Author : Abdulmalik Abubaker
Year : 2013
Harar and Hararis history is much related with trade. But little is said about the fact that they have been using trade as a means of securing and maintaining peace. To preserve Harar and extend trade beyond it they made trade concessions to the Oromos and allowed the Somalis to derive income by protecting caravans that went out from and came into Harar. They allowed their currencies to circulate beyond the city-state while at the same time permitting foreign currencies to be used in the city state. Thus, trade for Hararis was not a source of conflict; rather it was a means of achieving and maintaining peace. This article suggests that underlying the idea of peaceful trade were values such as righteousness, honesty, sincerity, diligence, trust, non-discrimination and fairness in the relations among traders. Legal rules among which the sanctity of property rights and of contract were paramount functioned to protect these values”
Contributor: Meftuh Shash