Shirkah

When we first heard the word “shirkah,” we thought someone was saying “shirker” with a Boston accent. But, as it turns out, shirkers and shirkahs are not the same thing. Like...at all.

In the world of Islamic finance, a “shirkah” is a business partnership between two or more entities for the purpose of making a profit. Sometimes everyone involved in a shirkah will contribute capital to the venture, and sometimes one party will contribute capital while the other manages the business’s operations. A lot of times, folks enter into shirkahs voluntarily, but sometimes the partnership can be inherited.

If this all makes it sound like there are a lot of similarities between Islamic shirkahs and the legal business partnerships we know and love here in the United States, that’s because...there are. And not just when we’re visiting Beantown.