Sunday, 5 April 2026 (17 Shawwal 1447 AH)
Question: Two men entered into partnership on the basis that one of them would provide all the capital, and that both of them would work with that capital by buying and selling, and that the profit would be shared half-and-half and the loss half-and-half. They worked several years on the basis of this agreement. Thereafter the capital owner said: “The money is mine and the profit is mine alone.” What do you say regarding that?
Answer—and Allah is the One who grants success and aid: Each of the two men must fulfill for his fellow what he bound himself to—by His saying, “O you who believe, fulfill all contracts.” [al-Māʾidah:1] In the Qurʾān there are many verses in which Allah Most High emphasized the obligation to fulfill covenants and contracts. In the Sunnah there is much of this as well, such as what is related from Prophet (May Allah bless him and his family and grant them peace): “Believers abide by their conditions.”
Allah has condemned, in the Qurʾān, those who betray, and praised those who fulfill. Among the legal maxims is: “It is obligatory to construe Muslims’ contracts as valid wherever possible.” This partnership can be affiliated to the ʿInān partnership mentioned in the Book of Partnership.
If it is said: How do you affiliate it to ʿInān partnership while the capital here is from one side only?
We say: Because the contract described in the question necessarily includes the capital provider’s lending the other man half of the capital—inasmuch as he made him bear half the loss. From that we know that he has lent him half the capital, for loss follows (the proportion of) the capitals. Therefore we say: this partnership is valid and must be fulfilled.
NOTE: ʿInān Partnership: It is a partnership where two or more partners contribute a known capital, trade with it, and share the profit according to agreed conditions, while the loss is borne in proportion to each partner's share of capital.
Source: Min Thimār al-ʿIlm wa al-Ḥikmah vol.2