Is it permissable to have bonds and shares?

Principles of Shariah Governing Islamic Investment Funds

By Mufti Taqi Usmani

- Equity Fund

- Conditions for Investment in Shares

- Ijarah Fund

- Commodity Fund

- Murabahah Fund

- Bai'-al-dain

- Mixed Fund

The term "Islamic Investment Fund" in this article means a joint pool

wherein the investors contribute their surplus money for the purpose of its

investment to earn halal profits in strict conformity with the precepts of

Islamic Shariah. The subscribers of the Fund may receive a document

certifying their subscription and entitling them to the pro-rated profits

actually accrued to the Fund. These documents may be called "certificates"

"units" "shares" or may be given any other name, but their validity in terms

of Shariah, will always be subject to two basic conditions:

First, instead of a fixed return tied up with their face value, they must

carry a pro-rated profit actually earned by the Fund. Therefore, neither the

principal nor a rate of profit (tied up with the principal) can be

guaranteed. The subscribers must enter into the fund with a clear

understanding that the return on their subscription is tied up with the

actual profit earned or loss suffered by the Fund. If the Fund earns huge

profits, the return in their subscription will increase to that proportion;

however, in case the Fund suffers loss, they will have to share it also,

unless the loss is caused by the negligence or mismanagement, in which case

the management, and not the Fund, will be liable to compensate it.

Second, the amounts so pooled together must be invested in a business

acceptable to Shariah. It means that not only the channels of investment,

but also the terms agreed with them must conform to the Islamic principles.

Keeping these basic requisites in view, the Islamic Investment Funds may

accommodate a variety of modes of investment which are discussed briefly in

the following paragraphs.

Equity Fund

In an equity fund the amounts are invested in the shares of joint stock

companies. The profits are mainly achieved through the capital gains by

purchasing the shares and selling them when their prices are increased.

Profits are also achieved by the dividends distributed by the relevant

companies.

It is obvious that if the main business of a company is not lawful in terms

of Shariah, it is not allowed for an Islamic Fund to purchase, hold or sell

its shares, because it will entail the direct involvement of the share

holder in that prohibited business.

Similarly the contemporary Shariah experts are almost unanimous on the point

that if all the transactions of a company are in full conformity with

Shariah, which includes that the company neither borrows money on interest

nor keeps its surplus in an interest bearing account, its shares can be

purchased, held and sold without any hindrance from the Shariah side. But

evidently, such companies are very rare in the contemporary stock markets.

Almost all the companies quoted in the present stock market or in some way

involved in an activity which violates the injunctions of Shariah.

Even if the main business of a company is halal, its borrowings are based on

interest". On the other hand, they keep their surplus money in an interest

bearing account or purchase interest bearing bonds or securities.

The case of such companies has been a matter of debate between the Shariah

experts in the present century. A group of the Shariah experts is of the

view that it is not allowed for a Muslim to deal in the shares of such a

company, even if its main business is halal. Their basic argument is that

every share-holder of a company is a sharik (partner) of the company, and

every sharik, according to the Islamic jurisprudence, is an agent for the

other partners in the matters of the joint business. Therefore, the mere

purchase of a share of a company embodies an authorization from the

share-holder to the company to carry on its business in whatever manner the

management deems fit. If it is known to the share-holder that the company is

involved in an un-Islamic transaction, still, he holds the shares of that

company, it means that he has authorized the management to proceed with that

un-Islamic transaction. In this case, he will not only be responsible for

giving his consent to an un-Islamic transaction, but that transaction will

also be rightfully attributed to himself, because the management of the

company is working under his tacit authorization.

Moreover, when a company is financed on the basis of interest, its funds

employed in the business are impure. Similarly, when the company receives

interest on its deposits an impure element is necessarily included in its

income which will be distributed to the share-holders through dividends.

