Hassan al-Sayf
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Hassan al-Sayf (fl. 15th century AH / 21st century CE) is a contemporary Islamic legal researcher specializing in Islamic commercial jurisprudence (fiqh al-muʿāmalāt), best known for his treatise on corporate stock subscriptions, Aḥkām al-Iktitāb fī al-Sharikāt al-Musāhama (Rulings on Subscription in Joint-Stock Companies) .
Biography and Academic Background
Hassan ibn Ibrahim ibn Muhammad al-Sayf studied at Imam Muhammad ibn Saud Islamic University . During his academic career, he prepared and saw to publication his father Ibrahim ibn Muhammad al-Sayf's five-volume biographical dictionary on fourteenth-century Hijri scholars and their students, al-Mubtadaʾ wa-l-Khabar li-ʿUlamāʾ al-Qarn al-Rābiʿ ʿAshar wa-Talāmīdhatihim, which was issued in Riyadh in 1426 AH (2005 CE) after his father fell ill .
Jurisprudential Focus
Al-Sayf's research centers on contemporary Islamic financial law and corporate jurisprudence, with a focus on modern financial transactions and corporate regulation in Saudi Arabia . In his monograph Aḥkām al-Iktitāb fī al-Sharikāt al-Musāhama, published in Dammam in 1427 AH (2006 CE), he examined the legal and juristic dimensions of public share subscriptions in joint-stock companies .
His legal analysis addressed the stages of initial public offerings—public invitation (offer), application submission (acceptance), and share allotment—and analyzed the legal nature of corporate subscriptions under Saudi company law . Al-Sayf argued that foundational subscriptions (al-iktitāb al-taʾsīsī) constitute a partnership contract (ʿaqd sharika) between the founders and subscribers, whereas subsequent capital-increase subscriptions constitute a sale contract (ʿaqd bayʿ) between the company's independent legal entity and subscribers . Grounding his analysis in the principle that commercial transactions are fundamentally permissible unless prohibited by an explicit text, he maintained the general lawfulness of joint-stock companies and stock subscriptions, provided that the company's underlying activities are lawful .
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List of Works
Ahkam al-Iktitab fi al-Sharikat al-Musahama (Rulings on Subscription in Joint-Stock Companies) is a contemporary treatise on Islamic jurisprudence that examines the legal and sharia dimensions of public share subscriptions in joint-stock companies. The work evaluates the technical procedures of stock flotation and subscription under commercial law, particularly Saudi corporate law, from the perspective of Islamic jurisprudence.