according to whatever they stipulate. The people of Iraq call it mudaraba, derived (48) from 'al-darb fi al-ard' (striking in the earth), which is traveling within it for trade. Allah the Almighty said: {And others traveling through the land, seeking of the bounty of Allah} (49). It is also possible that it comes from each of them striking/participating in the profit with a share. The people of the Hijaz call it qirad. It is said that it is derived from 'al-qat'' (cutting). It is said: 'Qarada al-fa'ru al-thawb' (the mouse cut the garment) when it cuts it. It is as if the owner of the wealth cut a piece from his wealth and handed it over to the agent, and cut a piece for him from the profit. It is also said that its derivation is from equality and balancing. It is said: 'Taqarada al-sha'iran' (the two poets balanced/reciprocated) when each of them balances the other with his poetry. Here, there is labor from the agent and wealth from the other, so they are balanced. The scholars have reached a consensus on the permissibility of mudaraba in general. Ibn al-Mundhir mentioned this. It was narrated from Humayd ibn Abd Allah, from his father, from his grandfather, that Umar ibn al-Khattab gave him the wealth of an orphan as a mudaraba to work with in Iraq (50). Malik (51) narrated from Zayd ibn Aslam, from his father: that Abdullah and Ubayd Allah, the sons of Umar ibn al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with them, went out with an army to Iraq, and they borrowed money from Abu Musa and bought merchandise with it. They arrived with it in Medina, sold it, and made a profit on it. Umar wanted to take the capital and all the profit. They said: 'If it had been lost, we would have been liable for it; why then should its profit not be ours?' A man said: 'O Commander of the Faithful, if you were to make it a qirad?' He said: 'I have done so.' And he took half the profit from them. This indicates the permissibility of qirad. From Malik (52), from al-Ala' ibn Abd al-Rahman, from his father, from his grandfather, that Uthman entered into a qirad agreement with him.