Legal harmonization is a fundamental notion of comparative law that has been on the international and national agendas for the last decade. Harmonization, which derives from the word “harmony,” has ...a variety of meanings, one of which, in the perspective of the discussion of this topic, is the readiness and the openness to recognize, acknowledge, adopt, or accept anything produced, practiced by or originating from man-made laws, modern secular traditions, customs and usages, cultures, societies, systems or institutions which is considered to be in “harmony” with or not opposed to the worldview, principles, values, teachings, and norms of Islam. Thus, the conceptualizing approach of harmonization of legal knowledge and education is a process of actualizing the divine imperatives in the legal arena. In Malaysia, several endeavors have sought the similarity between legal rules from different jurisdictions; however, their achievements remain contested since there is no comprehensive understanding of the nature and extent of harmonization. Thus, this article examines different facets of harmonization by considering it a legal phenomenon instead of a distinct process of drafting similar rules. Adopting a comprehensive understanding of harmonization as a legal phenomenon may help better assess the strengths of the implementation processes and formulate adequate new legal endeavors.
May I begin by expressing my deepest appreciation for the honour and privilege accorded to me by the Organizing Committee of Tuanku Najihah Syariah and Law Lecture & Kolej Universiti Islam Malaysia ...for inviting me to deliver the Inaugural Tuanku Najihah Syariah and Law Lecture. It is Indeed an honour, which is greatly augmented by the gracious presence of Her Majesty, the Chancellor of the Islamic University College of Malaysia, who had earlier on officiated the launching ceremony of this Lecture.
The interaction of social norms and incentives is a subject of growing interest in economic literature. Basov and Bhatti (2013) pointed out that invoking a social norm is both a blessing, since it ...allows mitigating moral hazard problem, and a curse, since it restricts the class of admissible contractual arrangements. In this paper, we reiterate this point using particular example of the effects of restrictions imposed on contracts by Shariah law on the optimal risk-incentive trade-off. We show that extra rigidity imposed by Shariah law leads to a greater reluctance to invest into daring new ideas, which are profitable in expectation, but may also result in significant losses. A shared set of social norms between the lender and the entrepreneur allows mitigating adverse consequences of the excess rigidity through creation of good will and may even lead to an improved performance. The adverse consequences may vary according to the stages of business cycle. As a result, recessions can have negative long-term effects and longer booms may be followed by longer recessions. We also hypothesize that turning a social norm into a law will deprive it of the ability to generate good will, while leaving the negative aspects intact. We find a tentative support of this hypothesis by comparing relative performance of Islamic banks in three regions: South East Asia (primarily, Malaysia), Middle East, and the UK.
Guardianship ‘Tutelae’ as a legal concept is as old as mankind. In antiquity, the communal and societal guardian is referred to as a messenger of God, prophet, priest and etc. He or she is believed ...to be a divine guardian that is appointed by God to lead each community or society, custodis mortalis. However, guardianship as an institution is not restricted to the communal and societal systems alone; it is also important to the family system and to the individual person when he or she is a minor or incapacitated. The institution is important to ensure that the interest of the present and future generations and the care of the people as o whole are preserved. However, the institution has positively undergone various developments in the present. Its importance and its transformations are discussed in this paper from the perspective of Shariah and Positive Laws.
In current years, there has been much dialogue about putting Shariah law into commercial banking and stock market practices. Because Islamic finance keeps getting more crucial and critical to the ...world economy, this research paper scrutinizes how Shariah law has changed, what problems it has triggered, and how it is used in commercial banking and the stock market. The study lures on a comprehensive review of the literature and an analysis of the practices and regulations related to Shariah law in commercial banking and the stock market. The verdicts designate that there has been significant progress in Shariah-compliant financial products and services, with an aggregate number of financial institutions seeking to knock on the door of the rising Islamic finance market. Generally, the study contributes to the thoughtful understanding of Shariah law in commercial banking and stock market practices, highlighting the developments, challenges, and practices associated with this mounting and growing sector of the global economy. The study proposes that policymakers and regulators keep supporting the growth of Shariah-based financial products and services while also addressing the complications and guaranteeing they align with Shariah law.
The yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, is the protagonist in brewing, while spent brewer
yeast is a by-product of beer production. Khamr or intoxicant, and its by-product, are
prohibited by Shariah, ...whereas yeast is used to produce alcoholic beverages. Generally,
the yeast dies after alcohol fermentation, but some of them settle at the bottom of the
fermentation tank. Concerns arise about whether post-purification of spent brewer yeast
will take place as it is initially considered impure (najs) because alcoholic fermentation
occurs in yeast cytosol. This study examined spent brewer yeast’s halal status,
investigated the formation of spent brewer yeast, and analyzed methods of legal ruling on
spent brewer yeast according to Shariah and science perspectives. Qualitative approaches
had been applied including library research, fiqh adaptation (al-takyif al-fiqhi), and
content analysis. Istihalah (transformation), debittering, and decolourization have been
proposed for purification. Study shows that spent brewer yeast colour changed from
chocolate brown to cream-white after purification, but there is still no complete removal
of bitterness from beer achieved. The study concludes that spent brewer yeast can be
permissible (halal) for consumption if the colour, odour, and taste of the beer are
completely purified from the spent brewer yeast.
The Malaysian Journal of Syariah and Law (MJSL) Volume 11, Issue 2 for 2023, presents a diverse collection of sixteen articles that explore various dimensions of Syariah and Law. This issue features ...sixteen diverse articles traversing critical dimensions within the domains of Syariah and Law. The illuminating scholarship inquiries into conflicts surrounding land development legislation in Malaysia as a case study, intersections between self-determination and terrorism under international law, innovative Islamic financing mechanisms, preventative health policies in religious institutions, issues impacting the elderly, variations in Shariah governance models, dynamics shaping traditional governance structures, legal and political considerations around foreign investments, extremism affecting the Islamic community and ethical foundations guiding the Islamic finance industry. The Commentaries section discusses specific issues within the focus towards leveraging Islamic finance principles for poverty alleviation, the constitutionality of Section 498 of the Penal Code at the intersection of Islamic teachings, personal law, and morality in Malaysia and emerging technologies to transform intellectual property security. Collectively, these articles underscore MJSL’s emergence as a leading platform for discourse surrounding Islamic jurisprudence, legislation, finance, ethics and contemporary challenges at the intersection of syariah and law. These articles collectively contribute to a global perspective on legal discourse, reflecting MJSL's commitment to high editorial standards and impactful research dissemination. The inclusion of MJSL in Scopus beginning in July 2023, with content retrospective to 2019, signifies a significant milestone that emphasizes the journal's worldwide significance and dedication to academic distinction.
Islamic Microfinance rides two recent growing trends: conventional microfinance and Islamic banking. It offers financial flexibility to the poorest strata of the population in different Muslim ...countries by borrowing and mixing techniques from these two sources. In particular, risk management and loan qualifications tend to be similar to those operating inside conventional and Islamic financial institutions. The loan approval process heavily relies on scoring applicants mostly on their financial criteria. This paper aims to demonstrate that an alternative framework based on artificial intelligence improves traditional financial techniques. This framework also resonates more with the fundamental and specific values of Islamic Microfinance as it captures some non-financial attributes of the applicant that are informationally rich. We first present the critical components of this novel approach. Then, we apply it to a business case (approximately 30,000 applications to a microfinancing institution in the Central African Republic) to demonstrate its usefulness.
Is it possible to be religiously exclusive and socially inclusive? How do we deal with those outside of our own religious community who have completely different and sometimes conflicting views on ...what should be considered true and right behaviour? What if a religious tradition orders the expulsion or killing of those who leave the faith community and adopt another worldview? This book focuses on biblical texts concerning exclusivity and apostasy, studying different interpretations of such texts. It starts with the Jewish and Christian tradition of the Hebrew Bible, continues with texts from the New Testament, and explores diverse social studies to find ways of understanding the relationship between exclusion and inclusion today. Part of this exploration is the interaction with Jewish and Islamic voices. The collection ends with a systematic and missiological reflection on the issues Christian churches and other religious communities must address today.
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