Public Finance and Islam

Management of public assets is an old subject whereby all civilizations have had some contribution to the development of this body of knowledge. Islamic civilization too had contributed a great deals in sharpening the skills of public fund management, especially among its treasurers in its glorious period. Ottoman was known to have meticolous records/archive system for all its public finance matters. Umayyad treasurers were known for their trustworthiness and skillful management of treasury money, both during prosperous period and during the crisis.

The question to ask now is whether these skills or expertise are still relevant to Muslim countries, given the current development and progression in the realms of public finance, particularly public borrowing and budget where budget deficit is a norm rather than a exception.