Misleading Advertisement in Islamic Law and Consumer Law in Arab Countries

Abstract

Advertising can greatly increase a company’s revenue and it becomes part of company’s promotion tool. Many companies invest significantly on advertising. Nonetheless, in attracting new customers, some advertising makes false promises, which is forbidden in Islam. This study highlights the notion of misleading advertisement from the Islamic perspective and from legal perspective based on the legislation in some Arab countries with special reference to Jordan. Islam allows business conducts so long that they abide by the principles of Shari’ah. Hence, misleading practices, deception, unfairness, misrepresentation, force and injustice in measurement, are prohibited. This paper attempts to identify the Islamic standpoint towards misleading advertisement, to promote truthful advertising.

Keywords: Advertising, Business, Misleading Advertisement, Islamic Perspective, Legal Perspective

DOI: 10.7176/JLPG/105-03

Publication date: January 31^st 2021