Chapter on the Rulings of sharikat al-ʿinān

Pronounced with a kasra on the ʿayn, it received this name because the two partners are on an equal footing in both capital and management—like two horsemen who level the reins of their mounts and ride side by side, the reins of their horses perfectly aligned. In the same way, each of the two partners matches the other in contributing his wealth and his labour to the partnership.

The essence of sharikat al-ʿinān is that two or more persons combine their respective funds so that they become a single capital which they both work with their own hands, or one of them works in it and therefore takes from the profit a share greater than the other.

Sharikat al-ʿinān, in this sense, is permissible by unanimous agreement, as reported by Ibn al-Mundhir (may Allah have mercy upon him); the scholars have differed only over some of its conditions.

Every partner’s disposition of the partnership assets is valid: he acts as owner with respect to his own share and as agent with respect to his partner’s share, for the very wording of the partnership contract dispenses with any separate authorisation from each to the other.

The jurists also concur that the partnership capital may consist of minted gold and silver coins, for people have entered into partnerships with such currency from the time of the Prophet ﷺ up to the present day without anyone objecting.