ICLARS Series on Law and ReligionRELIGION AND CONTRACTLAW IN ISLAMFROM MEDIEVAL TRADE TO GLOBAL FINANCEValentino CattelanReligion and Contract Lawin IslamWhat is a contract in Islam?Is it an aspect of Muslim religion or of secularlife?How much has it changed over the centuries?Undertaking a search thatspans revelation,legal tradition,and the reality of the Muslim world,this bookexplores the Islamic contract (agd in Arabic)as a 'city'at the crossroads ofconvergent paths of translation,comparison,and law in context.In particular,the book shows that only by re-orienting traditional categoriesof Western law-religion toward the East can an alternative path of discoveryfor the agd be advanced.Hence,through a fortuitous encounter with an ArabGirl,the reader will (re-)visit the Temple of Western modernity and explore acity ruled by Towers of dialectical forces,carrying a hermeneutical Ring thatcombines dialectics,Islamic studies,and media theory.This interdisciplinaryapproach will not only enrich our knowledge of the agd but also make it moreunderstandable as a cultural and social construction to which both Muslimsand non-Muslims have participated in forging its multiple representations.Byinviting the readers 'to know who they are'while looking at her,the Arab Girlis already waiting for us to listen to the Islamic contract in a new way.By applying a distinctive law and religion approach to the study of thecontract in Islam,the book provides a comprehensive exploration of a topicthat is of interest to legal and economic comparatists as well as to readers inanthropology,Islamic and cultural studies,and it is also of topical meaning fortoday's international lawyers and the operators of an increasingly multiculturaland transnational market.Dr Valentino Cattelan is Lecturer in Law at Birmingham City University,where he teaches contract law,EU law,and Islamic business law.He isspecialised in comparative law and has published widely on aspects of Islamiclaw,economics,and finance.ICLARS Series on Law and ReligionSeries Editors:Silvio FerrariUniversity of Milan,Italy,Russell Sandberg,Cardiff University,UKPieter CoertzenUniversity of Stellenbosch,South AfricaW.Cole Durham,Jr.,Tahir MahmoodAmity International University,IndiaThe ICLARS Series on Law and Religion is a new series designed to providea forum for the rapidly expanding field of research in law and religion.Theseries is published in association with the International Consortium for Lawand Religion Studies,an international network of scholars and experts of lawand religion founded in 2007 with the aim of providing a place where infor-mation,data and opinions can easily be exchanged among members and madeavailable to the broader scientific community.The series aims to become a pri-mary source for students and scholars while presenting authors with a valuablemeans to reach a wide and growing readership.Other titles in this series:Law,State and Religion in Bosnia and HerzegovinaNedim Begovic and Emir KovacevicThe Church and Employment LawA Comparative Analysis of The Legal Status of Clergy and Religious WorkersBusiness,Religion and the LawChurch and Business Autonomy in the Secular EconomyMatteo CorsaliniReligion,Human Rights,and the WorkplaceJudicial balancing in the United States Federal Courts and the EuropeanCourt of Human RightsGregory MoseReligion and Contract Law in IslamFrom Medieval Trade to Global FinanceValentino CattelanFor more information about this series,please visit:www.routledge.com/ICLARS-Series-on-Law-and-Religion/book-series/ICLARS