Silent Partnership: Halāl Status of Bank Profits When No Loss Is Shared**

Practical Laws of Islam as per the teachings of Imam Khamenei

Silent Partnership: Halāl Status of Bank Profits When No Loss Is Shared**

English:

Question #1889:

Since banking transactions cannot be considered a true silent partnership because the bank does not bear a share of any loss, should the money received by the depositors as profit for their money be considered ḥalāl?

Answer #1889:

The bank may not be party to sharing the loss arising from money it has made available to businessmen by way of a silent partnership. Yet, this should not necessarily mean that such a partnership is invalid. Nor should it mean that the partnership contract is merely nominal and formal. There is no legal barrier to the owner, or his agent, stipulating, within the framework of the contract, that the working partner bears the damage and loss of the money owner. Therefore, the silent partnership espoused by the bank, as the agent of the depositors, is ruled sound and the profits made thereof, that go to the money owners, are ḥalāl unless it is proved that the transaction was nominal and invalid for a reason.

-Imam Khamenei, Practical Laws of Islam, Importance and Conditions of Silent Partnership