Glossary of Islamic Financial Terms

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Mudaraba / Modaraba (Trust Financing)
The term refers to a form of business contract in which one party brings capital and the other personal effort. The proportionate share in profit is determined by mutual agreement. But the loss, if any, is borne only by the owner of the capital, in which case the entrepreneur gets nothing for his labour. The financier is known as 'rab-al-maal' and the entrepreneur as 'mudarib'. Mudarib In a mudaraba contract, the person or party who acts as entrepreneur.

Mu'amalah (t)
Lit: economic transaction.

Murabaha / Morabaha (Cost-Plus Financing)
Lit: sale on profit. Technically a contract of sale in which the seller declares his cost and profit. This has been adopted as a mode of financing by a number of Islamic banks. As a financing technique, it involves a request by the client to the bank to purchase a certain item for him. The bank does that for a definite profit over the cost which is agreed in advance. It has been estimated that 80 to 90 percent of financial operations of some Islamic banks belong to this category. There are a number of requirements for this transaction to meet the Islamic standards of a legal sale. The entire transaction is to be completed in two stages and as two separate contracts. In the first stage, the client requests the bank to undertake a Murabaha transaction and promises to buy the commodity specified by him, if the bank acquires the same commodity. In the second stage, the client purchases the good acquired by the bank on a deferred payments basis and agrees to a payment schedule. The Murabaha form of financing is being widely used by the Islamic banks to satisfy various kinds of financing requirements. It is used to provide finance in various and diverse sectors e. g. in consumer finance for purchase of consumer durable such as cars and household appliances, in real estate to provide housing finance, in the production sector to finance the purchase of machinery, equipment and raw material etc.

Musharaka (Venture Capital)
Musharaka is a technique of financing used as a partnership. It is where two or more financiers provide finance for a project. All partners are entitled to a share in the profits resulting from the project in a ratio which is mutually agreed upon. However, the losses, if any, are to be shared exactly in the proportion of capital proportion. All partners have a right to participate in the management of the project. However, they can waive the right of participation in favour of any specific partner or person. There are two main forms of Musharaka: Permanent Musharaka and Diminishing Musharaka. These are briefly explained below:

Permanent Musharaka - In this form of Musharaka an Islamic bank participates in the equity of a project and receives a share of profit on a pro rata basis. The period of contract is not specified. So it can continue so long as the parties concerned wish it to continue. This technique is suitable for financing projects on a longer term where funds are committed over a long period and gestation period of the project may also be protracted.

Diminishing Musharaka - Diminishing Musharaka allows equity participation and sharing of profit on a pro rata basis but also provides a method through which the equity of the bank keeps on reducing its equity in the project and ultimately transfers the ownership of the asset on of the participants. The contract provides for a payment over and above the bank share in the profit for the equity of the project held by the bank. That is the bank gets a dividend on its equity. At the same time the entrepreneur purchases some of its equity. Thus, the equity held by the bank is progressively reduced. After a certain time the equity held by the bank shall come to zero and it shall cease to be a partner. Musharaka form of financing is being increasingly used by the Islamic banks to finance domestic trade, imports and to issue letters of credit.

Musaqah
A contract in which the owner of the garden shares its produce with another person in return for his services in irrigating the garden.

Muzara'a
A contract in which one person agrees to till the land of the other person in return for a part of the produce of the land.