The Economic Thought of Abu Hamid Al-Ghazali and St. Thomas Aquinas: Some Comparative Parallels and Links S. M. Ghazanfar My primary purpose in this article is to identify and present some par- allels and similarities between the major economic ideas of two me- dieval Scholastics: Abu Hamid Al-Ghazali (1058–1111), “acclaimed as the greatest . . . certainly one of the greatest” (Watt 1963, vii) and “by general consent, the most important thinker of medieval Islam” (Bagley 1964, xv); and St. Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274), the most prominent of the European-Latin Schoolmen, “the Doctor Angelicus, the Princeps Scholasticorum” (Pribram 1983, 4), “perhaps the greatest Catholic philosopher of all time” (Newman, Gayer, and Spencer 1954, 16). Heretofore, some scholars of medieval history have explored sim- ilarities and links between Al-Ghazali and St. Thomas with reference to other dimensions of their discourses, but none has focused on their economic views. While this essay mainly discusses similarities in the economic ideas of the two Scholastics, more serious analysis might fur- ther corroborate the observations of historians as to links between the two in other areas of knowledge. Further, it might be noted that while Thomistic economic thought is well recognized in the literature, very Correspondence may be addressed to S. M. Ghazanfar, Department of Economics, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID 83844-3240. This is a revised version of a paper presented at the 1993 History of Economics Society International Conference. I gratefully acknowledge comments offered by Professor Todd Lowry, the paper’s discussant, as well as by faculty colleagues. Also acknowledged are suggestions offered by two anonymous referees; this essay has signifi- cantly benefited from those suggestions. The author also deeply appreciates Paul Dudenhefer’s editorial assistance. Any shortcomings remain my responsibility. HistoryofPoliticalEconomy 32:4 © 2000 by Duke University Press.