In the medieval Islamic world, the qirad was a major financial instrument. This was an arrangement between one or more investors and an agent where the investors entrusted capital to an agent who then traded with it in hopes of making a profit. Both parties then received a previously settled portion of the profit, though the agent was not liable for any losses. Many will notice that the "qirad" is similar to the institution of the commenda later used in western Europe, though whether the qirad transformed into the "commenda" or the two institutions evolved independently cannot be stated with certainty.