Civil Law and UAE: Application of Sharia Principles in Civil Liability

1. Introduction

UAE civil liability is a codified legal system with a clear Sharia foundation. The role of Islamic Sharia is not merely historical or symbolic. It influences both the structure of the Civil Transactions Law and the interpretation of civil-liability rules.

The current UAE Civil Transactions Law is Federal Decree-Law No. 25 of 2025, which came into force on 1 June 2026 and replaced the former Federal Law No. 5 of 1985. Its Article 1 provides a hierarchy: statutory provisions apply first; where legislation contains no applicable provision, the court rules according to Islamic Sharia, selecting the solution most appropriate to maslaha (interest); failing a Sharia rule, custom (urf) applies if consistent with public order and morals; and, finally, principles of natural law and justice may be used. Article 2 directs courts to Islamic jurisprudence (usul al-fiqh) for understanding, interpretation and construction of legislative texts.

Thus, in civil liability, Sharia principles generally operate through codified rules, interpretation, gap-filling and foundational legal maxims, rather than replacing the UAE's enacted civil legislation.

2. Meaning of Civil Liability in the UAE

Civil liability arises when a person's conduct causes legally compensable harm to another.

Broadly, liability may arise from:

1. Contractual liability
2. Tortious/delictual liability
3. Liability for damage caused by things or activities
4. Professional liability
5. Employer-related liability
6. Product and property damage
7. Personal injury and death
8. Moral and material damage

The basic civil-liability structure is therefore:

Wrongful conduct + legally recognised damage + causation = civil liability, subject to the particular statutory rules applicable to the case.

The Sharia influence is particularly visible in the concepts of harm, compensation, causation, directness, causation by means, restoration and prevention of unjust enrichment.

3. Sharia as a Source Within the UAE Civil-Law Hierarchy

The current Article 1 of the Civil Transactions Law establishes the following hierarchy:

Article 2 separately provides that the principles and rules of Islamic jurisprudence are used in understanding, interpreting and construing legislative provisions.

This distinction is extremely important.

Sharia does not mean:

“The judge ignores the Civil Transactions Law and decides according to personal religious opinion.”

Rather, the system requires the judge to begin with legislation. Sharia becomes especially important:

• where legislation is silent;
• where a statutory provision requires interpretation;
• where the underlying rule was derived from Islamic jurisprudence;
• where general legal maxims assist in understanding liability.

4. The Principle of “No Harm and No Reciprocal Harm”

One of the most important Sharia maxims underlying UAE civil liability is:

La darar wa la dirar
“There shall be neither harm nor reciprocating harm.”

Another closely related principle is:

Al-darar yuzal
“Harm must be removed.”

The UAE Court of Cassation has expressly recognised these principles as underlying the general civil-liability rule.

In UAE Court of Cassation, Civil Appeal/Cassation No. 99 of Judicial Year 16, decided 17 December 1995, the Court explained that the general rule requiring the person who causes harm to compensate for it is rooted in the Sharia principles of “no harm and no reciprocal harm” and “harm must be removed.”

This is one of the clearest judicial demonstrations of the Sharia foundation of UAE civil liability.

5. Article 282 of the Former Civil Transactions Law and Its Sharia Foundation

Under the former Civil Transactions Law, Article 282 stated in substance:

Every harm caused to another requires its perpetrator to guarantee the damage, even where the perpetrator lacks legal capacity.

The UAE Court of Cassation explained that this provision reflected the Sharia principle that harm should not remain uncompensated.

Although the 1985 Civil Transactions Law has now been replaced by the 2025 law, the historical case law remains important for understanding the jurisprudential foundations from which UAE civil liability developed.

The new Civil Transactions Law should therefore be read as part of a continuing legal tradition, while the current statutory text must control for events governed by the 2025 Law.

6. Direct Harm — “Mubasharah”

Islamic jurisprudence traditionally distinguishes between:

• Mubasharah — direct causing of harm;
• Tasabbub — causing harm indirectly or through a causal means.

This distinction has been incorporated into UAE civil-liability doctrine.

Direct harm

Where the defendant directly causes the damage, liability is particularly strong.

For example:

• deliberately destroying another person's property;
• directly injuring another person;
• directly damaging a vehicle;
• directly causing physical destruction.

The UAE Court of Cassation has explained that direct harm constitutes an independent causal basis for liability.

7. Indirect Causation — “Tasabbub”

Indirect causation is treated differently.

Where harm occurs through an intermediate cause, the traditional UAE formulation requires additional conditions such as:

• wrongdoing/transgression (ta'addi);
• intention (ta'amud); or
• conduct that leads to the damage in the legally relevant sense.

