MODERN PRODUCT LIABILITY LAW JURIDICAL BASIS IN ISLAMIC LAW

Abstract

The term “Product liability” is used to identify the body of lawthat seeks to hold manufacturers and sellers financially responsiblefor their products not meeting safety standards. It is the area of juridical studies in which producers, distributors, suppliers, retailers, and others who make productmas available to the public are held responsible for the injuries those products cause and make compensation to the victims of such defective products. This research paper expounds the emerging legal concept of product liability from the perspective of Islamic law. The paper traces the roots of the notion of product liability in classical Islamic legal tradition. It has attempted to explore the theoretical foundations of the product liability in Islamic jurisprudence.It also embarks on defining the important notions such as producer, product, liability etc. from an Islamic legal perspective to provide basis for an Islamic concept of product liability. The examples for holding the sellers liable for defective products have been quoted and analysed from the traditional sources of fiqh. Moreover, the paper has highlighted the need for substantive law development in the area of product liability in Islamic law to meet challenges in the modern era of science and technology. The paper has been concluded with the findings that Islamic law has provided concrete theoretical as well as practical solutions for the issues of liability arising out of defective products. The research is basically a legal doctrinal research which is essentially a method of qualitative research and library-based study.