Skip to main content
Journal cover image

The absence of the corporation in Islamic law: Origins and persistence

Publication ,  Journal Article
Kuran, T
Published in: American Journal of Comparative Law
January 1, 2005

Classical Islamic law recognizes only natural persons; it does not grant standing to corporations. This article explores why Islamic law did not develop a concept akin to the corporation, or borrow one from another legal system. It also identifies processes that delayed the diffusion of the corporation to the Middle East even as its role in the global economy expanded. Community building was central to Islam's mission, so early Muslim jurists had no use for a concept liable to facilitate factionalism. Services with large setup costs and expected to last indefinitely were supplied through the waqf, an unincorporated trust. The waqf thus absorbed resources that might otherwise have stimulated an incorporation movement. Partly because the waqf spawned constituencies committed to preserving its key features, until modern times private merchants and producers who stood to profit from corporate powers were unable to muster the collective action necessary to reform the legal system. For their part, Muslim rulers took no initiatives of their own to supply the corporate form of organization, because they saw no commercial or financial organizations worth developing for the sake of boosting tax revenue.

Duke Scholars

Altmetric Attention Stats
Dimensions Citation Stats

Published In

American Journal of Comparative Law

DOI

ISSN

0002-919X

Publication Date

January 1, 2005

Volume

53

Issue

4

Start / End Page

785 / 834

Related Subject Headings

  • Law
  • 4807 Public law
  • 4804 Law in context
  • 4803 International and comparative law
  • 1801 Law
 

Citation

APA
Chicago
ICMJE
MLA
NLM
Kuran, T. (2005). The absence of the corporation in Islamic law: Origins and persistence. American Journal of Comparative Law, 53(4), 785–834. https://doi.org/10.1093/ajcl/53.4.785
Kuran, T. “The absence of the corporation in Islamic law: Origins and persistence.” American Journal of Comparative Law 53, no. 4 (January 1, 2005): 785–834. https://doi.org/10.1093/ajcl/53.4.785.
Kuran T. The absence of the corporation in Islamic law: Origins and persistence. American Journal of Comparative Law. 2005 Jan 1;53(4):785–834.
Kuran, T. “The absence of the corporation in Islamic law: Origins and persistence.” American Journal of Comparative Law, vol. 53, no. 4, Jan. 2005, pp. 785–834. Scopus, doi:10.1093/ajcl/53.4.785.
Kuran T. The absence of the corporation in Islamic law: Origins and persistence. American Journal of Comparative Law. 2005 Jan 1;53(4):785–834.
Journal cover image

Published In

American Journal of Comparative Law

DOI

ISSN

0002-919X

Publication Date

January 1, 2005

Volume

53

Issue

4

Start / End Page

785 / 834

Related Subject Headings

  • Law
  • 4807 Public law
  • 4804 Law in context
  • 4803 International and comparative law
  • 1801 Law