Comparing Fraud in the Law with Frauds in Sharia within Private Law

The necessity of law as an indispensable fact for the survival of society and regulation of social relations has been recognized by everyone. Hence, regardless of their thoughts and special opinions concerning the origin, basis and purpose of laws and social systems, most scholars and authorities have unanimously agreed that existence of laws and social systems is essential for preserving individual and social interests and resources. However, clever people usually breach the law by making use of seemingly legal ways. In addition, in Islamic Jurisprudence (or the so-called Fegh), discussions under the name of usury trickeries (or Riba) have been suggested that are basically in good compliance with the concept of fraud in the Western Culture. Thus this paper, by considering these two concepts and comparing them with each other basically, examines the authorized opinion by relying on the late Imam Khomeyni’s fundamental principles in the field of frauds in Sharia and finally, it looks into articles of Iranian law about frauds and trickeries. Fundamentally speaking, it appears that frauds in Sharia and the law are neither acceptable in Islamic Jurisprudence nor in the statute law.