Wael Zaki

Ijara and Murabaha under wartime stress: Shariah-compliant real estate financing in the 2026 Gulf conflict

The 2026 Iran War has exposed a structural vulnerability in Shariah-compliant real estate financing that conventional restructuring tools cannot readily address. This Spotlight article analyses the specific stress points created by the conflict for ijara (lease-to-own) and murabaha (cost-plus sale) structures, which together underpin the majority of Saudi real estate fund financing. It maps the interaction between the Shariah-law vulnerabilities and the Saudi Civil Transactions Law hardship framework, identifies the White Land Tax as an underappreciated wartime holding cost and proposes a practical framework for fund managers, Shariah advisors and lenders navigating the current crisis.