However, a large number of the present day scholars do not endorse this

view. They argue that a joint stock company is basically different from a

simple partnership period. In partnership, all the policy decisions are

taken by the consensus of all the partners, and each one of them has a veto

power with regard to the policy of business. Therefore, all the actions of a

partnership are rightfully attributed to each partner. Conversely, the

policy decisions in a joint stock company are taken by the majority. Being

composed of a large number of share-holders, a company cannot give a veto

power to each share-holder. The opinions of individual share-holders can be

overruled by a majority decision. Therefore, each and every action taken by

the company cannot be attributed to every share-holder in his individual

capacity. If a share-holder raises an objection against a particular

transaction in an annual general meeting, but his objection is overruled by

the majority, it will not be fair to conclude that he has given his consent

to the transaction in his individual capacity, specially when he intends to

withdraw from the income attributable to that transaction.

Therefore, if a company is engaged in a halal business, however, it keeps

its surplus money in an interest-bearing account, wherefrom a small

incidental income of interest is received, it does not render all the

business of the company unlawful. Now, if a person acquires the shares of

such a company with clear intention that he will oppose the incidental

transaction also, and will not use that proportion of the dividend for his

own benefit, how can it be said that he has approved the transaction of

interest and how can that transaction be attributed to him?

The other aspect of the dealings of such a company that it sometimes borrows

money from financial institutions. These borrowings are mostly based on

interest. Here again the same principal is relevant. If a share-holder is

not personally agreeable to such borrowings, but has been overruled by the

majority, these borrowing transactions cannot be attributed to him.

Moreover, according to the principals of Islamic jurisprudence borrowing on

interest is a grave sinful act for which the borrower is responsible in the

Hereafter; however, this sinful act does not render the whole business of

the borrower as haram impermissible. The borrowed amount being recognized as

owned by the borrower, anything purchased in exchange of that money is not

unlawful. Therefore, the responsibility of committing a sinful act of

borrowing on interest rests with the person who willfully indulged in a

transaction of interest, but this fact does not render the whole business of

a company as un-lawful.

Conditions for Investment in Shares

In the light of the forgoing discussion, dealing in equity shares can be

acceptable in Shariah subject to the following conditions:

1. The main business of the company is not in violation of Shariah.

Therefore, it is not permissible to acquire the shares of the companies

providing financial services on interest, like conventional banks, insurance

companies, or the companies involved in some other business not approved by

the Shariah, such as the companies manufacturing, selling or offering

liquors, pork, haram meat, or involved in gambling, night club activities,

pornography etc.

2. If the main business of the companies is halal, like automobiles,

textile, etc. but they deposit there surplus amounts in a interest-bearing

account or borrow money on interest, the share holder must express his

disapproval against such dealings, preferably by raising his voice against

such activities in the annual general meeting of the company.

3. If some income from interest-bearing accounts is included in the income

of the company, the proportion of such income in the dividend paid to the

share-holder must be given charity, and must not be retained by him. For

example, if 5% of the whole income of a company has come out of

interest-bearing deposits, 5% of the dividend must be given in charity.

4. The shares of a company are negotiable only if the company owns some

non-liquid assets. If all the assets of a company are in liquid form, i.e.

in the form of money that cannot be purchased or sold, except on par value,

because in this case the share represents money only and the money cannot be

traded in except at par.

What should be the exact proportion of non-liquid assets of a company for

the negotiability of its shares? The contemporary scholars have different

views about this question. Some scholars are of the view that the ratio of

non-liquid assets must be 51% at the least. They argue that if such assets

are less than 50%, the most of the assets are in liquid form, therefore, all

its assets should be treated as liquid on the basis of the juristic

principle: The majority deserves to be treated as the whole of a thing. Some

other scholars have opined that even if the non-liquid asset of a company or

33%, its shares can be treated as negotiable.

