Mudharaba shine lokacin da mutum biyu (ko fiye) suka haɗu wajen kasuwanci, inda jari ya fito daga ɗaya daga cikinsu, aiki kuma ya fito daga ɗayan. Wato jikin mutum ɗaya yana shiga cikin haɗin gwiwa da dukiyar wani mutum. Wannan yana nufin cewa aikin zai yi shi ɗaya daga cikinsu, ɗayan kuma zai bada dukiyar. Abokan haɗin gwiwar biyu suna yarjejeniya a kan wani kaso na riba. Misali shi ne idan ɗayansu ya bada naira dubu ɗaya, ɗayan kuma ya yi aiki da ita, sannan a raba ribar tsakanin su. Dole ne a mika kuɗin ga abokin aikin (Mudharib), wanda aka ba shi cikakken iko a kan kuɗin, domin Mudharaba na buƙatar mika dukiyar ga Mudharib. Mudharib yana da damar sharadi a kan mai dukiyar cewa yana da kashi uku, ko rabi, na riba, ko duk abin da suka yarda da shi tare a matsayin ƙayyadadden kaso na riba. Wannan saboda Mudharib yana da haƙƙin riba saboda aikinsa. Saboda haka halal ne abokan haɗin gwiwa su yarda da ribar Mudharib, ko ta kasance ƙarama ko babba. Don haka Mudharaba wani nau'in aiki ne wanda hanya ce ta halal ta mallaka. Mudharib don haka yana mallakar dukiyar, wadda ya samu riba daga cikinta ta hanyar Mudharaba saboda aikinsa bisa abin da aka yarda a kai.

Mudharaba is where two persons (or more) participate in trading, where the capital comes from one of them and the work from the other. That is, the body of one person enters into partnership with the property of another person. This means that the work will be carried out by one of them and the other will provide the property. The two partners agree on a certain share of the profit. An example of this is when one of them provides one thousand pounds and the other person works with it, and the profit is divided between them. The money must be handed over to the body partner, who is given a free hand over the money, because Mudharaba requires the handing over of the property to the body partner (Mudharib). The body partner has the right to stipulate upon the property owner that He has a third, or half of the profit, or whatever they may agree on together as a defined portion of the profit. This is because the body partner (Mudharib) is entitled to the profit due to his work. It is thus allowed for the partners to agree on the profit of the Mudharib whether it is little or great. So Mudharaba is a kind of work which is a legal means of ownership. The Mudharib thus possesses the property, which He profited from via Mudharaba due to his work in accordance with what was agreed.

Mudharaba wata irin haɗin kasuwanci ce, domin haɗin jiki da dukiya ne. Haɗin kasuwanci yana daga cikin muamalolin da Shari'a ta halatta. Abu Hurairah (ra) ya ce Manzon Allah ﷺ ya ce: "Allah yana cewa: 'Ni ne na uku ga abokan haɗin kasuwanci biyu, matukar ɗayansu bai ci amanar abokinsa ba. Idan ɗayansu ya ci amanar abokinsa, to ina janyewa daga tsakaninsu.'" Annabi ﷺ ya ce: "Hannun Allah yana kan abokan haɗin kasuwanci biyu, matuƙar ba su ci amanar juna ba." Al-Abbas ɗan Abdul-Muɗɗalib (ra) ya ruwaito cewa, idan ya bayar da dukiya a matsayin mudharaba, yakan sanya sharaɗi ga mudharib cewa kada ya yi tafiya da ita ta teku, kada ya sauka a kwari, kuma kada ya yi ciniki da dabbobi masu rai; idan ya yi haka, to dole ne ya biya asarar da aka yi. Manzon Allah ﷺ ya sani game da hakan, kuma ya amince da shi. Sahabbai (ra) sun yi ijma'i cewa mudharaba halal ce. 'Umar ɗan Al-Khaɗɗab (ra) yana bayar da dukiyar marayu a matsayin mudharaba. Uthman ɗan Affan (ra) ya bai wa wani mutum dukiya a matsayin mudharaba. Don haka mudharib yana samun dukiya ga kansa ta hanyar aiki da dukiyar wani mutum. Mudharaba daga bangaren mudharib aiki ne, kuma yana ɗaya daga cikin hanyoyin mallaka da ake yarda da su. Sai dai ga mai dukiyar, mudharaba ba hanyar mallaka ba ce, face hanyar saka mallakarsa cikin jari.

Mudharaba is a kind of company, because it is a partnership of a body and property. The company is one of the transactions which the Shar’a has allowed. Abu Hurairah (ra) said that the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said: “Allah says: ‘I am the third of the two partners unless one of them betrays his companion, so if one of them betrays his companion I withdraw from them.’” The Prophet (pbuh) (pbuh) said: “The hand of Allah is on the two partners unless they betray each other.” Al-Abbas ibn Abdul- Muttalib (ra) narrated that, when He handed a property as Mudharaba, He used to stipulate on the Mudharib not to travel with it by the sea, not to descend a valley nor to trade with live things, otherwise He would have to guarantee losses incurred. The Prophet (pbuh) of Allah (pbuh) became aware of that and He approved of it. The companions (ra) have agreed unanimously that Mudharaba is allowed. ’Umar ibn Al Khattab (ra) used to hand over the orphans’ property for Mudharaba. Uthman ibn Affan (ra) handed some property to a man as Mudharaba. So the Mudharib gains a property for himself by working with the property of another person. The Mudharaba by the Mudharib is thus work and one of the valid means of ownership. However for the owner of the property it is not a means of ownership, rather it is a means of investing the ownership.