Question:
AssalaamMolana,
I have a question regarding a partnership. Is the following allowed?
There are 2 people. Person 1 puts down $1,000,000 towards the capital of the business and Person 2 doesn’t put down any capital. Person 1 doesn’t have any involvement in the business besides the capital. Person 2 will run the day-to-day business. The 2 of them agree on a percentage ratio for profits. 80% for Person 1 and 20% for Person 2. Is this permissible.
Answer:
In the name of Allah, Most Compassionate, Most Merciful,
As-salāmu ‘alaykum wa-rahmatullāhi wa-barakātuh.
Brother in Islam,
The partnership in reference is a Mudharabah partnership.
Mudarabah is such a partnership wherein one partner contributes investment capital to the partnership while the other partner contributes his management skills. The investor is referred to as the RabbulMaal while the entrepreneur is referred to as the Mudharib.The investor and the entrepreneur mutually agree to share a percentage of the net profit, for example, 80% and 20%.All expenses will be paid from the profit and the balance of the profit will then be distributed as per agreement.All losses will be attributed to the investor. The Mudharib will merely lose his efforts in managing the Mudharabah portfolio.However, if there is negligence from the Mudhaarib, then he will be liable to pay for any loss incurred.[i]
And Allah Ta’āla Knows Best
Hammad Ibn Ismail Jogiat
Student - Darul Iftaa
Cambridge, Ontario, Canada
Checked and Approved by,
Mufti Ebrahim Desai.
الجوهرة النيرة على مختصر القدوري (1/ 291)[i]
وَفِي الشَّرْعِ عِبَارَةٌ عَنْ عَقْدٍ بَيْنَ اثْنَيْنِ يَكُونُ مِنْ أَحَدِهِمَا الْمَالُ وَمِنْ الْآخَرِ التِّجَارَةُ فِيهِ وَيَكُونُ الرِّبْحُ بَيْنَهُمَا. وَرُكْنُهَا الْإِيجَابُ، وَالْقَبُولُ
حاشية الشلبي على تبيين الحقائق (5/52)
قَالَ الْإتْقَانِيُّ هِيَ دَفْعُ الْمَالِ إلَى الْغَيْرِ لِيَتَّجِرَ بِهِ عَلَى أَنْ يَكُونَ الرِّبْحُ الْحَاصِلُ فِيهِ بَيْنَهُمَا عَلَى مَا شَرَطَا
بدائع الصنائع في ترتيب الشرائع (6/ 85)
(وَمِنْهَا) أَنْ يَكُونَ الْمَشْرُوطُ لِكُلِّ وَاحِدٍ مِنْهُمَا مِنْ الْمُضَارِبِ وَرَبِّ الْمَالِ مِنْ الرِّبْحِ جُزْءًا شَائِعًا، نِصْفًا أَوْ ثُلُثًا أَوْ رُبْعًا، فَإِنْ شَرَطَا عَدَدًا مُقَدَّرًا بِأَنْ شَرَطَا أَنْ يَكُونَ لِأَحَدِهِمَا مِائَةُ دِرْهَمٍ مِنْ الرِّبْحِ أَوْ أَقَلُّ أَوْ أَكْثَرُ وَالْبَاقِي لِلْآخَرِ لَا يَجُوزُ، وَالْمُضَارَبَةُ فَاسِدَةٌ؛ لِأَنَّ الْمُضَارَبَةَ نَوْعٌ مِنْ الشَّرِكَةِ، وَهِيَ الشَّرِكَةُ فِي الرِّبْحِ، وَهَذَا شَرْطٌ يُوجِبُ قَطْعَ الشَّرِكَةِ فِي الرِّبْحِ؛ لِجَوَازِ أَنْ لَا يَرْبَحَ الْمُضَارِبُ إلَّا هَذَا الْقَدْرَ الْمَذْكُورَ، فَيَكُونُ ذَلِكَ لِأَحَدِهِمَا دُونَ الْآخَرِ، فَلَا تَتَحَقَّقُ الشَّرِكَةُ، فَلَا يَكُونُ التَّصَرُّفُ مُضَارَبَةً،
شرح المجلة (4/ 325)
(المضاربة نوع شركة أن رأس المال من طرف والسعي والعمل من طرف آخر ويقال لصاحب رأس المال رب المال وللعامل مضارب)