The third view is based on the Hanafi jurisprudence. The principle of the

Hanafi school is that whenever an asset is a mixture of a liquid and

non-liquid assets, it can be negotiable irrespective of the proportion of

its liquid part. However, this principle is subject to two conditions:

First, the non-liquid part of the mixture must not be in a negligible

quantity. It means that it should be in a considerable proportion. Second,

the price of the mixture should be more than the price of the liquid amount

contained therein. For example, if a share of 100 dollars represents 75

dollars, plus some fixed assets the price of the share must be more than 75

dollars. In this case, if the price of the share is fixed as 105, it will

mean that 75 dollars are in exchange of 75 dollars owned by the share and

the rest of 30 dollars are in exchange of the fixed asset. Conversely, if

the price of that share fixed as 70 dollars, it will not be allowed, because

the 75 dollars owned by the share are in this case against an amount which

is less than 75. This kind of exchange falls within the definition of "riba"

and is not allowed. Similarly, if the price of the share, in the above

example, is fixed as 75 dollars, it will not be permissible, because if we

presume that 75 dollars owned by the share, no part of the price can be

attributed to the fixed assets owned by the share. Therefore, some part of

the price (75 dollars) must be presumed to be in exchange of the fixed

assets of the share. In this case, the remaining amount will not be adequate

for the price of 75 dollars. For this reason the transaction will not be

valid.

However, in practical terms, this is merely a theoretical possibility,

because it is difficult to imagine a situation where a price of the share

goes lower than its liquid assets.

Subject to these conditions, the purchase and sale of shares is permissible

in Shariah. An Islamic Equity Fund can be established on this basis. The

subscribers to the Fund will be treated in Shariah as partners "inter se."

All the subscription amounts will form a joint pool and will be invested in

purchasing the shares of different companies. The profits can accrue either

through dividends distributed by the relevant companies or through the

appreciation in the prices of the shares. In the first case i.e. where the

profits earned through dividends, a certain proportion of the dividend,

which corresponds to the proportion of interest earned by the company, must

be given in charity. The contemporary Islamic Funds have termed this process

as "purification."

The Shariah scholars have different views about whether the "purification"

is necessary where the profits are made through capital gains (i.e. by

purchasing the shares at a lower price and selling them at a higher price).

Some scholars are of the view that even in the case of capital gains the

process of "purification" is necessary, because the market price of the

share may reflect an element of interest included in the assets of the

company. The other view is that no purification is required if the share is

sold, even if it results in a capital gain. The reason is that no specific

amount of price can be allocated for the interest received by the company.

It is obvious if all the above requirements of the halal shares are

observed, the most of the assets of the company are halal, and a very small

proportion of its assets may have been created by the income of interest.

This small proportion is not only unknown, but also a negligible as compared

to the bulk of the assets of the company. Therefore, the price of the share,

in fact, is against the bulk of the assets, and not against such a small

proportion. The whole price of the share therefore, may be taken as the

price of the halal assets only.

Although this second view is not without force, yet the first view is more

cautious and far from doubts. Particularly, it is more equitable in an

open-ended equity fund because if the purification is not carried out on the

appreciation and a person redeems his unit of the Fund at a time when no

dividend is received by it, no amount of purification will be deducted from

its price, even though the price of the unit may have increased due to the

appreciation in the prices of the shares held by the fund. Conversely, when

a person redeems his unit of the Fund at a time when no dividend is received

by it, no amount of purification will be deducted from its price, even

though the price of the unit may have increased due to the appreciation in

the prices of the shares held by the fund. Conversely, when a person redeems

his unit after some dividends have been received in the fund and the amount

of purification has been deducted therefrom, reducing the net asset value

per unit, he will get a lesser price compared to the first person.

On the contrary, if purification is carried out both on dividend and capital

gains, all the unit-holders will be treated at par with the regard to the

deduction of the amounts of purification. Therefore, it is not only free

from doubts but also more equitable for all the unit-holders to carry out

purification in the capital gains. This purification may be carried out on

the basis of an average percentage of the interest earned by the companies

included in the portfolio.

