Shariah’s Black Box

Civil Liability and Criminal Exposure for

U.S. Financial Institutions and Businesses Engaged in
Shariah-Compliant Finance

David Yerushalmi, Esq.

CAVEAT

Throughout this memorandum, the term Shariah is used to denote the authoritative and authoritarian corpus juris of Islamic law as it has been articulated by the recognized Shariah authorities over more than a millennium. The specifics of this body of law and jurisprudence are discussed more fully in the text and accompanying footnotes herein.

The term Shariah as used herein, therefore, does not refer to a personal, subjective, pietistic understanding of the word or concept of Shariah. This latter understanding of the word Shariah is closer to its literal meaning in Arabic without any of the legalistic connotations it has developed as an authoritative institution in Islamic history, as it is currently practiced in such countries as Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Sudan, and as it is meant when referred to in the various laws and constitutions of most Muslim countries.