Analyzing the Relationship Between Contract and Reality in Islamic Jurisprudence and Law: A Critique of the Theory of Transfer in Unauthorized Contracts

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 PhD in Private Law, Department of Law, Najafabad Branch, Islamic Azad University, Najafabad, Iran.

2 Assistant Professor, Department of Law, Najafabad Branch, Islamic Azad University, Najafabad, Iran (Corresponding Author)

Abstract

There are two major approaches concerning the relationship between reality and contract: the realist approach, which asserts a connection between empirical and social reality and the contract, considering the origin of contracts to be rooted in reality; and the voluntarist approach, which claims a separation between reality and contract. The issue at hand is to determine which of these approaches influences the theory of transfer (naql) in unauthorized contracts (‘aqd-e fozuli)—a theory put forth by jurists which posits that the legal effects of the contract are established only from the time of ratification—and what strengths, weaknesses, and legal consequences this theory entails. This theory reflects traces of pure realism, viewing the contract as entirely subject to the principles governing the external world, thereby diminishing the foundational role of human will. A moderate approach offers a balanced perspective, acknowledging the influence of reality on contracts while also upholding the principle of freedom of contract (the sovereignty of will), thus recognizing both contractual autonomy and the impact of external realities.

Keywords

References

  • Ākhūnd Khurāsānī, Muḥammad Kāẓim (1985 CE / 1406 AH). Ḥāshiyat al-Makāsib. Tehran: Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance.
  • Ansari (Shaykh), Murtaza b. Muḥammad Amīn (2009). Kitāb al-Makāsib, Vol. 1, Trans. Asghar Mohammadi Hamadani. Tehran: Jangal, Javdaneh.
  • Arjmand Siahpush, Esḥāq (2010). Sociology of Law. Tehran: Jāmeʿeh Shenāsān.
  • ‘Askarī, Sāmān; Eḥteshāmī, Hādī (2016). “Comparison of the Doctrine of Frustration of Contract with Force Majeure, Changed Circumstances, and Hardship.” Islamic Jurisprudence and Legal Studies, 14, pp. 173–194.
  • Barnes, Wayne (2008). The French Subjective Theory of Contract: Separating Rhetoric From Reality.
  • Deligiorgy, Katerina (2019). “Science, Thought and Nature: Hegel’s Completion of Kant’s Idealism.” Argumenta: Journal of the Italian Society for Analytic Philosophy (SIFA), 4(8), pp. 19–46.
  • Fāḍil Muwaḥḥidī Lankarānī, Muḥammad (2006). Iḍāḥ al-Kifāyah, Vol. 2, 5th ed. Qom: Nūḥ.
  • Fayāz Bakhsh, Marjāneh; ‘Asgar Khānī, Abū Muḥammad; Mīr ‘Abbāsī, Sayyid Bāqir (2018). “The Role of Legal Principles in Resolving Ambiguity and Silence in Iranian Law (in Light of Article 3 of the Civil Procedure Act 2000).” Islamic Jurisprudence and Legal Studies, 19, pp. 263–282.

  • Finnis, John M. (1985). “On Positivism and Legal Rational Authority.” Oxford Journal of Legal Studies, Vol. 5, pp. 74.

    Available at: https://scholarship.law.nd.edu/law_faculty_scholarship/575

  • Ḥallī (Fakhr al-Muḥaqqiqīn), Muḥammad b. Ḥasan b. Yūsuf (1959 CE / 1378 AH). Iḍāḥ al-Fawā’id fī Sharḥ Mushkilāt al-Qawāʿid, Vol. 1. Qom: Ismaʿīliyyān.
  • Ḥomaynī (Imām), Sayyid Rūḥallāh (1989 CE / 1410 AH). Kitāb al-Bayʿ, Vol. 2. N.p.: N.p.
  • Ḵwūʾī, Sayyid Abū al-Qāsim (n.d.). Al-Tanqīḥ fī Sharḥ al-Makāsib, Vol. 1. N.p.: N.p.
  • Green, Michael Steven (2005). “Legal Realism as Theory of Law.” William & Mary Law Review, Vol. 46.
  • Jaʿfarī Tabar, Ḥasan (2004). Philosophical Foundations of Legal Interpretation. Tehran: Sherkat-e Sahami Enteshar.
  • Javādī Āmulī, ʿAbdullāh (1996). Philosophy of Human Rights. Qom: Esrāʾ.
  • Kappelsorn, Frederick (2001). History of Philosophy, Vol. 6, 3rd ed., Trans. Esmaʿīl Sāʿadat & Manūchehr Bozorgmehr. Tehran: Soroush.
  • Kātūzīān, Nāṣir (2014). Philosophy of Law, Vol. 1, 7th ed. Tehran: Sherkat-e Sahami Enteshar.
  • Kātūzīān, Nāṣir (2017). Legal Acts, 18th ed. Tehran: Ketābkhāneh-ye Ganj-e Dānesh.
  • Klass, Gregory (2009). Intent to Contract. Georgetown University Law Center, Faculty Publications.
  • Kornert, Stephan (1988). Kant's Philosophy, Trans. ‘Izzatullāh Fūlādvand. Tehran: Khwārazmī.
  • Krkī (Muḥaqqiq Thānī), ʿAlī b. Ḥusayn (1989 CE / 1410 AH). Jāmiʿ al-Maqāṣid fī Sharḥ al-Qawāʿid, Vol. 8. Qom: Al al-Bayt Institute.
  • Louy-Bruhl, Henri (1997). Sociology of Law, 3rd ed., Trans. Abū al-Faḍl Qāẓī Sharīʿat Panāhī. Tehran: Dādgostar.
  • Mill, John Stuart (1865 [2005 release]). Auguste Comte and Positivism. Free ebook at: http://manybooks.net
  • Ṣalībā, Jamīl (1987). Philosophical Dictionary, Trans. Manūchehr Ṣanāʿī Darahbīdī. Tehran: Ḥekmat.
  • Stahl Brend, Carsten (2007). “Positivism or Non–Positivism: Tertium Non Datur in a Critique of Ontological Syncretism in IS Research,” pp. 115–142.
  • Ṭabāṭabāʾī (ʿAllāmeh), Sayyid Muḥammad Ḥusayn (n.d.). The Principles of Philosophy and the Method of Realism. Tehran: Offset Co. Ltd.
  • Zihnī Tehrānī, Muḥammad Jawād (1994). ʿAnāwīn al-Aḥkām, Vol. 3. Qom: Vojdānī Bookstore.
  • Riper, Georges (2017). The Forces Shaping Law, Trans. Reżā Shokūhī. Tehran: Majd.
  • Shahidī, Mahdī (2007). Formation of Contracts and Obligations, 6th ed. Tehran: Majd.
  • Gurvitch, Georges (n.d.). Foundations of the Sociology of Law, Trans. Ḥasan Ḥabībī. N.p.: N.p.
Journal of Studies in Islamic Law & Jurisprudence
Volume 17, Issue 38
March 2025
Pages 117-138

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics