Is Islam a barrier to economic development?

Abstract

Culture is an integral part of people's lives; we will see if it effects people’s preferences. And if those preferences have any economic consequences on the economic development of the country. These preferences are often derived from culture and religion, however in this thesis we will try to understand what are the cultural aspects that effects economic development, to see why some countries are rich then others, and why some countries were rich and developed in the past and now they are facing worse economic conditions. Is it because of their culture if so, how? we will apply a socio-economic model from a 14th century Muslim historian and philosopher, to find if Islam is the cause of low economic performance of Muslim countries.