In the context of selling (ba’i or bay‘- البيع), ribh (in Arabic script: ربح) refers to the difference resulting from selling products and services for more than the cost of production/procurement. In the realm of investing (istithmar– الاستثمار), it constitutes the positive difference between the selling price and the purchase price of commodities or securities. Entitlement to profit (ribh) depends on risk taking (mukhatarah), on the basis of the shari’a maxim (qa’edah shar’iyyah):”al-kharaj bi al-dhaman“- الخراج بالضمان.
Technically speaking, ribh may either mean profit or gross earnings, as the context dictates.
The opposite of ribh is khasarah (خسارة).
