Is the first party entitled to claim the penalty clause agreed upon in the contract, given that the original transaction did not materialize due to circumstances beyond the institution's control, and the agreed-upon period has been exceeded by eight months? And is it permissible to allow the institution to pay the amount in installments with a late payment penalty?

The aforementioned deal involves the following Shariah prohibitions:

1. The penalty clause related to late payment is forbidden (haram) because it falls under the category of explicit usury (riba), and it is not permissible to stipulate it in debts or delayed installments.

2. Postponing the qirad (Mudarabah) for a specific period is prohibited according to many scholars and invalidates the contract due to the restriction it imposes.

3. Specifying the profit as a fixed amount invalidates the Mudarabah contract, because in it, profit cannot be a predetermined fixed sum.

Based on this, the Mudarabah contract is invalid (fasid), and in such a case, one refers to qirad al-mithl (customary Mudarabah profit). One is not entitled to claim the penalty clause, but rather the principal capital and the share of profit as per qirad al-mithl.