Shares & Sharing: Aims and Results

This paper investigates joint-stock companies, shares, and the mechanism of share distribution (tashhīm) as a contractual framework linking deficit and surplus units from an Islamic perspective. While the majority of Muslim scholars have approved joint-stock companies and certain types of shares under specific conditions, the practice of share distribution has, in many applications, diverged from the objectives and interests recognized by Shariah. Originally intended as a means to mobilize large volumes of capital and finance new investments, it has increasingly become a tool for fragmenting social capital and public enterprises, as well as for trading and speculating in existing assets. Under globalization, it has further evolved into an efficient mechanism for channeling local capital into international markets, often without any developmental strategy. This situation necessitates regulating the mechanism of share distribution and aligning it with Shariah objectives in an Islamic society. The paper calls for maintaining a prudent balance between the role of financial markets and economic governance as instruments of Shariah policy. It also stresses the responsibility of the state to safeguard social stewardship and protect public assets from privatization through share distribution, as these constitute essential conditions for fulfilling economic functions and religious obligations.