Another name for mudaraba (mudarabah/ mudharaba/ mudharabah); by definition, it is a partnership (sharakah) in profit whereby one party (rab al-mal) provides capital (ras al-mal) and the other party provides labor and skills (al-mudarib).

In essence, qirad is not binding (ghair mulzim), where each of the contracting parties is permitted to unilaterally terminate the contract. However, a qirad contract cannot be terminated unilaterally when the labor provider has already commenced the business (in this case, the contract becomes binding over the period from commencement to the date of actual (tandheedh haqiqi) or constructive liquidation (tandheedh hukmi). Likewise, the contracting parties cannot terminate the contract unilaterally when they agree to specify some clear-cut term during which the contract will remain effective. As such, the contract cannot be called off prior to the end of the designated term, unless the two parties mutually agree to do so.

Qirad (also spelled qiradh) is sometimes called mu’amalah.