Introduction<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
After the Book of Suretyship, Imam al-Nawawi (631\u2013676 AH \/ 1233\u20131277 CE) presents the Book of Partnership (Kitab al-Sharikah<\/em>). The word means sharing, and in the legal sense it refers to a contract in which two or more people combine their property in order to trade with it and share the profit. Partnership is one of the oldest ways of doing business, and it allows people with limited capital to pool resources and to share both effort and risk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The tradition supports this contract with a report in which God says that He is the third of two partners as long as neither betrays the other. The book treats this as a reminder that honesty is the moral basis of any joint enterprise. This article follows its main themes in the general order of the Minhaj<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The jurists recognize several forms of partnership, and the book begins by sorting the valid from the invalid. In the Shafi’i school, only one form is valid: the partnership of capital, known as sharikat al-‘inan<\/em>, in which each partner contributes property and the partners trade with the combined funds. The school rejects the other forms known in some legal traditions:<\/p>\n\n\n\n The school regards these as invalid because they involve uncertainty or a share of profit not tied to capital or to a defined labor arrangement. Where the same economic aim is desired, other valid contracts, such as agency or profit-sharing investment, may be used instead. The school’s position here is one of the best-known differences among the schools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For the partnership of capital to be valid, the book requires several conditions:<\/p>\n\n\n\n The requirement of mixing reflects the school’s view that a partnership exists in shared ownership of the whole, which is what allows both profit and loss to be shared.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A key rule is that profit and loss follow the shares of capital. If two partners contributed equally, they share equally. If one contributed twice as much, he takes twice the profit and bears twice the loss. A stipulation that departs from this, such as giving one partner a larger share of profit than his share of capital without any difference in work, is not valid in the school’s position, because the profit is a growth of property and belongs to its owners in proportion to what they own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Al-Nawawi explains the reason: since the contract itself rests on shared ownership, a term that cuts against it undermines the contract. The book also addresses what happens if one partner does more work than the other, and notes that the school’s solution in such cases is through the agent’s wage or a separate arrangement, not by changing the profit shares.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Each partner acts as an agent of the other in managing the shared property, and also as a trustee over it. The book therefore lists what a partner may and may not do:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Because he is a trustee, a partner is not liable for loss that occurs without his negligence. If he is negligent or exceeds his authority, he is liable for the damage he caused. The school also treats the case of a partner who is found to have been dishonest, for which the other partner may seek a remedy through the judge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The book gives the rules for common disputes, such as a claim by one partner that the property was lost, or that he returned part of it, or that a certain asset belongs to the shared capital. Because a partner is a trustee, his statement under oath is generally accepted when he claims loss or return, unless there is clear evidence against him. Disagreements about the amount of capital or the share of profit are resolved by the ordinary rules of evidence, with each party swearing in turn if needed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The partnership is a permitted contract, not a binding one, which means that each partner may withdraw from it at any time. It also ends upon the death or insanity of a partner, or when a partner is placed under legal restriction. When the partnership ends, the shared property is divided, with each partner receiving his share, and the partnership’s debts are paid first. If one partner withdraws and the others wish to continue, a new contract is formed. The book also explains that, even after the ending, the partners remain responsible for accounts that remain outstanding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The book distinguishes partnership from related contracts that appear later in this part. It differs from agency, in which one party acts for the other without owning a share, and from profit-sharing investment (qirad<\/em>), in which one party provides capital and the other provides labor. Understanding where each contract begins and ends helps the student apply the right rules.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The book begins by narrowing the field to the one form the school accepts, then states its conditions, then the rule that governs profit and loss, and then the duties and authority of the partners. It ends with disputes and dissolution. This order follows the logic of the contract: what it is, what makes it valid, how its benefits are shared, how it is managed, and how it ends. Seeing it this way makes it easier to follow the later books on agency and profit-sharing, which rely on the same principles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For al-Nawawi, partnership is a legal form of cooperation that protects both fairness and trust. The rule that profit and loss follow capital prevents one partner from profiting at another’s expense, and the duty of trusteeship requires each partner to guard what is shared. The report in which God is the third partner as long as neither betrays the other captures the ethic that the legal rules protect: the enterprise remains blessed only as long as its members remain honest with one another.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Note: This article summarizes the general Shafi’i position as presented in Minhaj al-Talibin. Details, including the status of forms of partnership other than the partnership of capital, differ among the schools and can vary between editions and commentaries. Modern business structures involve additional legal and ethical considerations, so readers who need a precise ruling should consult a qualified teacher or scholar.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Part 2: Transactions (Mu\u2019amalat) – Partnership (Sharikah) Part of a series on the structure of Minhaj al-Talibin, the classical Shafi’i<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":184,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"colormag_page_container_layout":"default_layout","colormag_page_sidebar_layout":"default_layout","video_url":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[12,15,14,52,27],"class_list":["post-183","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-part-2-transactions-muamalat","tag-fiqh","tag-imam-al-nawawi","tag-minhaj-al-thalibin","tag-partnership","tag-transactions-muamalat"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lslam.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lslam.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lslam.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lslam.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lslam.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=183"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lslam.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":186,"href":"https:\/\/lslam.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183\/revisions\/186"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lslam.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/184"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lslam.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=183"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lslam.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=183"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lslam.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=183"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}1. The kinds of partnership<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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2. The conditions of a valid partnership<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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3. Profit and loss<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
4. The partners’ authority and duties<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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5. Disputes<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"Disputes\"](\"https:\/\/lslam.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/Islamic-Partnership-Disputes-Infographic-1024x936.png\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n6. Ending the partnership<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
7. Partnership and related contracts<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Why the order matters<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Closing reflection<\/h2>\n\n\n\n