Higher Profit Shares Among Partners

3-4-2018 | IslamWeb

Question:

assalamu alaykum. suppose we 10 friends do a partnership business, but as dividing the profit in exact proportion is tough, so we make an agreement that if anyone get something more or less nobody will mind. is this OK?

---

Answer:

All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.

It is necessary when conducting the contract, to determine the precise profit each partner deserves and not to have anything unknown (details or terms) and in a manner that leaves no room for ambiguity. However, there is no harm if some partners get a high share over others within the specified amount of profit. What counts is what is agreed upon in the contract and that it is with the consent of all partners.

There is no specific amount of profit in the Sharee’ah that a partner should take.

Ibn Muflih (a Hanbali scholar) said in his book Al-Furoo’:

“The profit of each partner depends on the conditions set by the two partners [in the contract] even if one takes more than other while they both invested the same amount. This was explicitly stated by Imam Ahmad.” [End of quote]

Therefore, it is necessary to determine the profit that each partner will get at the time of the contract. If a profit is made, then it is acceptable if one of the two parties renounces part of what he deserves to the other party at the time of distributing the profit shares.

For more benefit, please refer to Fatwa 237331.

Allah knows best.