Islamic Contract Law

The first comprehensive treatment of Islamic contract law in the English language, Islamic Contract Law serves as both a reference work and an authoritative statement of the law and the Fiqh underlying it.

The book’s structure draws from the tradition of western contract law books to enable non-expert readers to easily navigate its structure, sources, and application. It covers the complete spectrum of Islamic contract regulation, and includes chapters on the formation of contracts, the sources of Islamic contract law, the role of intention, legal capacity, the importance of the subject matter, as well as the prohibited elements of contracts. Further chapters discuss validity and defects, contractual terms, bilateral agreements, equity-based partnership contracts, ancillary and unilateral contracts, termination and damages, and the role of third parties. Finally, a chapter is devoted to the application of Islamic law in contemporary Muslim-majority legal systems.

This is a key work for understanding the contract underpinnings of Islamic finance instruments and is a must-read for scholars, legal professionals, and students with an interest in contracts governed by Islamic Law.

Ilias Bantekas, Professor of Law and Adjunct Professor, Hamad bin Khalifa University and Georgetown University, Edmund A Walsh School of Foreign Service, Jonathan G. Ercanbrack, Senior Lecturer, Transnational Financial Law and Chair, Centre of Islamic and Middle Eastern Law, SOAS University of London, Umar A. Oseni, Chief Executive Officer, International Islamic Liquidity Management Corporation, Ikram Ullah, Assistant Professor, Department of Law, Faculty of Shariâa and Law, International Islamic University Islamabad

Ilias Bantekas is Professor of Transnational Law at Hamad bin Khalifa University College of Law and Adjunct Professor at Georgetown University, Edmund A Walsh School of Foreign Service. He has advised international organisations, such as the UN, UNDP, EU, Council of Europe and in 2011 was nominated by UNDP to co-draft the constitution of South Sudan. He regularly acts as arbitrator in international commercial disputes.

Jonathan G. Ercanbrack is a senior lecturer in transnational financial law at SOAS University of London where he has written widely about Islamic financial law, transnational financial law, Islamic contract law, and Islamic law’s interface with technology. Dr Ercanbrack is the chair of the Centre for Islamic and Middle Eastern law (CIMEL) at SOAS and hosts the annual SOAS-QFC Islamic Finance Public Lecture and Workshop which gathers legal, financial, regulatory, and sharia related luminaries for wide ranging industry centred conversations.

Umar A. Oseni is the Chief Executive Officer of the International Islamic Liquidity Management Corporation (IILM), a multilateral financial institution headquartered in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Previously he was Associate Professor of Law and Regulation of Islamic Finance at the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM). He was also a visiting fellow at the Islamic Legal Studies Program of the Harvard Law School, Harvard University. He has completed strategic consultancy works for some United Nations agencies, COMCEC of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), Islamic Development Bank (IDB) Group and other government and government-linked agencies.

Ikram Ullah is an Assistant Professor of international arbitration at the International Islamic University, Islamabad. He has acted as arbitrator and counsel in several domestic and international arbitrations and regularly consults on Islamic law, including contracts. He has taught international arbitration, contracts, commercial and financial law at various universities in Pakistan and London.