The management of the fund may be carried out in two alternative ways. The

managers of the Fund may act as mudaribs for the subscriber. In this case a

certain percentage of the annual profit accrued to the Fund may be

determined as the reward of the management, meaning thereby that the

management will get its share only if the fund has earned some profit. If

there is no profit in the fund, the management will deserve nothing, but the

share of the management will increase with the increase of profits.

The second option of the management is to act as an agent for the

subscribers. In this case, the management may be given a pre agreed fee for

its services. This fee may be fixed in lump sum or as a monthly or annual

remuneration. According to the contemporary Shariah scholars, the fee can

also be based on a percentage of the net asset value of the fund. For

example, it may be agreed that the management will get 2% or 3% of the net

asset value of the fund at the end of every financial year.

However, it is necessary in Shariah to determine any of the aforesaid

methods before the launch of the fund. The practical way for this would be

to disclose in the prospectus of the fund on what basis the fees of the

management will be paid. It is generally presumed that whoever subscribes to

the fund agrees with the terms mentioned in the prospectus. Therefore, the

manner of paying the management will be taken as agreed upon on all the

subscribers.

Ijarah Fund

Another type of Islamic Fund may be an ijarah fund. Ijarah means leasing. In

this fund the subscription amounts are used to purchase assets like real

estate, motor vehicles, or other equipment for the purpose of leasing them

out to their ultimate users. The ownership of these assets remains with the

Fund and the rentals are charged from the users. These rentals are the

source of income for the fund which is distributed pro rated to the

subscribers. Each subscriber is given a certificate to evidence his

subscription and to ensure his entitlement to the pro rated share in the

income. These certificates may be preferably called "sukuk" -- a term

recognized in the traditional Islamic jurisprudence. Since these sukuk

represent the pro rated ownership of their holders in the tangible assets of

the fund, and not the liquid amounts or debts, they are fully negotiable and

can be sold and purchased in the secondary market. Anyone who purchases

these sukuk replaces the sellers in the pro rated ownership of the relevant

assets and all the rights and obligations of the original subscriber are

passed on to him. The price of these sukuk will be determined on the basis

of market forces, and are normally based on their profitability.

However, it should be kept in mind that the contracts of leasing must

conform to the principles of Shariah which substantially differ from the

terms and conditions used in the agreements of the conventional financial

leases. The points of reference are explained in detail in my book "Islamic

Finance." However, some basic principles are summarized here: 1. The leased

assets must have some usufruct, and the rental must be charged only from

that point of time when the usufruct is handed over to the lessee.

2. The leased assets must be of a nature that their halal (permissible) use

is possible.

3. The lessor must undertake all the responsibilities consequent to the

ownership of the assets.

4. The rental must be fixed and known to the parties right at the beginning

of the contract. In this type of the fund the management should act as an

agent of the subscribers and should be paid a fee for his services. The

management fee may be a fixed amount or a proportion of the rentals

received. Most of the Muslim jurists are of the view that such a fund cannot

be created on the basis of mudarabah, because mudarabah, according to them,

is restricted to the sale of commodities and does not extend to the business

of services and leases. However, in the Hanbali school, mudarabah can be

affected in services and leases also. This view has been preferred by a

number of contemporary scholars.

Commodity Fund

Another possible type of Islamic Funds may be a commodity fund. In the fund

of this type the subscription amounts are used in purchasing different

commodities for the purpose of the resale. The profits generated by the sale

are the income of the fund which is distributed pro rated among the

subscribers. In order to make this fund acceptable to Shariah, it is

necessary that all the rules governing the transactions and fully complied

with. For example:

1. The commodity must be owned by the seller at the time of sale, therefore,

short sales where a person sells a commodity before he owns it are not

allowed in Shariah.

2. Forward sales are not allowed except in the case of salam and istisna'

(For their full details my book "Islamic Finance" may be consulted).

3. The commodities must be halal, therefore, it is not allowed to deal in

wines, pork, or other prohibited materials.

4. The seller must have physical or constructive possession or the commodity

he wants to sell. (Constructive possession includes any act by which the

risk of the commodity is passed on to the purchaser).

