the mufawada partnership (universal partnership), and the abdan partnership (labour-only partnership), both of which require work from the two parties for an agreed percentage of the profit, whereas the citizen partner in the case at hand performs no work whatsoever. Nor does the arrangement qualify as a wujuh partnership, which rests on personal credit and liability, for the citizen in question assumes neither work nor liability; and it bears no resemblance to the mudaraba partnership, where one side provides the capital and the other the labour, since this citizen supplies neither capital nor labour.
If it is said that the citizen nevertheless contributes something to the company by lending it his name, his social standing, or his personal guarantee, the answer is as follows:
First: The company draws up a public contract, presented to the authorities, while a different, private contract exists between the citizen and the foreign company. Under the Sharia, the outward form of a contract must be consistent with its inward reality.
Second: In contracts what counts are the objectives, not the outward wording, and the real objective of this arrangement is other than what appears.
Third: The prestige or guarantee attributed to this citizen is not a valid contribution that would entitle him to partnership without capital or labour.
Fourth: For the company to adopt a citizen as a partner in name only, with no real substance, contravenes the ruler’s directives. Obedience to the ruler in lawful matters is among the most important obligations. It also frustrates the ruler’s aim of employing local capital and manpower in place of foreign resources, conflicts with the actual reality behind the scenes, and falls under the warnings in the texts against false statements and perjured testimony.
Fifth: Naming the company after the citizen, when in fact he owns none of it, misleads and deceives those who deal with it—whether through sale, guarantee, or otherwise—and this entails obvious harm and corruption.
Sixth: Setting aside for him a fixed sum of money, regardless of whether the company loses or profits,