A type of ijarah (ijara) which transfers the ownership of usufruct/ manfaah (of a service or a bundle of service ) that is mawsufah fi al-zhimmah– i.e., a clearly defined and specified subject matter (service/ khadamah- pl.: khadamat) that will be rendered by a service provider to a lessee at a future date in accordance with the set specifics/ specifications (agreed at the inception of the ijarah contract). The service provider is under obligation to render the subject-matter service at the specified date.
This mode of ijarah is usually offered by an Islamic financial institution which obtains the subject matter services from a service provider for a spot rental (ujrah) and re-offers the same to customers for a forward or installed rental, with the difference between forward and spot rental being the profit margin.
This allows institutions to cater for the various needs of their customers such as education, medication, tourism, and travel.
Ijarah al-khadamat is Arabic for service lease (service ijarah).
