Syuf'ah in Islamic Laws and its Significance Under the Land Law of Malaysia

In Islamic law, al-syuf’ah affords the co-proprietors of undivided shares in a property the preferential right to purchase the shares of other co- proprietors before the shares can be offered to outsiders. In the context of Malaysian land law, the study on al-syuf’ah has its own significance as it is closely related to the concept of co-proprietorship of land (CPL) under the National Land Code, 1965 (NLC). It is well known that many issues are confronting the CPL. Most of the problems accrue from unhealthy relationships among the owners which then develop into developmental and economical aspects of the land. On the above facts, this study examines the potential of al-syuf’ah in addressing these problems as well as the possibility of employing the rules of al-syuf’ah alongside the country’s land law. To undertake the research, the data is collected from the library-based literature which then analysed using inductive, deductive as well as comparative methods. The study finds that there are leeways that allow for the implementation of the rules of al-syuf’ah alongside the existing land law. The rules of al-syuf’ah if implemented would be able to solve some of the existing problems and to prevent the problems from recurring in the future.