5. The price of the commodity must be fixed and known to the parties. Any

price which is uncertain or is tied up with an uncertain event renders the

sale invalid.

In view of the above and similar other conditions, it may easily be

understood that the transactions prevalent in the contemporary commodity

markets, specially in the futures commodity markets do not comply with these

conditions. Therefore, an Islamic Commodity Fund cannot enter into such

transactions. However, if there are genuine commodity transactions observing

all the requirements of Shariah, including the above conditions, a commodity

fund may well be established. The units of such fund can also be traded in

with the condition that the portfolio owns some commodities at all times.

Murabahah Fund

"Murabahah" is a specific kind of sale where the commodities are sold on a

cost-plus basis. This kind of sale has been adopted by the contemporary

Islamic banks and financial institutions as a mode of financing. They

purchase the commodity for the benefit of their clients, then sell it to

them on the basis of deferred payment at an agreed margin of profit added to

the cost. If a fund is created to undertake this kind of sale, it should be

a closed-end fund and its units can not be negotiable in a secondary market.

The reason is that in the in the case Murabahah, as undertaken by the

present financial institutions, the commodities are sold to the clients

immediately after their purchase from the original supplier, while the price

being on deferred payment basis becomes a debt payable by the client.

Therefore, the portfolio of Murabahah does not own any tangible assets,

rather it comprises of either cash or the receivable debts, and both these

things are not negotiable, as explained earlier. If they are exchanged for

money, it must be at par value.

Bai'-al-dain

Here comes the question whether or not Bai'-al-dain is allowed in Shariah.

Dain means "debt" and Bai' means sale. Bai'-al-dain, therefore, connotes the

sale of debt. If a person has a debt receivable from a person and he wants

to sell it at a discount, as normally happens in the bill of exchange, it is

termed in Shariah as Bai'-al-dain. The traditional Muslim jurists (fuqaha')

are unanimous on the point that Bai'-al-dain is not allowed in Shariah. The

overwhelming majority of the contemporary Muslim scholars are of the same

view. However, some scholars of Malaysia have allowed this kind of sale.

They normally refer to the ruling of Shaf'ite school wherein it is held that

the sale of debt is allowed, but they do not pay attention to the facts that

the Shaf'ite jurists have allowed it only in a case where a debt is sold on

its par value.

In fact, the prohibition of Bai-al-dain is a logical consequence of the

prohibition of "riba" or interest. A "debt" receivable in monetary terms

corresponds to money, and every transaction where money is exchanged from

the same denomination of money, the price must be at par value. Any increase

or decrease from one side is tantamount to "riba" and can never be allowed

in Shariah. Some scholars argue that the permissibility of Bai'-al dain is

restricted to a case where the debt is created through a sale of a

commodity. In this case, they say, the debt represents the sold commodity

and its sale may be taken as a sale of the commodity. The arguments,

however, is devoid of force. For, once the commodity is sold, its ownership

is passed on to the purchaser and it is no longer commodity of the seller.

What the seller owns is nothing other than money, therefore if he sells the

debt, it is no more than a sale of money and it cannot be termed by any

stretch of imagination as the sale of the commodity. That is why this view

has not been accepted by the overwhelming majority of the contemporary

scholars. The Islamic Fiqh Academy of Jeddah which is the largest

representative body of the Shariah scholars and is represented by all the

Muslim countries, including Malaysia, has approved the prohibition of

Bai'-al-dain unanimously without a single decent.

Mixed Fund

Another type of Islamic Fund maybe of a nature where the subscription

amounts are employed in different types of investments, like equities,

leasing, commodities, etc. This may be called a Mixed Islamic Fund. In this

case if the tangible assets of the Fund are more than 51% while the

liquidity and debts are less than 50% the units of the fund may be

negotiable. However, if the proportion of liquidity and debts exceeds 50%,

its units cannot be traded in according to the majority of the contemporary

scholars. In this case the Fund must be a closed-end Fund.