A number of important legal institutions were developed by Muslim jurists during the classical period of Islam, known as the Islamic Golden Age. One such institution was the "Hawala", an early informal value transfer system, which is mentioned in texts of Islamic jurisprudence as early as the 8th century. "Hawala" itself later influenced the development of the agency in common law and in civil laws such as the "aval" in French law and the "avallo" in Italian law. The "European commenda" (Islamic "Qirad") used in European civil law may have also originated from Islamic law.