What is the ruling on an association among individuals where each person pays according to their desire and receives an amount proportionate to what they paid? Is it forbidden (haram)? If it is forbidden, what are the consequences for those who participate in it?

The association is permissible, and most contemporary scholars have deemed it permissible. A group of Shafi'i scholars explicitly stated its permissibility. There is no objection if the participants contribute different amounts, such that one pays more than another, or if a participant takes more than one turn. Whatever method is agreed upon for taking and distributing the funds is permissible, as the participant will not receive more than what they contributed. The order of turns should be determined by mutual consent; if a dispute arises, lots should be drawn.

If the association is stipulated to continue for more than one cycle, those who permit it have differed. Some have prohibited it because it implies that the lender stipulates to those they will lend to in the first cycle that they lend to them in the second cycle, which is forbidden by the majority of scholars. Others have permitted this form, and the preponderant opinion is the permissibility of this form, and that there is no difference between it and the first form that lacks this condition.