United Arab Emirates: Islamic finance--a UAE legal perspective

As clearly stated in its Constitution, the United Arab Emirates is a Muslim nation. As such, the UAE is ideally placed to play a leading role in the emerging field of Islamic finance. Implementing Islamic financial mechanisms are well suited to the legal system of the UAE. The United Arab Emirates Civil Code has a very strong shari`a foundation which supports the proper regulations of Islamic financial mechanisms. For example, the UAE Civil Code includes a chapter under the title of 'Mudaraba', Article (693) which states: 'A mudaraba is a contract whereby the person owning property puts in the capital, and the mudarib puts in effort or work, with a view to making a profit.' Also, the judges in the United Arab Emirates come from an Islamic background and are familiar with Islamic concepts and contracts. This fact will eventually lead to the speedy conclusion of matters as cases will not be required to be referred to experts as frequently as in the past. Accordingly, judgments will