Mohammed: prophet, trader . . . and capitalist?

Podcast: The Story of Money (LS 51 · TOP 0.5% what is this?) Episode: Mohammed: prophet, trader . . . and capitalist? Pub date: 2026-08-19 Get Podcast Transcript → powered by Listen411 - fast audio-to-text and summarization Did you know that the Prophet Mohammed was a caravan trader? He helped arrange convoys of thousands of camels carrying valuable goods across the Arabian desert. And he put his commercial nous to good use. Not only did he found one of the world’s great religions, but also a model of free-market capitalism that Friedrich Hayek would have approved of. That is the claim of this week’s guest, the libertarian economist and author Benedikt Koehler. He tells hosts Robin Wigglesworth and Gillian Tett how Islamic commercial practices were, in his view, eventually copied by medieval Europeans to great effect. Further reading: Early Islam and the Birth of Capitalism (2014), by Benedikt Koehler The Long Divergence: How Islamic Law Held Back the Middle East (2010), by Timur Kuran Muhammad: Man and Prophet (1995), by Adil Salahi Credits: Getty Images Love listening to The Story of Money? Join Robin and Gillian on Saturday September 5 at Kenwood House Gardens in London, or online as the FT Weekend paper comes to life. Register now at ft.com/festival and enjoy 10% off with code FTPodcast. To enjoy future episodes, be sure to subscribe to The Story of Money wherever you get your podcasts, also on the show's dedicated YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/@FTTheStoryOfMoney Hosts: Gillian Tett and Robin Wigglesworth Producer: Laurence Knight Executive producer: Manuela Saragosa With additional help from: Saffeya Ahmed Original music and sound design: Breen Turner Broadcast engineers: Bianca Wakeman and Petros Gioumpasis Podcast development: Laura Clarke FT global head of audio: Flo Phillips Video editors: Josh Divney and Kristen Kenyon at Podcast Discovery Learn more at www.ft.com/tsom or get in touch at [email protected]. Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Financial Times, which is the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Listen Notes, Inc.