Recent events and trends have led to an increased awareness of the importance of Islamic law and a more widespread interest in the subject. However, many areas remain inaccessible and have received relatively little scholarly attention. One such is the law of business associations. The aim of this and a previous article (‘the first article’) is to alleviate this situation somewhat, providing a critical overview and facilitating further research.

The first article contained an overview of the classical sharia, looking at three Sunni schools by way of example, plus a comparison with Western concepts. This article considers the replacement of the sharia regimes by Western-style law and the interaction of the sharia with Western-style law.