An Evolution of Mudarabah Contract: A Viewpoint From Classical and Contemporary Islamic Scholars

Abstract

Currently, in the competitive Islamic financial system, mudarabah (profit sharing) is seen as an alternative mechanism in financing techniques that differentiate it from the conventional financing that consist interest mechanism. Since its introduction, mudarabah (profit sharing) has gone through various evolution to fulfill the needs of the fast-developing Islamic financial market. However, in the current Islamic financial system, mudarabah (profit sharing) has become less preferable compared to Islamic debt financing instruments such as murabahah and bai’ bithaman ajil. This is caused by the existence of asymmetric information that continuously presents in mudarabah (profit sharing) contracts and creates problems of adverse selection and moral hazard. Due to this, mudarabah (profit sharing) has declined it importance as a financing vehicle. Therefore, the objectives of this study are twofolds, first, to examine the thought and evolution of mudarabah (profit sharing) from the viewpoints of classical and contemporary Islamic scholars and second, to evaluate the asymmetric information that continuously exist in this type of contract.