https://www.ft.com/content/fc7ad858-0fdd-401e-bce5-796a8353ba30?shareType=nongift
  • Goverment of Benin. (2020). CORONAVIRUS – Plus de 2.6 milliards de FCFA de dons financiers et des milliers de matériels et équipements médicaux déjà reçus . https://www.gouv.bj/actualite/733/coronavirus-–-plus-2.6-milliards-fcfa-dons-financiers-milliers-materiels-equipements-medicaux-deja-recus/
  • Hasan, S. (2015). Human Security and Philanthropy: Islamic Perspectives and Muslim Majority Country Practices. Springer.
  • Heckly, C. (2004). Wealth Tax in Europe : Why the Decline?
  • Horst, M., & Neyer, U. (2019). The Impact of Quantitative Easing on Bank Loan Supply and Monetary Policy Implementation in the Euro Area. https://doi.org/10.1787/qna-v2018-3-38-en
  • Hsieh, M. F., & Lee, C. C. (2020). Foreign bank lending during a crisis: The impact of financial regulations. Economic Systems, 44(3), 100791. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecosys.2020.100791
  • Hudayati, A., & Tohirin, A. (2010). Management of Zakah : Centralised Vs Decentralised Approach. Seventh International Conference – The Tawhidi Epistemology: Zakat and Waqf Economy, Bangi 2010, 351–374.
  • Ibn Hazm, A. (1933). Muhallah [The Adorned Treatise]. Al-Matba’a Al-Muniriyah.
  • Ibn Sa’d, M. (1990). Al-Tabaqat Al-Kubra[The Major Classes]. Dar al-kutub al-ilmiyah.
  • Iman, A. (2020). 72 million dollar to help covid 19 patients. Alaraby. https://www.alaraby.co.uk/society/تونس-72-مليون-دولار-لعلاج-مصابي-كورونا-رغم شح-التبرعات
  • IMF. (2019). Global Debt Database - Household debt, loans and debt securities. https://www.imf.org/external/datamapper/HH_LS@GDD/CAN/GBR/USA/DEU/ITA/FRA/JPN
  • IMF. (2021a). Fiscal Policies Database. https://www.imf.org/en/Topics/imf-and-covid19/Fiscal-Policies-Database-in-Response-to-COVID-19
  • IMF. (2021c). IMF Financing and Debt Service Relief. https://www.imf.org/en/Topics/imf-and-covid19/COVID-Lending-Tracker
  • International Labour Organization. (2020). Social Protection Platform. https://www.social-protection.org/gimi/ShowWiki.action?id=3417
  • Ireland, P. N. (2019). Interest on reserves: History and rationale, complications and risks. Cato Journal, 39(1), 327–337.
  • Islamweb. (2003). Fatwa no.38415 . https://www.islamweb.net/ar/fatwa/38415/
  • Jasova, M., Mendicino, C., & Supera, D. (2018). Rollover Risk and Bank Lending Behavior: Evidence From Unconventional Central Bank Liquidity. SSRN Electronic Journal, 267. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3216733
  • Jones, M. (2020). COVID response drives $24 trillion surge in global debt: IIF. Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-global-debt-iif-idUSKBN2AH285
  • Jones, M. (2021). COVID response drives $24 trillion surge in global debt: IIF. Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-global-debt-iif-idUSKBN2AH285
  • Jordan Times. (2020). Gov’t approves allocation of JD10m from Himmat Watan Fund to equip field hospitals . https://www.jordantimes.com/news/local/govt-approves-allocation-jd10m-himmat-watan-fund-equip-field-hospitals
  • Kandah, A. (2021). The legal required reserve is an effective monetary policy tool . Jordan Times. https://www.jordantimes.com/opinion/adli-kandah/legal-required-reserve-effective-monetary-policy-tool
  • Karademir, Z. (2014). İmparatorluğun Açlıkla İmtihanı Osmanlı Toplumunda Kıtlıklar (1560-1660). Kitap Yayınevi.
  • Khisa, I. (2020). Billions of COVID-19 response money lost? Independent-Uganda. https://www.independent.co.ug/billions-of-covid-19-response-money-lost/
  • Khusraw, N. (1983). Safarnama [The Book of Travels]. Dar al-kutub al-Jadid.
  • Kindzeka, M. (2020). Cameroon Citizens Raised $40M for COVID Relief, But Where is It? | Voice of America - English. https://www.voanews.com/covid-19-pandemic/cameroon-citizens-raised-40m-covid-relief-where-it
  • La Porta, R., Lopez-De-Silanes, F., & Shleifer, A. (2002). Government ownership of banks. Journal of Finance, 57(1), 265–301. https://doi.org/10.1111/1540-6261.00422
  • Li, H. (2019). Comparing Wealth Taxes and Income Taxes. Tax Foundation. https://taxfoundation.org/comparing-wealth-taxes-and-income-taxes/
  • Maghrebvoices. (2020). Morrocan Covid-19 fund excceds 3 billion dollars. https://www.maghrebvoices.com/morocco/2020/07/18/موارد-صندوق-تدبير-الجائحة-في-المغرب-تفوق-3-مليارات-دولار
  • Mahmood, A. (2020). Rs 1.49bn deposited in PM’s corona relief fund: Faisal Javed . Pakistan Business Recorder. https://www.brecorder.com/news/589890/
  • Marien, G. (2009). The black death in early Ottoman territories: 1347-1550. Bilkent University.
