The capital that is provided by rab al-mal in a mudaraba contract. Put another way, it is the amount of money the provider of funds hands over to the mudarib in order for the latter to invest it in mudaraba activities. Capital should be identified in terms of amount and type. As a general rule, capital should be in cash. However, jurists don’t limit capital to the cash form, as some are of the opinion that the mudaraba capital can be in the form of trading assets (inventory), in which case the value of these assets or their historical cost, at the time of contracting, will represent the mudaraba capital. Tangible assets (productive fixed assets) can be also used as mudaraba capital (e.g., vehicles, ships, equipment, etc) since they can be invested in mudaraba activities and contribute to the final results of business venture. At the end of the contracting period, the mudarib should give these assets back to rab al-mal. Shari’a prohibits that capital is provided in the form of debt (whether owed by a third party or the mudarib). Principally, capital should be readily available for investing by the mudarib, be it in cash or in kind.

Ras al-mal may also refer to the price paid by the buyer in a salam contract (rasmal al-salam).