Gharar with Real World Case Studies
What makes a contract too uncertain, learned through real cases from markets, courts and regulators
Intermediate · 18 hours · 42 lessons · Language: English and Arabic · ID: IFS-COU-0062
Gharar, excessive uncertainty in a contract, is one of the three great prohibitions of Islamic finance, beside riba and maysir. This free course explains what gharar is, when it spoils a contract and when it is tolerated, and then tests that understanding against real events.
Each of the 10 modules pairs a clear reading with a real-world case study: off-plan property in Dubai, commodity murabahah platforms, salam financing of agriculture in Sudan, takaful in Malaysia, Islamic hedging, the 2008 financial crisis, rulings on cryptocurrency, the end of LIBOR, English court cases on Islamic contracts, and the AAOIFI standard on gold.
The course has readings, case studies, slides, study notes and practice quizzes, and a final exam of 30 medium-difficulty questions in 60 minutes (70% to pass).
The case studies summarise public reports for education. This course is written by ifSPACE in its own words, does not reproduce AAOIFI texts, is not affiliated with AAOIFI and is not a fatwa or legal advice.
What you will learn
- Explain what gharar is and the conditions under which it spoils a contract
- Identify gharar in the object, price, term and delivery of sales, and why salam and istisna'a are permitted
- Explain how gharar shapes insurance, takaful, derivatives and hedging
- Assess new products such as digital assets and floating benchmarks for gharar
- Draw lessons from real cases in markets, courts and regulation
- Apply practical controls that keep products free of excessive gharar
Syllabus
1.What gharar is
- Welcome to the course1 min
- What gharar is30 min
- Real-world case study25 min
- Module 1 presentation15 min
- Module 1 practice quiz15 min
2.Gharar in sales: object, price and delivery
- Gharar in sales: object, price and delivery30 min
- Real-world case study25 min
- Module 2 presentation15 min
- Module 2 practice quiz15 min
3.Salam and istisna'a: permitted forward sales
- Salam and istisna'a: permitted forward sales30 min
- Real-world case study25 min
- Module 3 presentation15 min
- Module 3 practice quiz15 min
4.Gharar in insurance and takaful
- Gharar in insurance and takaful30 min
- Real-world case study25 min
- Module 4 presentation15 min
- Module 4 practice quiz15 min
5.Derivatives: options, futures and hedging
- Derivatives: options, futures and hedging30 min
- Real-world case study25 min
- Module 5 presentation15 min
- Module 5 practice quiz15 min
6.Gharar, speculation and the financial crisis
- Gharar, speculation and the financial crisis30 min
- Real-world case study25 min
- Module 6 presentation15 min
- Module 6 practice quiz15 min
7.Gharar in digital assets
- Gharar in digital assets30 min
- Real-world case study25 min
- Module 7 presentation15 min
- Module 7 practice quiz15 min
8.Gharar in leasing, partnership and benchmarks
- Gharar in leasing, partnership and benchmarks30 min
- Real-world case study25 min
- Module 8 presentation15 min
- Module 8 practice quiz15 min
9.Gharar, legal uncertainty and the courts
- Gharar, legal uncertainty and the courts30 min
- Real-world case study25 min
- Module 9 presentation15 min
- Module 9 practice quiz15 min
10.Managing gharar in practice
- Managing gharar in practice30 min
- Real-world case study25 min
- Module 10 presentation15 min
- Module 10 practice quiz15 min
- Course summary and where to go next20 min