Introduction
The concept of 'limited liability' has now become an inseparable ingredient of the large scale enterprises of trade and industry throughout the modern world, including the Muslim countries. The present chapter aims to explain this concept and evaluate it from the Shari‘ah point of view in order to know whether or not this principle is acceptable in a pure Islamic economy. The limited liability' in the modern economic and legal terminology is a condition under which a partner or a shareholder of a business secures himself from bearing a loss greater than the amount he has invested in a company or partner-ship with limited liability. If the business incurs a loss, the maximum a shareholder can suffer, is that he may lose his entire original investment. But the loss cannot extend to his personal assets, and if the assets of the company are not sufficient to discharge all its liabilities, the creditors cannot claim the remaining part of their receivables from the personal assets of the shareholders.
Although the concept of 'limited liability' was, in some countries applied to the partnership also, yet, it was most commonly applied to the companies and corporate bodies. Rather, it will be more true, perhaps, to say that the concept of 'limited liability' originally emerged with the emergence of the corporate bodies and joint stock companies. The basic purpose of the introduction of this principle was to attract the maximum number of investors to the large-scale joint ventures and to assure them that their personal fortunes will not be at stake if they wish to invest their savings in such a joint enterprise. In the practice of modern trade, the concept proved itself to be a vital force to mobilize large amounts of capital from a wide range of investors ...