Search In Fatwa

Question

If the profit of the bank loan is forbidden in Islam, what do the employees of this bank get due to their work to facilitate that loan? I guess that the profit the bank is taking is a fair compensation for its effort to do so.

Answer

All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad  sallallaahu  `alayhi  wa  sallam ( may  Allaah exalt his mention ) is His slave and Messenger.

It is forbidden to establish banks that deal in Riba (usury and/or interest) because establishing such banks is synonymous to declaring a war against Allah and it is contradictory to the Sharee'ah; a person who does so is cursed by Allah and His Messenger.

Working in these banks is also prohibited. The right way is to establish some Islamic banks that deal in Islamic transactions that have nothing to do with Riba.

In addition, no Muslim should say that Riba which Allah has forbidden is a fair compensation. Such a saying can be considered a refusal and denial of what Allah has prescribed.

Anyway, all sane people are agreed that Riba constitutes an injustice and a prejudice from one party over the other.

As for loans, they are of two kinds:

1. A good loan in which the customer takes some money from a person or a bank and pays back the same amount without interest. This loan is lawful according to the Sharee'ah. Those who give it are rewarded for this act.

2. A Riba loan in which the customer takes an amount of money from a person or a bank and returns the same amount in addition to interest that the two parties agree upon.

This is pure Riba and is forbidden regardless of the purpose of the loan (investment or else).

Allah knows best.

Related Fatwa