Since the discovery of oil in the Middle East an increasing number of important contracts must be framed in accordance with the Shari'a. Moreover various factors have helped to create among Muslims a more acute sense of an original Islamic identity & a collective feeling that Shari's should govern their lives not only with regard to personal & family matters but also as a valid & reasonable corpus of commercial & civil laws. The ban on taking interest (riba) & the rejection of chance contracts (gharar) are two features of an Islamic law of contract which contrast with the secular man-made legal systems of the West. This book is concerned with these two Islamic Prohibitory rules & with the interest-free banking system which has developed therefrom. This is a new enlarged edition where the comparative examination of the topics of the book is updated & furthermore extended to cover the Shi'a Ja'fari fiqh. As a result all aspects are examined in the light of the teachings of the four Sunni schools -which hold authority in the Arab states & in Pakistan -of the Ibadis strongly present in Oman & of the Shi'a Ja'faris prevalent in Iran & largely present in Iraq, Bahrein, Kuweit & Lebanon. The new edition will confirm the use of the initial one as a text book with a particular appeal to academics & practising lawyers. It also provides an insight into the religious & idealogical foundations claimed by Islamic banking.

This major reference work compares the formation of contract in the legal systems of England, France, Iran and other Islamic systems. The Preliminary Part gives a historical sketch and describes the sources of law of the four legal systems. It then describes the development and general theory of contract law in the four systems. Part One then analyses in detail the basic notions of formation of contract including the range of psychological elements and their means of expression. The author then goes on to describe and compare the function and determination of offer and acceptance in the four legal systems. Part Two analyses the mechanism of formation and import of a contract in respect of both offer and acceptance. The book has been extensively researched and includes references to Roman law and other modern legal systems. The work has been meticulously indexed and cross-referenced.