This book is a collection of papers on the origins of economic thought discovered in the writings of some prominent Islamic scholars, during the five centuries prior to the Latin Scholastics, who include St. Thomas Aquinas. This period of time was labelled by Joseph Schumpeter as representing the 'great gap' in economic history. Unfortunately, this 'gap' is well embedded in most relevant literature. However, during this period the Islamic civilisation was one of the most fertile grounds for intellectual developments in various disciplines, including economics, and this book attempts to fill that blind-spot in the history of economic thought.

Origins of economic thought can be discovered in the writings of Islamic scholars in the five centuries before the time of St Thomas Aquinas. Schumpeter named this period the 'great gap' in economic history. This collection of papers examines the lost contribution to economics made by these forgotten scholars.