Musharaka - the cinderella contract?

Musharaka is a type of partnership that can take many forms in Islamic finance. Scholars have enumerated two types of musharaka. Sharikat al-milk is proprietary partnership. Sharikat al-aqd is contractual or commercial partnership. Even within these two categories, different types of partnerships exist. Sharikat al-mufawadah--full authority partnership--assumes equal wealth between two partners. Sharikat al-inan is a form of musharaka where partners are not of equal wealth. Subdivisions within sharikat al-aqd distinquish the types of assets involved in a partnership. The guidelines expounded by Islamic scholars must now be used in the context of an increasingly impersonal corporate world. It is through corporations, however, that Islamic banks can best engage in partnerships.