THE CULTURE OF THE ETHICAL MARKET: AL-SHAYZARI'S NIHAYAT AL-RUTBA
This article explores the market rules and values emphasized throughout ‘Abd al-Rahman b. Nasr al-Shayzari's Nihayat al-rutba fi talab al-hisba (The utmost level in the pursuit of hisba), one of the earliest extant examples of hisba literature written in the Eastern Muslim World. In his Nihayat alrutba,
al-Shayzari presents a practical system of values and a set of legal and ethical principles that allow for the classification and evaluation of individual business, production, and sales behaviors, all framed in terms of general consumer protection. Because an economics that aspires essentially to put economy on the right track must acknowledge the role of ethics, and an economy that plans to put things in right order should be ethical.141 Individual behaviors, given that they are reflective of one's character, can neither be comprehended regardless of moral dimension.
