The scholars have differed over whether the capital in a sharikat al-ʿinān may consist of ʿurūḍ (non-cash commodities). Some declared it impermissible, reasoning that the value of one partner’s goods might rise before they are sold while the other partner’s goods do not, so that one ends up sharing in the growth of the other’s property. The second opinion—which is the sound one—is that it is permissible, because the very purpose of the partnership is for both partners to dispose jointly of the two assets and to share whatever profit is generated from them, an objective that is achieved with commodities just as readily as with currency.

For a sharikat al-ʿinān to be valid, each partner must be assigned a known, undivided share of the profit—such as one-third or one-quarter. Since the profit is jointly owned, the only way to distinguish each partner’s entitlement is through explicit stipulation and specification. If the shares are left unknown, or if one partner is allotted a fixed sum of money, the profit of a particular period, or the profit of a single journey, the contract is invalid in every such case. The designated portion might alone produce profit, or it might produce none, or nothing may be realised beyond the specified dirhams. All of this breeds dispute and risks one partner’s toil being lost while the other benefits, and such arrangements are forbidden by the compassionate Sharia, which was revealed to eliminate uncertainty and harm.