Islamic Social Safety Nets

Please read the summary of the article taken from an Arabic Blog Article here.

Excerpt:

"Effects of the Principal of Wad’ al-Jawa’ih (Contract Waiver Due to Calamities) on Contracts and   Obligations:

• Al-Jawa’ih is the plural of ja’ihah: a natural disaster that destroys crops and fruits on trees, such as winds, rain, lightning, and the like, each of which may devastate the sold crops or fruit prior to its harvest.
• Classical scholars restrict the application of the doctrine of Wad’ al-Jawa’ih to corps fruits and fruits.
• Contemporary scholars and collective Ijtihad institutions recognize the applications of Wad’ al-Jawa’ih beyond the classical applications, based on analogy and taking into considerations the objectives of the Shari’ah and bearing in mind the people’s interest.
• The recognition of the relevance of  Wad’ al-Jawa’ih and applying it in the current situation at hand will definitely have a positive impact on finding solutions to the many contracts and obligations affected by the crisis, such as rentals instalments, hotel and travel bookings and the like.
• The application of Wad’ al-Jawa’ih means the termination of all sale, lease contracts, and other contracts where the goods and services transacted have not been delivered.
• The application of Wad’ al-Jawa’ih to address the effects of the crisis requires a collective Ijtihad (reasoning) founded on definitive rules and objectives of Shari’ah, taking into people’s contexts and interest, and the measures taken by local authorities in each country to mitigate the impacts of the crisis."

Image credit - The Economist