This distinction was expressly explained by the UAE Court of Cassation in Civil Cassation No. 99 of Judicial Year 16. The Court stated that direct causation is independently sufficient for liability, whereas causation by means requires the relevant additional element of wrongdoing, intention or legally effective causal connection.

Example

If A directly breaks B's machine, A is a direct actor.

If A creates a dangerous condition which causes another event that damages B's machine, the court must examine whether A's conduct constitutes legally sufficient tasabbub.

8. Case Law 1 — Civil Cassation No. 99 of Judicial Year 16

Facts

The case involved damage arising from a maritime towing operation and questions concerning responsibility for damage caused to an offshore oil installation.

Holding

The UAE Court of Cassation explained:

1. Every harmful act can create an obligation to compensate.
2. Direct harm and indirect causation are conceptually distinct.
3. Direct causation does not require the same additional requirements as indirect causation.
4. The distinction derives from Islamic jurisprudential principles.
5. The general civil-liability rule is rooted in the principles of “no harm” and “harm must be removed.”

The Court also applied the civil-liability provisions to determine responsibility among the parties.

Importance

This is arguably one of the most important UAE precedents for the proposition that Sharia principles directly influenced the architecture of modern UAE tort law.

9. The Principle of Compensation and “Daman”

The concept of daman is important in Islamic jurisprudence.

In simplified terms, daman concerns the obligation to make good a legally recognised loss caused to another.

It has influenced UAE concepts concerning:

• compensation;
• restoration;
• property damage;
• personal injury;
• causation;
• responsibility for harmful acts.

The modern UAE system converts these concepts into statutory civil rules and judicial doctrines.

Therefore, a UAE civil judgment ordinarily does not simply say:

“Sharia requires compensation.”

Instead, the court identifies the applicable statutory liability provision and interprets or applies it consistently with its legal foundations.

10. Case Law 2 — Civil Cassation No. 880 of 2021

UAE Court of Cassation, Civil Cassation No. 880 of 2021, issued 15 November 2021, is particularly important concerning compensation following death and personal injury.

The Court recognised that compensation may extend beyond blood money (diya) to qualifying material losses when the legal requirements are established.

It recognised:

• present damage;
• future damage;
• loss of opportunity;
• certain consequential material harm.

The Court also recognised compensation relating to the loss suffered by family members from the death of a close relative, including the loss of care and support.

Sharia significance

The case demonstrates that concepts historically associated with Islamic compensation law do not necessarily exhaust modern civil compensation.

The statutory civil system can recognise additional compensable harm where its elements are proved.

11. Diya and Civil Compensation

Personal injury and death present a special relationship between traditional Sharia concepts and modern civil liability.

Diya is a legally prescribed form of compensation associated with death or certain bodily injuries.

The UAE legal system distinguishes between:

• diya or legally prescribed compensation;
• additional material damage;
• moral damage where legally recognised;
• other compensable losses.

In Civil Cassation No. 880 of 2021, the Court held that qualifying material damages outside the scope of diya could be separately compensated where the necessary elements were established.

Thus:

Diya does not necessarily represent the complete measure of every legally compensable consequence of a death.

12. Case Law 3 — UAE Civil Cassation No. 880 of 2021: Loss of Opportunity

The same judgment is also important for loss of opportunity.

The Court accepted that compensation can be available for a lost opportunity where the opportunity represented a sufficiently plausible prospect and its loss constituted legally recognisable harm.

This is significant because traditional compensation analysis might focus primarily on physical property or immediate economic loss.

Modern UAE civil law can go further.

Example

Suppose wrongful conduct eliminates a genuine economic opportunity that had a reasonable probability of producing benefit.

The claimant may argue that the loss itself is compensable, provided:

• the opportunity was real;
• the loss was sufficiently established;
• causation is proven;
• the assessment is not speculative.

13. Case Law 4 — Civil Cassation No. 99 of Judicial Year 16: Force Majeure and Foreign Cause

The same 1995 maritime case also addressed the effect of an external cause.

The Court explained that responsibility may be displaced where the damage resulted from an external cause such as:

• an unavoidable natural event;
• a sudden accident;
• force majeure;
• the act of a third party;
• the act of the injured person.

This reflects a central causation principle: a person should not be held responsible for damage that legally resulted from an independent external cause rather than their conduct.

Sharia connection

This reflects the broader jurisprudential idea that liability should correspond to the person's legally attributable conduct and not extend indefinitely to consequences outside the legally relevant causal relationship.

