Musharakah
1- Definitions
In this section, some technical words are defined.
Musharakah: an agreement between the bank and a costumer to contribute capital in various proportions to an enterprise, whether existing or new, or to ownership of a real estate or moveable asset. Profits generated by that enterprise or real estate/ asset are shared in accordance with the terms of Musharakah agreement whilst losses are shared in proportion to the respective contributor's share of capital.
Diminishing Musharakah: a type of Musharakah on a diminishing basis where the costumer progressively buys out the share of the bank.
Hamish Jiddiyyah: in the case of a binding MPO, the risk of selling at a loss is mitigated by securing a Hamish Jiddiyyah (HJ). It's a security deposit held as collateral upon entering into agreement to purchase or agreement to lease.
Sharia: is the body of Islamic religious law. It is the legal framework within which the public and private aspects of life are regulated for those living in a legal system based on Islamic principles of jurisprudence. Sharia deals with many aspects of day-to-day life, including politics, economics, banking, business, contracts, family, sexuality, hygiene, and social issues.
PSIA: Profit Sharing Investment Account is a financial instrument that is relatively similar to the time deposits of conventional banks. According to the terms and conditions of PSIA, depositors are entitled to receive a share of the bank's profits, but also obliged to bear all potential losses pertaining to their investment in the bank. This profit-sharing principle is core to Islamic finance, according to which investors and entrepreneurs must share the risks and rewards of a given venture.
A PSIA can be further categorised into: Unrestricted PSIA and Restricted PSIA. The Bank has full discretionary power in making investment decisions for unrestricted PSIA, but in the case of the restricted PSIA the placement of funds by the Bank is subject to investment criteria contract or agreed between the investment account holders (IAH) and the Bank at the time of contracting.
2-Musharakah's principle
Musharakah is a relationship established by the parties through a mutual contract. Therefore, it goes without saying that all the necessary ingredients of a valid contract must be present here also. For example, the parties should be capable of entering into a contract; the contract must take place with free consent of the parties without any duress, fraud or misrepresentation, etc., etc.
But there are certain ingredients which are peculiar to the contract of "Musharakah". They are summarized here:
- Distribution of profit: the proportion of profit to be distributed between the partners must be agreed upon at the time of effecting the contract. If no such proportion has been determined, the contract is not valid in Sharia.
- Sharing of loss: but in the case of loss, all the Muslim jurists are unanimous on the point that each partner shall suffer the loss exactly according to the ratio of his investment. Therefore, if a partner has invested 40% of the capital, he must suffer 40% of the loss, not more, not less, and any condition to the contrary shall render the contract invalid. There is a complete consensus of jurists on this principle.
- The nature of the capital: most of the Muslim jurists are of the opinion that the capital invested by each partner must be in liquid form. It means that the contract of Musharakah can be based only on money, and not on commodities. In other words, the share capital of a joint venture must be in monetary form.
- Management of Musharakah: the normal principle of Musharakah is that every partner has a right to take part in its management and to work for it. However, the partners may agree upon a condition that the management shall be carried out by one of them, and no other partner shall work for the Musharakah. But in this case the sleeping partner shall be entitled to the profit only to the extent of his investment, and the ratio of profit allocated to him should not exceed the ratio of his investment.
3- Musharakah stages
4- Slotting criteria