Was Shari'ah indeed the culprit?

Why is the Islamic world, once the centre the medieval world, now lagging so far behind? The importance of the topic has attracted economic historians trying to explain this dramatic story of economic decline. Among the various explanations those provided by Kuran concerning the alleged rigidity of Islamic jurisprudence and the Islamic law of inheritance are best known. In this article I will closely examine his views and provide an alternative explanation as to why Islamic companies could not expand beyond a certain size during the early modern age.