Arbitration Clause in Islamic Banking Contracts : A Contractual Necessity

The authoritative tribunal for the settlement of banking and financial disputes in most jurisdictions is the civil law court. However, the practices of the civil law court are repugnant to Islamic Commercial law and its judges lack the appropriate knowledgeable. More so, the jurisdiction of the Shariah court in most countries is restricted to the cases of Islamic family law. It does not cover the cases of the Islamic commercial transaction which includes, the Islamic banking, Islamic insurance, Islamic financial market and etc. This problem leaves arbitration as the only process for the settlement of Islamic commercial dispute. Nevertheless, arbitration cannot be resorted to, except if an arbitration clause is inserted in the respective commercial agreement. This article expounds the importance of the arbitration clause to the Islamic commercial contracts. It proposes arbitration as the panacea for the court jurisdictional logjam