  • Masterson, V. (2021). Learn from history, says World Bank as global debt soars . World Economic Forum. https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2021/01/covid-global-debt-history-world-bank-imf/
  • Mauritanian news agency. (2021). The meeting of the National Committee to follow up the implementation of the fund for social solidarity and combating the Coronavirus. https://www.ami.mr/Depeche-66868.html
  • Mazdor, S. (2009). Al-Maja’at wa Al-Awbiah fi Al-Maghrab Al-Awsat (Famine and disease in the middle west). Université Constantine.
  • Meredith, S. (2020). Argentina passes tax on the super-rich to help pay for Covid response. CNBC. https://www.cnbc.com/2020/12/07/argentina-passes-tax-on-the-super-rich-to-help-pay-for-covid-response.html
  • Michail, N. A., Savva, C. S., & Koursaros, D. (2021). Are central banks to blame? Monetary policy and bank lending behavior. Bulletin of Economic Research, November, 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1111/boer.12273
  • Nagle, P. (2020). Why the recent debt buildup is a concern, in four charts. World Bank Blog. https://blogs.worldbank.org/voices/why-recent-debt-buildup-concern-four-charts?cid=ECR_E_NewsletterWeekly_EN_EXT
  • O’Donovan, N. (2020). One-off wealth taxes: what can we learn from history? . Economics Observatory. https://www.economicsobservatory.com/one-wealth-taxes-what-can-we-learn-history
  • OECD. (2019). Reserve Requirements: Current Use, Motivations and Practical Considerations.
  • Oran, A., & Khaznakatbi, K. (2009). The Economic System under the Abbasids Dynasty. In The Encyclopedia of Islamic Economics (Vol. 2, pp. 257–266).
  • Ortabağ, E. (2018). Osmanlı İmparatorluğu’ nda Bankacılığın Gelişimi ve Regülasyon. Türkiye Bankalar Birliği.
  • OXFAM. (2015). 1/4 of the world’s people already subject to large annual wealth tax to tackle poverty. Has anyone told Piketty? . https://oxfamblogs.org/fp2p/i-just-found-out-that-a-quarter-of-the-global-population-already-pays-an-annual-wealth-tax-has-anyone-told-piketty/
  • Oxfam International. (2020). MENA billionaires’ wealth increased by $10 billion, enough to pay Beirut blast repair bill . https://www.oxfam.org/en/press-releases/mena-billionaires-wealth-increased-10-billion-enough-pay-beirut-blast-repair-bill
  • Pamuk, Ş. (2000). A Monetary History of the Ottoman Empire. Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0065-2113(08)60505-2
  • Powell, R. (2009). Zakat: Drawing Insights for Legal Theory and Economic Policy from Islamic Jurisprudence. University of Pittsburgh Tax Review, 7(43).
  • Radev, D., & Allen, R. (2010). Extrabudgetary Funds. In Technical Notes and Manuals. https://doi.org/10.5089/9781455279470.005
  • Ray, N. D. (1997). The Medieval Islamic System of Credit and Banking: Legal and Historical Considerations. Arab Law Quarterly, 12(1).
  • Reinhart, C. M., & Rogoff, K. S. (2009). This Time is Different: Eight Centuries of Financial Folly. Princeton University Press.
  • Rodnyansky, A., & Darmouni, O. M. (2017). The effects of quantitative easing on bank lending behavior. Review of Financial Studies, 30(11), 3858–3887. https://doi.org/10.1093/rfs/hhx063
  • Sahillioğlu, H. (1967). Osmanlilarda Narh Muessesesi ve 1525 Yılı Sonunda İstanbul’da Fiyatlar. Belgelerle Türk Tarihi Dergisi, 1, 36–63.
  • Shioji, E. (2019). Quantitative `flooding’ and bank lending: Evidence from 18 years of near-zero interest rate. Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, 52(January), 107–120. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jjie.2019.01.003
  • Unal, S., Aktas, R., & Acikalin, S. (2007). A comparative profitability and operating efficiency analysis of state and private banks in Turkey. Banks and Bank Systems, 2(3), 135–141.
  • Ventura, L. (2020). The World’s Most Indebted Governments 2020 . Global Finance Magazine. https://www.gfmag.com/global-data/economic-data/public-debt-percentage-gdp
  • White, S. (2010). Rethinking Disease in Ottoman History. International Journal of Middle East Studies, 4(42).
  • World Bank. (2021). A wealth tax to address five global disruptions. https://blogs.worldbank.org/governance/wealth-tax-address-five-global-disruptions
  • World zakat forum. (2020). Zakat in time of covid-19 pandemic: evidence from world zakat forum.