His statement, “even if unequal,” means that some of the capital may be greater than the other. For example, one person may enter the partnership with one million riyals and the other with five hundred thousand riyals. It is not a condition that the two amounts of capital be equal; rather, they may differ. The manner in which the profit is to be distributed will be discussed later, Allah willing.
His statement, “so that they may work with it by their own labor,” means either through their own labor or through the labor of those whom they appoint. For example, one of them may have an enslaved person, a servant, or the like, who manages his wealth; this is as though he himself had managed it. Thus, the phrase “by their own labor” is based on what is generally the case. Otherwise, one of them may be a partner in the capital while the work is carried out by his servant, paternal uncle, cousin, or someone similar.
If it is asked, “What if only one of us works with it?” The author of al-Rawd says (1) that this is an ‘inān partnership, whereas the apparent meaning of the author’s words is that it is not an ‘inān partnership. It is clear, however, that this resembles an ‘inān partnership in one respect and a muḍārabah partnership in another. Inasmuch as one of them works with both his capital and his labor, it resembles an ‘inān partnership; but inasmuch as the other does not work with his own labor, and the work is only done with respect to his capital, it resembles a muḍārabah partnership. We may therefore say that it combines both muḍārabah and ‘inān.
However, it is a condition in this type of partnership that the one who works with his labor receive a share of the profit greater than the profit attributable to his capital, so that it contains an element of muḍārabah. For example, I contribute ten thousand riyals and he contributes ten thousand riyals, and I say to him, “You work, for I am unable to do so, and you will receive half of the profit.” This is not valid. He must receive more than the profit attributable to his capital, because the one who contributed the capital but did not