Reference no: EM132157207

Islamic Law and Respondeat Superior The doctrine of respondeat superior is well establish in the legal system of the United States and most Western countries. As you have already read, under this doctrine employers can be held liable for the act of their agents, including employees. The doctrine of respondeat superior is not universal, however. Most Middle Eastern countries, for example, do not follow this doctrine. Islamic law, as codified in the sharia holds to a strict belief that responsibility for human actions lies with the individual and cannot be vicariously extended to others. This belief and other concepts of Islamic law are based on the writings of Muhammad, the seventh-century prophet whose revelations form the basis of the Islamic religion and, by extension, the sharia. Muhammad's prophecies are documented in the Koran, which is the principal source of the sharia. How would U.S. society be affected if employers could not be held vicariously liable for their employees' torts?