Darul Uloom Trinidad & Tobago

Question: Assalaamu Alaikum Respected Mufti Sahib. Having gone into a Halal business partnership based on trust and written contract arrangements with another Muslim Brother who portrayed Taqwa , as time passed, I realised that I was manipulated for his personal gains. Trust seems to be just another word without any value.

Can you give some general Islamic guidelines for Muslims when going into business partnership arrangements. Too often we fall victims due to unscrupulous Muslims. I hope your advise will also be helpful to prevent other Muslims from falling in the same “hole” as I did. I continue to make Dua to Allah SWT for a way out. Jaza kallah.

Answer:

Wa Alaikum As Salam,

It is sad to know that this happened with you. May Allah make it easy for you and replace your loss with goodness. While going into business partnerships agreement, one should have good knowledge about the person who will be a partner in the business. As much as possible, one should find out about the person with respect to his honesty, trustworthiness, truthfulness and his conduct with respect to financial transactions. It is also good to find out about the intended business partner from people with whom he had done business before. When this has been done, and one is satisfied and pleased with the person, then one should do Istikhara and make dua to Allah for guidance in this matter. One should ask Allah to show him whether the business partnership will be good or not. If one gets good signs from Allah regarding the business he is about to go into, then he should make dua to Allah to guide him in what he is doing and protect him from the harms/loss that may come about. He should also beg Allah to protect him from being deceived by another person.

When this has been done then, placing full trust in Allah, one should go into the business by firstly documenting everything regarding the terms of the partnership. It must be stipulated as to how much funds each partner is required to invest, and what shall be the percentage of profit for each partner. It is essential to identify in what goods will the investment take place and until what time the partnership will continue. The parties in the partnership must also agree as to who will manage the funds and whether both parties will work or only one. If only one party will be working the funds/business, then what shall be the share of profit for the sleeping partner. All these and other relevant terms of agreement should be documented in the form of a partnership contract and all parties must sign to it. Along with this, two reliable witnesses must also place their signatures, indicating that they have witnessed the contract and terms of agreement.

After this, monies can be released for the business based on the agreement. One must take a keen interest in what is being done in the business partnership. One should follow the business thoroughly, and look at documents, bills, payments, purchases etc. regarding the business. He should also request information regarding all activities of the business. If one of the parties has to travel for the sake of the business, then this must be in agreement with the other party.

In this case, the country to be visited, the amount of funds to be released and the gods that are to be purchased must be agreed upon by the parties of the partnership. These are some basic guidelines regarding a partnership business. Insha Allah if these are followed, then one will be able to protect himself from being cheated or manipulated in business deals.

And Allah Knows Best

Mufti Waseem Khan

6/3/2014