UK law offers protection to Islamic investors

The English High Court recently awarded Shamil Bank of Bahrain (plaintiff) a US$50m judgement in the case against the Beximco Group of Bangladesh and the Rahman Brothers, the controlling shareholders of Beximco Pharmaceuticals. The English court will not judge on shari`a issues or question the decisions made by the religious supervisory boards (RSB) of financial institutions. There is no consensus in the Islamic world on shari`a law and how it is to be applied to Islamic finance. English courts will not permit debtors to default on loans and later claim that the contract was invalid due to contractual discrepancies involving shari`a compliance.