The Economic Conditions of the Iraqi Shiah during the Life of Imam Sadiq (A.S) and Imam Baqir (A.S)

Economy is so important in human life that some schools regard it as an infrastructural aspect of society. Although Islam does not accept this, it assigns primary importance to economy, because it can have great influence on the improvement or disorder of the other aspects of human life. The present paper tries to clarify the economic conditions of the Shiah in Iraq, using a historical and analytical approach based on works of history, narrations and rijāl (biography). First, it reviews the economic conditions of Iraq in the early centuries, and then explains the economic conditions of the Shiʿah. The research findings show that the main sources of the wealth in Iraq were primarily agriculture, trade and then industry. The Shiʿah worked mainly in trade and a small portion worked in agriculture. Some of them worked in industry.