Sharia Ruling on the Participation of Citizens in Public-Private Partnership Projects: Shamal Az-Zour Al-Oula Power and Water Company as a Model
Dr. Adnan Almulla
Associate Professor of Comparative
Jurisprudence and Islamic Studies
Kuwait International Law School
Dr. Abdulaziz Alnahedh
Assistant Professor of Comparative
Jurisprudence and Sharia Policies
College of Sharia and Islamic Studies
University of Kuwait
Abstract:
This research paper deals with the issue of a ruling on citizens’ participation in public-private partnership projects in the State of Kuwait, using Shamal Al-Zour Al-Oula Power and Water Company as a model. After Kuwait Authority for Partnership projects invited qualified citizens to contribute to the Shamal Al-Zour Al-Oula Company, as the first of the Authority’s projects, a Sharia dispute arose in Kuwait.
The paper aims to introduce the system of public-private partnership projects, with an indication of the regulatory framework and the legislative structure of public-private partnership projects in the State of Kuwait. In addition, it explains the Sharia ruling on participating in mixed companies and finding out the origin of the dispute regarding the ruling on citizens’ contribution to the Shamal Az-Zour Al-Oula Company.
The study reached a number of results and recommendations, including that those who permitted participation in mixed companies did so because of need. However, reality today differs with the large spread of Islamic institutions and companies, which may negate the claim of the need to permit contributing to mixed companies. Also, reliance on the company’s activity origin only to judge the company in terms of permissibility and inadmissibility is not valid. Financial engineering methods have been developed to transform any company into a financial entity that has nothing to do with the origin of the company’s activity, as happened to the Shamal Az-Zour Al-Oula Company. Accordingly, the study concluded that it is inadmissible to join the Shamal Az-Zour Al-Oula Company.
Keywords: Public-Private Partnership Projects, joint companies, mixed companies, Shamal Az-Zour Al-Oula Power and Water Company, Sharia Law.