He has a final question. He says there is a person offering to give him capital for a commercial project or to partner with him, and since he has no experience in trade,
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The questioner : He has a final question. He says there is a person offering to give him capital for a commercial project or to partner with him, and since he has no experience in trade and he fears for his money being lost, but the other man is skilled in trade, he proposes to protect him from loss, meaning to guarantee him a fixed monthly profit rate, and he has no share in the total calculation of this trade, nor in any loss if it occurs. Knowing that it is like any commercial project free from any forbidden transactions or trade in what does not please Allah, is what he proposes, which is to give him a fixed monthly profit rate, lawful or forbidden? And does this fall under riba or not?
The Shaykh : This is forbidden, and it is not permissible for a person to give his money to someone who imposes a fixed amount on him every month, whether the money profits or loses, because this is gambling (maysir). The money may profit a great deal, in which case what you were given is small relative to it, or it may profit a little, in which case what you were given is large relative to it, or it may not profit at all, in which case the worker loses from his own money. This is similar to what the prohibition in the chapter of agricultural partnership (muzara'ah) came from, in the hadith of Rafi' ibn Khadij, who said: Meaning they used to give the landowner a fixed, known amount, either a known number of sa' of crops or a specific portion of the land, and this is forbidden. What you mentioned is like this. But the correct path to that is to give him your money to trade in, and he should have a fixed share of the profit, such as half the profit, a quarter, a third, or something similar that you both agree upon. He does the work, and you provide the capital, and the profit is between you according to what you agree upon.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : This is the mudarabah (profit-sharing partnership) that the scholars of knowledge have permitted. Yes.
The questioner : ... the questioner brother.
The Shaykh : This is forbidden, and it is not permissible for a person to give his money to someone who imposes a fixed amount on him every month, whether the money profits or loses, because this is gambling (maysir). The money may profit a great deal, in which case what you were given is small relative to it, or it may profit a little, in which case what you were given is large relative to it, or it may not profit at all, in which case the worker loses from his own money. This is similar to what the prohibition in the chapter of agricultural partnership (muzara'ah) came from, in the hadith of Rafi' ibn Khadij, who said:
The people used to lease land in the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) for the water channels and the irrigation ditches and some of the crops. This would perish and that would be saved, and this would be saved and that would perish. And the people had no rent except this. So the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) prohibited it.
كان الناس يؤاجرون في عهد النبي عليه الصلاة والسلام على الماذيانات وأقبال الجداول وأشياء من الزرع فيهلك هذا ويسلم هذا، ويسلم هذا ويهلك هذا، ولم يكن للناس كراء إلا هذا، فلذلك نهى عنه النبي عليه الصلاة والسلامThe questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : This is the mudarabah (profit-sharing partnership) that the scholars of knowledge have permitted. Yes.
The questioner : ... the questioner brother.