The Takaful between economics, law, and religion. Considerations in relation to Islamic contract law and insurance transactions
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.13135/2421-2172/10217Keywords:
Islam, Shariah, Takaful, Insurance, Contract, RiskAbstract
The takaful industry as it exists today in terms of its growth potential and the challenges associated with its development. The opportunities associated with takaful are numerous, mainly due to its wider market reach and adaptability; unlike conventional insurance, takaful is permissible for Muslims and non-Muslims alike and offers a more diverse range of products. The takaful industry is also one of the fastest-growing businesses, contributing significantly to the global insurance industry. However, despite the promise of takaful, the industry faces many obstacles today. Most importantly, the overall value of the takaful industry in terms of total assets and contributions (premiums) is negligible compared to both the size of the Muslim population and the conventional insurance industry. Not to mention the challenges related to supervision and transparency, standardization, and lack of knowledge. Therefore, this paper will analyze the economic potential and impact of the takaful industry, as well as explore the role of takaful in poverty alleviation, where some research has already proven successful. It will also examine the challenges facing the industry, which are slowing down its development and preventing it from realizing its full potential.
References
Adawiah E.R, A Mini Guide to Takaful (Islamic Insurance), CERT Publications. Bhd., Kuala Lumpur, 2010.
Adawiah E.R., Hassan Scott H., Essential Guide to Takaful, CERT Publications, Kuala Lumpur, 2008.
Afchar H., Equity in Musulman law, in R.A. Newman (a cura di), Equity in the World’s Legal Systems. A Comparative Study, Etablissements Emile Bruylant, Brussels, 1973.
Affaki G., Fadlallah I., Hascher D., Pezard A., Train F-X., Rapport du Groupe de travail sur le droit applicable et le règlement des différends dans les financements islamiques, 21 September 2009.
Affaki G., L’accueil de la finance islamique en droit français: essai sur le transfert d’un système normatif, in la finance islamique à la française, un moteur pour l’économie, une alternative éthique, Paris, 2008.
Ahmed El-Hassan A.-W., Freedom of Contract, the Doctrine of Frustration, and Sanctity of Contracts in Sudan Law and Islamic Law, Arab Law Quarterly, vol. 1, 1, 1985. Available at JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/3381672.
Ahmed H., Khan T., Risk management: An analysis of issues in Islamic Financial Industry, Occasional paper n. 5, Islamic Reseatch Training Institute, Islamic Development Bank, Jeddah, 2001.
Akhter W., Risk management in Takaful, Federal Reserve Bank of St Louis, St. Louis, 2010.
Al-Gazali A.-H., Le livre du licite et de l’illicite (Kitab al-halal wa-l-haram), tr. fr. di Morelon O.P., 2 ed., Librairie Philosophique J. Vrin, Paris, 1991.
Al-Hafni A. M., Mawsu’at al-Qur’an al-‘adhim (la raccolta del Corano il grande), Maktabat Madbuli, vol. 1, Cairo, 2004.
Al-Hanbali Ib. -Q., Al-Mughni, Dar al-Fikr, Beirut, H 1405, 9/418.
Aldeeb Abu-Sahlieh S. A., Il diritto islamico. Fondamenti, fonti, istituzioni, Carocci Editore, Roma, 2011.
Alhabshi S. O., Shaikh Abdul Razak S. H., Takaful: concept, history, development, and future challenges of its industry, in Islam and Civilisational Renewal: The Global Financial Crisis, 1(2), 2009. Available at https://icrjournal.org/index.php/icr/article/view/268.
Alhabshi S.O., Abdul Razak H., Takaful: concept, history, development, and future challenges of its industry, in Islam and Civilizational Renewal. The Global Financial Crisis, vol. 1, no. 2, 2009, p. 276-291.
Annuar H.A., Rosly S.A., Abdul Rashid H.M., Al wakalah and its impact on the growth and performance of takaful companies: a Malaysian case, in The European journal of management and public policy, vol. 3, 1, 2004, pp. 84-119.
Archer S., Abdel Karim R.A., Nienhaus V., Business Models in Takaful and Regulatory Implications, in Takaful Islamic Insurance. Concepts and Regulatory Issues, John Wiley & Sons Pte. Ltd., Asia, 2009.
Benarafa J., Il Takaful oltre il legal transplant: l'etica islamica difronte al rischio, Giappichelli Editore, Torino, 2024.
Biancone P., La banca islamica, Giappichelli, Torino, 2017.
Billah M.M., Takaful (Islamic Insurance) Premium, A suggested regulatory framework, in International Journal of Islamic Financial Services, vol 3, no. 1, 2001, p. 1-8.
Castro F., Il modello islamica, Giappichelli, Torino, 2007.
Cupri A., L’economia del Profeta: la finanza islamica e i fondamenti religiosi del diritto islamico dei contratti Shari’ah compliant, November 2021, pp. 19-46.
Cupri A., La banca islamica: un’analisi tra struttura e profili di operatività, in Rivista di Diritto Bancario, n. 4, 2022, pp. 237-268.
Cupri A., La Kafalah come strumento di protezione del minore nella giurisprudenza italiana e francese, in federalismi.it, n. 8, 2023, p. 140-157.
Cupri A., Le operazioni sul mercato di debito nel sistema finanziario islamico: il caso dei sukuk, in Stato, Chiese e Pluralismo confessionale, Rivista telematica (www.statoechiese.it), n. 7 del 2023, pp. 35-62.
D’Arienzo M., I fondamenti religiosi dell’economia nell’Islam, in A. Fuccillo (a cura di), I mercanti nel tempio. Economia, diritto e religione, Giappichelli, Torino, 2011, pp. 21-40.