14. Case Law 5 — UAE Civil Cassation No. 79 of 2020

In Civil Cassation No. 79 of 2020, issued 17 February 2020, the Court dealt with admissions and the duty to consider material defences.

The Court explained that a valid admission can bind its maker where the admitted right is certain and that an admission should not improperly be divided so that only the unfavourable part is relied upon. It also emphasised the need to consider a defence capable of changing the outcome.

Relevance to Sharia-based civil liability

Islamic jurisprudence places considerable importance on:

• acknowledgement;
• certainty;
• good faith;
• proof;
• fairness between litigants.

The UAE procedural and evidentiary system translates these concepts into formal legal rules.

Practical significance

In a civil-liability dispute, a defendant's acknowledgement of:

• responsibility;
• receipt of property;
• contractual obligation;
• payment;
• causation;

may have substantial evidentiary consequences.

15. Case Law 6 — UAE Commercial Cassation No. 941 of 2019

In Commercial Cassation No. 941 of 2019, issued 24 March 2020, the Court held that the trial court must give the claim its correct legal characterisation, rather than simply adopting the terminology used by the parties.

The Court also explained the relationship between contractual and tortious liability. Where parties are connected by a contract, contractual liability generally governs the relevant damage unless circumstances justify tortious treatment under the applicable law, such as fraud, a crime or sufficiently serious fault.

Importance

This demonstrates that Sharia principles operate within a structured legal classification system.

The judge does not decide liability simply according to broad moral notions of fairness. The judge must determine:

1. What legal relationship exists?
2. What duty arose?
3. What breach occurred?
4. What damage resulted?
5. What legal form of liability applies?

16. Case Law 7 — UAE Commercial Cassation Nos. 1012 and 1023 of 2022

In Commercial Cassation Nos. 1012 and 1023 of 2022, issued 17 January 2023, the Court emphasised that although technical experts may assist in determining factual or technical issues, the court cannot surrender the legal foundation of the dispute to an expert.

The court must itself examine:

• contractual obligations;
• the legal basis of liability;
• which party breached;
• the legal consequences of breach.

The Court considered it defective for a court to rely on an expert's allocation of responsibility without properly examining the contractual legal foundation.

Relevance

This is important because Sharia-derived principles must be applied judicially, not mechanically through an expert.

Experts can help with:

• engineering;
• accounting;
• medical issues;
• valuation.

But the judge determines the legal responsibility.

17. Case Law 8 — UAE Civil Cassation No. 434 of 2007

In a UAE Court of Cassation decision concerning compensation for bodily and moral damage, the Court confirmed that compensation could be assessed on the basis of medical evidence and the circumstances established before the court.

The Court also emphasised that the trial court has substantial discretion in assessing compensation where the law or agreement does not prescribe a fixed calculation method, provided its reasoning is legally sufficient.

Importance

This illustrates the movement from the Sharia concept of daman toward a modern judicial assessment of compensation.

The court considers:

• extent of injury;
• medical evidence;
• consequences of injury;
• established damage;
• causal connection;
• circumstances of the victim.

18. Case Law 9 — UAE Court of Cassation, Commercial Cassation No. 625 of 2018

In Commercial Cassation No. 625 of 2018, the UAE Court of Cassation dealt with unfair use of another party's registered trademark and recognised the possibility of civil compensation for harmful conduct beyond legitimate competition.

The Court treated conduct designed to divert customers through misuse of another's protected commercial identity as capable of constituting a harmful act giving rise to compensation.

Relevance to Sharia principles

The case illustrates the broader application of the principle that unjustified harm should be removed and compensated, but through modern statutory concepts such as:

• unfair competition;
• intellectual-property protection;
• wrongful commercial conduct;
• civil compensation.

This demonstrates that Sharia principles can operate at the level of underlying doctrine while the immediate legal rule is statutory/commercial law.

19. Material Damage and Moral Damage

UAE civil liability may involve:

Material damage

Examples:

• medical expenses;
• property destruction;
• repair costs;
• lost income;
• business losses;
• future economic loss.

Moral damage

Examples may include legally recognised harm involving:

• physical suffering;
• emotional suffering;
• injury to reputation;
• infringement of personal interests.

The Sharia foundation does not mean every subjective inconvenience automatically becomes compensable.

The claimant still has to establish the legally recognised damage and causal relationship required by the applicable legislation.

20. Causation Under UAE Civil Liability

Causation is one of the most important areas where classical jurisprudence and modern civil law intersect.

The court must ask:

Did the defendant's conduct legally cause the claimant's damage?

The traditional distinction between:

Direct causation

Mubasharah

and

Indirect causation

Tasabbub

helps structure this analysis.

