Islam and Capitalism

Islam and Capitalism is a learned, engaging rebuttal of the cultural reductionism of Max Weber and others who have tried to explain the politics and society of the Middle East by reference to some unchanging entity called "Islam," typically characterized as instinctively hostile to capitalism. Maxime Rodinson looks at the facts, analyzing economic texts with his customary common sense, to show that Muslims never had any problem making money.

Maxime Rodinson was a French Marxist historian, sociologist, and a professor at the renowned cole Pratique des Hautes tudes in Paris.

'In Islam and Capitalism, we can see a powerful mind wrestling with some of the largest questions which concern, not just the peoples of the Middle East but also those who wish to understand their economies, their societies and their ideologies, and to chart their progress.'
--Roger Owen