The Structured Nature of the Qur’ānic Verses in Countering the Non-Compliance of International Obligations

Within international law, non-compliance to international treaties results in the sanctity of the rule of ‘Pacta sunt servanda (agreements must be kept)’ – which is the backbone of the international law system – being broken. This legal system acknowledges the right of a party to, indiscriminately and based on reprisal, terminate a treaty with the initial non-compliant party. Similarly, the Glorious Qur’ān also allows, as a clear exception to the rule of ‘Pacta sunt servanda’, the right of a state to withhold their obligations in respect to a treaty that has been breached. However, according to the comprehensive framework and structured nature of the Glorious Qur’ān, two principle and significant differences exist between its teachings and this man-ratified system of law. The first of these differences is that according to the Glorious Qur’ān, the initial breach of an international treaty has two referents, an actual breach or an anticipatory breach. The second difference is that the observance of justice in the breaking of a breached treaty is fundamental within the Glorious Qur’ān. Furthermore, by means of this analytical outlook, the fundamentality of justice within governmental treaties – a unique Qur’ānic teaching – becomes manifest. This research aims to elucidate these differences in a descriptive-analytical manner.