The Ilham Winter 2010

12 THE ILHAM A Journal of Contemporary Digital Policy entrepreneurs in countries that encourage, finance and support innovation. This wasn’t always the case.In fact,the Middle East,for many centuries,was the commercial hub of the known world.Caravans brought goods to markets.Trade routes were well- established and Muslim entrepreneurs led the rest of the world in the development of commerce. The region was the world’s marketplace and hub of innovation. Today, like the connectivity created by Ismail AbuTaqiyya, the world wide web has connected economies in ways never thought possible. ISMAIL ABUTAQIYYA Ismail Abu Taqiyya is a seminal figure in the development of commerce in the Muslim world.An innovator and entrepreneur, Ismail Abu Taqiyya was an Egyptian merchant who created a far-flung enterprise using many of the principles we see in place today on the world wide web. Innovators require the means to turn a concept into a commercial enterprise. Ismail Abu Taqiyya operated numerous coffee houses and other commercial enterprises across a broad geography – a concept that, at the time, was, indeed, innovative. Abu Taqiyya struck up alliances with numerous “partners” across numerous ventures.This far-sighted merchant established partnerships with geographically dispersed individuals. Each contract was distinct and, by design, intended to narrow the focus of the numerous business relationships in which Ismail Abu Taqiyya engaged. So, a merchant in a distant commercial center might enter into an agreement with Abu Taqiyya to sell the merchant’s goods, buying at wholesale and selling at retail according to the dictates of the contracts crafted by the Egyptian merchant. As his commercial empire grew, Ismail Abu Taqiyya employed the principal of outsourcing, a common business practice in today’s global economy. Each “partner” or “stakeholder” was connected by contract to Abu Taqiyya, who served as the conduit of capital and goods. In the 16th century, Ismail Abu Taqiyya was an innovator, an entrepreneur, and a “corporation” – a business entity that provided for the growth of his commercial enterprises. The commercial conglomerate created by this entrepreneur didn’t survive after his death in 1625. His heirs lacked this businessperson’s vision and the means to maintain a legal entity to provide resources to develop new businesses across a far- flung geography. Today, like the connectivity created by Ismail Abu Taqiyya, the world wide web has connected economies in ways never thought possible, except by visionaries like Abu Taqiyya. However, the Middle East has not played in a significant role in the development of the global economy. In fact, quite the opposite is true. ISLAM, INNOVATION AND ENTREPRENEURS From the 8th century until the 1400s, the Muslim Empire spread from the Atlantic Ocean to China. Muslim Universities were the learning centers of the world.Commerce among nations expanded.Trade routes were extended and Muslims engaged peoples from Europe andAsia in commerce and trade. Muslim philosopher, Ibn Khaldun, created the science of economics and demographics, and the study of history. However, during the Middle Ages, the Ottoman Empire collapsed and tribalism and nationalism returned and became part of the regional culture.