The UAE Court of Cassation's 1995 decision expressly explained that direct damage and causation by means are treated differently and linked that distinction to the Sharia foundations of the Civil Transactions Law.

21. Contributory Responsibility and the Victim's Conduct

Civil responsibility may be affected where the injured person's own conduct contributed to the damage.

This is consistent with the broader principle that compensation should correspond to legally attributable harm rather than provide an unjustified windfall.

The court therefore examines:

• defendant's conduct;
• claimant's conduct;
• third-party conduct;
• external causes;
• relative contribution to the damage.

The principle is particularly important in:

• road accidents;
• medical negligence;
• construction;
• maritime accidents;
• workplace accidents;
• product liability.

22. Joint Liability

Where several people contribute to the same harmful result, UAE law can impose joint or several responsibility according to the applicable statutory framework.

The 1995 maritime case demonstrates this approach. The Court accepted that multiple actors could be responsible for the damage and discussed the possibility of solidarity between responsible parties under the applicable civil-liability provisions.

Sharia connection

The principle is consistent with the underlying idea that where several persons legally contribute to a single injury, the victim should not be left uncompensated merely because responsibility is distributed among several wrongdoers.

23. Criminal Liability and Civil Liability

UAE law distinguishes criminal liability from civil liability.

The current Civil Transactions Law expressly provides that civil liability can exist without prejudice to criminal liability and that criminal punishment does not, by itself, eliminate the scope of civil liability or determine the amount of compensation.

This is important because:

Criminal punishment and civil compensation serve different legal functions.

Criminal law primarily addresses public wrongdoing.

Civil liability addresses:

Who suffered legally compensable damage, who caused it, and what compensation is due?

24. Effect of a Criminal Judgment on Civil Liability

UAE case law recognises that a final criminal judgment can have binding effect before a civil court concerning matters that were necessarily determined in the criminal proceeding.

In Civil Cassation No. 880 of 2021, the Court reaffirmed the strong res judicata effect of a final criminal judgment concerning the occurrence of the act, its legal character and attribution to the person responsible.

A civil court therefore cannot simply contradict a final criminal determination concerning the same legally necessary factual foundation.

25. Diya, Arsh and Modern Compensation

Traditional Islamic legal concepts include:

Diya

Compensation associated principally with death or certain bodily injuries.

Arsh

A form of compensation associated with specified bodily injuries.

Modern UAE civil law integrates such concepts with broader compensation rules.

The result is a hybrid but codified structure:

Sharia foundations + statutory rules + judicial interpretation + modern civil compensation principles.

This is why UAE civil liability cannot accurately be described either as purely Western-style tort law or as uncodified classical Islamic tort law.

It is a codified UAE civil-liability system with Islamic jurisprudential foundations.

26. Application to Negligence

Suppose a construction company negligently leaves an unsafe opening.

A person falls and suffers injury.

The court would consider:

1. Whether the defendant had a duty or legal obligation.
2. Whether there was a wrongful act or omission.
3. Whether the conduct caused the injury.
4. Whether the claimant suffered legally recognised damage.
5. Whether an external cause intervened.
6. The appropriate compensation.

The Sharia principle of removing harm provides an underlying normative foundation, while the current Civil Transactions Law supplies the operative legal rules.

27. Application to Medical Negligence

In a medical-liability case, Sharia principles do not mean that every unsuccessful medical outcome automatically creates liability.

The court normally needs to distinguish:

• unavoidable medical complications;
• accepted medical risks;
• professional error;
• negligence;
• causation;
• actual injury.

Medical expert evidence may be essential, but the court remains responsible for the legal conclusion.

This follows the broader UAE judicial principle that experts assist with technical questions but do not determine the ultimate legal liability.

28. Application to Property Damage

Suppose A intentionally damages B's vehicle.

The Sharia principle of removal of harm supports the requirement that A make good the resulting loss.

The modern legal analysis would then determine:

• repair cost;
• depreciation;
• consequential loss where legally recoverable;
• causation;
• contribution by the victim, if relevant.

The traditional principle is therefore transformed into a modern damages calculation.

29. Application to Contractual Liability

Sharia principles also influence contractual responsibility through concepts such as:

• fulfilment of obligations;
• good faith;
• prevention of unjust enrichment;
• compensation for breach;
• protection against unjustified harm.

However, once a detailed statutory or contractual rule exists, the court normally applies that rule rather than bypassing it in favour of a broad Sharia principle.

This follows the current Article 1 hierarchy: legislation comes first; Sharia operates where the law does not provide the applicable rule.

30. Important Distinction: Sharia Principle vs Sharia Rule

This distinction is essential in UAE legal research.

