This lesson describes categories. It neither recommends anything nor decides what is permissible — that requires a Shariah Supervisory Board, and Barakah does not yet have one.
Cash and deposits
The lowest volatility and the highest availability. Suited to a rainy-day fund. Weak against inflation.
A conventional bank deposit produces interest income, which is religiously problematic. Islamic alternatives are structured differently, and each product has to be assessed on its own — this site offers no such assessment today.
Real assets
Land, property, gold. Tangible, long-term. The weaknesses: they cannot be sold quickly, the entry amount is large, and there are holding and tax costs.
In property, the most commonly overlooked cost is the months a place stands empty.
Business ownership
Owning part of a company — directly as a partner, or through shares. The return comes from the company's profit, which makes this the strongest category over a long period and the most volatile over a short one.
The Shariah question here arises in two places: what the company does, and how the company is financed. Assessing that needs a methodology and data. The next phase of Barakah is built on exactly that.
Debt instruments
Someone uses the money and returns it later with an addition. Conventional bonds have this structure and are based on interest. Sukuk claim a different structure; each issue is assessed on its own documentation.
What to do with this
This lesson does not tell you what to buy. Its purpose is that when someone brings you an offer, you can ask which category it belongs to, where the return comes from, and what risk it carries.
Do not invest in something you do not understand. That rule has protected more money than every other rule combined.
The end of the path, not the end of the work
Eight lessons, done. The next phase — screening shares — begins with a licensed data provider and a Shariah Supervisory Board. Until then, this site issues no ruling on any specific investment.