Fiqh in English law?

What is it about?

This paper explores the relationship between Islamic law (Sharīʿah) and English law, especially in financial contracts. It starts by showing how some parts of English Common Law, like contracts and debt rules, may have roots in Islamic legal tradition. The article reviews two legal cases in English courts—Beximco v. Shamil Bank (2004) and Dana Gas v. Dana Gas Sukuk Ltd. (2017)—to examine how Islamic finance is handled. Although English law officially does not apply Sharīʿah law, the paper argues that English courts often end up applying similar principles because both legal systems share values like repaying debts and honoring contracts. In both cases, borrowers claimed the financial contracts were not truly Sharīʿah-compliant to avoid repayment. However, the courts still enforced the contracts, showing that English law indirectly supported Islamic principles through what the author calls legal parallelism. The study concludes that even if Sharīʿah isn’t formally used in English law, it still influences outcomes when contracts align with Islamic principles. The paper also suggests that more research is needed to better integrate Islamic finance into legal systems around the world, especially as the industry continues to grow.

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