D’Arienzo M., I fondamenti religiosi della finanza islamica, in Stato, Chiese e pluralismo confessionale, Rivista telematica (https://www.statochiese) n. 25, 2012, pp. 1-9.
D’Arienzo M., Riflessioni sul concetto di responsabilità. Aspetti canonistici, in Diritto e Religioni, n. 2, 2010, pp. 31-44.
D’Emilia A., Elementi costitutivi della compravendita secondo i vigenti codici di alcuni paesi arabi, in Annuario di Diritto comparato e Studi Legislativi, 1956, pp. 1-38.
D’Emilia A., La struttura della vendita sottoposta a khiyar secondo la sedes materiae dell’al-Mudawwanah (nota preliminare), in F. Castro (a cura di), Scritti di diritto islamico, Istituto per l’Oriente, Roma, 1976.
D’Emilia A., voce Fiqh, in Novissimo Digesto Italiano, VI, Torino, 1957, pp. 73-379.
D’Emilia A., voce Shari’ah, in Novissimo Digesto Italiano, XVII, Torino, 1957, pp. 253-260
Donini V.M., Cenni sul diritto islamica dei contratti, in Iura Orientalia, VI, 2010, pp. 276-280.
Ferrari S. (ed.), Introduction to the Comparative Law of Religions. Ebraismo, islam e induismo, Il Mulino Bologna, 2008.
Hayat M., Kureshi H., Contracts and Deals in Islamic Finance, John Wiley & Sons Singapore Pte. Ltd., 2015.
Hesse H., Jobst A. A., Solé J., Trends and challenges in Islamic finance, in World Economics, vol. 9, 2, 2008.
Hideur N., La finance islamique entre la lettre et l’esprit, in Les cahiers de la Finance islamique, 4, 2013. Available at http://sfc.unistra.fr/renseignements/emba-finance- islamique/
Himeur Ch. M., Les contrats de la finance islamique. Analyse prospective, Larcier, Bruxelles, 2018.
Hooper C. A., The civil law of Palestine and Transjordan, vol. 1, Azriel Press, Jerusalem, 1933.
Horii S., Reconsideration of Legal Devices (Ḥiyal) in Islamic Jurisprudence: The Ḥanafīs and Their "Exits" (Makhārij), in Islamic Law and Society, vol. 9, 3, 2002. Available at JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/3399460
Iqbali Z., Islamic financial system, in Finance and Development, 34, 1997, 42-45.
Iqbali Z., Mirakhor A., An introduction to Islamic Finance. Theory and practice, John Wiley and Sons, Chichester, 2011.
Piccinelli G.M., Economia e banche tra Islam e Occidente, in Iura Orientalia, 2006, 128-134.
Piccinelli G.M., Introduzione: i principi e gli istituti finanziari islamici: alcuni aspetti giuridici relativi alle banche islamiche, in Oriente Moderno, vol. 7, 1, Roma, 1988.
Piccinelli G.M., La dimensione etica nel diritto musulmano dei contratti, in Roma e America Latina, VII, Roma, 1999.
Qurradaghi A.M., L'assurance islamique: étude des fondements juridiques approche comparative avec les assurances commerciales et cas pratique, Bayane Editions, La Courneuve, 2011.
Rahman S.A., Guarantees in Early Islamic Financial System, in Arab Law Quarterly, no. 3, 2015, p. 274-284.
Rosly S.A., Islamic Insurance: Takaful, Business-Focus, The Sun, Kuala Lumpur, 1996.
Rossetti M., Il diritto delle assicurazioni, L’impresa di assicurazione - Il contratto di assicurazione in generale, I, Milano, 2011.
Russo T. V., I contratti Sharia compliant. Valori religiosi e meritevolezza degli interessi, Edizioni Scientifiche Italiane, Napoli, 2014.
Rycx J.-F., Systèmes juridiques et économie islamique, in Les capitaux de l’islam, G. BEAUGE (coord.), CNRS Èditions, Paris, 2001.
Siddiqui R., Shari'ah compliance, performance, and conversion: the case of the Dow Jones Islamic Market Index, in Chicago Journal of International Law, 2007, 495-496.
Standard No. 13 issued by the Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions. https://aaoifi.com.
Standard No. 26 of 2006 of the Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions. https://aaoifi.com/?lang=en.
Warde I., Riba, Gharar, and the Moral Economy of Islam in Historical and Comparative Perspective, in Islamic Finance in the Global Economy, Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh, 2000.
Warde I., Riba, Gharar, and the Moral Economy of Islam in Historical and Comparative Perspective, Islamic Finance in the Global Economy, Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh, 2000.
Weber M., L’etica protestante e lo spirito del capitalismo, tr. it. di A. M. Marietti, BUR, Milano, 1991.
Weber M., Sociologie du droit, Droit et société, Questions d'anthropologie, 5, 1987. WEBER M., Economia e società. Comunità religiose, Donzelli, Roma, 2006.
Wilson R., Financial development of the Arab Gulf: The Eastern Bank experience, 1917-50, in Business History, vol. 29, 2, 1987.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Alessandro Cupri, Flavia Cortelezzi
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
EJIF content is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Authors keep the copyrights for their work and give the journal the work's first publication copyright, which is at the same time licensed under a Creative Commons License – Attribution, which in turn allows other parties to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
EJIF has been approved for inclusion in 
EJIF has been approved for inclusion in 
EJIF is a member of 
EJIF is indexed by 
EJIF is listed in the ANVUR (Italian National Agency for the Evaluation of Universities and Research Institutes) as a scientific journal in both 
