Is it valid for one party to contribute an animal to another for work, stipulating that the resulting earnings be split (e.g., half or a third)?
General Chapter
Al-Mughni
Book of Partnership
Primary text
This arrangement is valid. This is the opinion narrated by Al-Athram, Muhammad ibn Abi Harb, and Ahmad ibn Sa'id. Al-Awza'i held a view indicating agreement. The basis for validity is that it is a tangible asset that yields growth through work performed upon it, thus resembling sharecropping (muzara'ah) or joint venture on trees (musaqah), where the owner gives the asset for use in exchange for a portion of its yield while the asset's corpus remains intact.
Supporting text
Al-Hasan, Al-Nakha'i, Al-Shafi'i, Abu Thawr, Ibn al-Mundhir, and the proponents of the opinion of *Ahl al-Ra'y* (People of Opinion) consider this invalid. They hold that the entire profit belongs to the animal's owner because the burden carried entitles one to compensation. The laborer is due their like-wage (ajr mithl) because this arrangement is not one of the recognized partnership types, nor is it *Mudarabah* (sleeping partnership), especially since *Mudarabah* with commodities (Arud) is invalid, and the animal cannot be sold or removed from the owner's possession. Al-Qadi suggested invalidity based on the invalidity of *Mudarabah* with commodities, implying the owner takes the earnings or price and owes the animal's owner its like-wage.