Therefore, a party cannot normally argue:

“A Sharia principle exists, therefore the statutory rule should automatically be ignored.”

The correct approach is:

Identify the statutory rule → interpret it consistently with applicable jurisprudential principles → use Sharia to fill a genuine gap where the statute provides no answer.

31. Relationship Between Sharia and Judicial Discretion

Sharia principles provide important normative foundations, but judicial discretion is not unlimited.

The court must still:

• identify the facts;
• establish causation;
• apply evidence rules;
• identify the correct legal provision;
• give adequate reasons;
• determine the amount of compensation according to law.

The UAE Court of Cassation repeatedly emphasises that factual findings and compensation assessment must be supported by sufficient reasoning. For example, Civil Cassation No. 99 of Judicial Year 16 recognised broad trial-court authority over factual assessment while requiring sufficient reasoning for findings of fault.

32. Current Position Under the 2025 Civil Transactions Law

The most important modern point is that the 2025 Civil Transactions Law is now the primary reference for current civil transactions governed by it.

Its Article 1 provides:

1. Apply legislative provisions.
2. If there is no applicable legislative provision, apply Islamic Sharia while selecting the most appropriate solution according to maslaha.
3. If Sharia contains no solution, apply custom.
4. If custom contains no solution, apply natural law and justice.

Article 2 then confirms the role of usul al-fiqh in interpreting and construing legislative texts.

This represents a clearer formulation of the relationship between codified civil law and Islamic jurisprudence than merely treating Sharia as a general background source.

33. Major Sharia Principles Relevant to Civil Liability

Several jurisprudential principles are particularly relevant:

1. La darar wa la dirar

No harm and no reciprocal harm.

2. Al-darar yuzal

Harm must be removed.

3. Al-darar la yuzal bi al-darar

Harm should not ordinarily be removed by creating another equivalent harm.

4. Al-umur bi maqasidiha

Matters are considered according to their purposes/intentions, where legally relevant.

5. Al-yaqin la yazulu bi al-shakk

Certainty is not displaced by doubt.

6. Al-'adah muhakkamah

Custom can have legal relevance, subject to the statutory limitations.

These principles are not independent substitutes for enacted UAE legislation; rather, they help explain the jurisprudential structure of UAE private law.

34. Six+ Case Laws at a Glance

The first and second cases are the strongest authorities for the direct connection between Sharia-derived principles and UAE civil liability. The remaining authorities demonstrate how those principles operate within the modern codified system.

35. Practical Legal Test

For a UAE civil-liability claim involving Sharia principles, the following sequence is useful:

Step 1 — Identify the statutory provision

Ask:

Is there an express rule governing this liability?

Step 2 — Determine the type of liability

Is it:

• contractual;
• tortious;
• statutory;
• professional;
• property-related;
• personal injury?

Step 3 — Establish harm

What actual legally recognised damage occurred?

Step 4 — Establish causation

Was the harm caused:

• directly (mubasharah);
• indirectly (tasabbub);
• by an external cause?

Step 5 — Apply compensation rules

Determine:

• actual loss;
• future loss;
• loss of opportunity;
• personal injury;
• moral damage;
• property damage.

Step 6 — Consider Sharia principles

Where interpretation or a legislative gap exists, consider relevant principles such as:

No harm → harm must be removed → compensation/restoration.

Step 7 — Consider defences

Including:

• force majeure;
• third-party act;
• victim's conduct;
• absence of causation;
• contractual limitations where legally effective;
• limitation periods.

36. Conclusion

The application of Sharia principles in UAE civil liability is best understood as a relationship between codified civil legislation and Islamic jurisprudence.

The current Civil Transactions Law gives legislation priority, but expressly provides that where legislation contains no applicable rule, the court applies Islamic Sharia according to the most appropriate solution in light of maslaha. It also directs courts to use the principles of Islamic jurisprudence in interpreting and construing legislative provisions.

The case law demonstrates that the Sharia foundations are particularly visible in the concepts of:

• prevention and removal of harm;
• daman/compensation;
• direct and indirect causation;
• attribution of responsibility;
• restoration of loss;
• fair allocation of responsibility;
• compensation for proven material consequences.

Most importantly, Civil Cassation No. 99 of Judicial Year 16 expressly traced the UAE general civil-liability rule to the Sharia principles of “no harm and no reciprocal harm” and “harm must be removed.”

Accordingly, UAE civil liability should be described neither as purely classical Sharia liability nor as a completely secular Western tort model. It is a modern, codified UAE civil-liability system whose statutory and judicial development is deeply informed by Islamic jurisprudential principles.