Interest bearing loans & Transactions

Being a witness to signing for a home loan bond

Q: I was traveling with a co-worker who stopped at the attorney offices and asked me to come inside with her. When I went inside I was asked to be a witness on signing for a home loan bond that was taken with the bank.

I am feeling very uneasy and I would like to find out if I have committed a sin by being a witness to the interest stipulated on the contract.

Can I somehow get my name removed from that contract as I myself try my utmost to not deal with interest bearing loans. 

Taking out a mortgage to purchase a home

Q: The question is: do we qualify to take up a new mortgage for a new home under the fatwa issued on mortgage for ONE house from the European council for fatwa and research?

The background is that we live in Norway and we own a house (apartment/ flat) of about 76 square meter equivalent to 820 square feet. Two thirds of the mortgage of the current house is paid of.

We have 3 children and we think that the house is too small for us. We are thus thinking of selling this one and taking up a new mortgage to buy a bigger (separate) new house.

As per the fatwa, it is allowed to buy/own ONE house with a bank mortgage. At the same time we don't wish to wage a war against Allah Ta'ala, as it is stated in the Holy Quran, about ribaa.

So do we qualify under this fatwa to do this? Shall we go ahead with our plan? 

Taking an interest bearing loan to buy a house

Q: I want to buy a house but I can't pay full, or get an Islamic mortgage because of my finacial situation. I am staying in a rented property, and now the time has come for me to get my son married and we need a bigger house. I wanted to rent a house, but the price is also high. I don't get a housing benefit. Can I buy a house with a non-Islamic mortgage and try my best to pay the mortgage as soon as I can?

Purchasing a car on interest

Q: Person A has said that for a self employed person who has to declare his profits at the end of 1 year in the UK, it is jaaiz for him to purchase a car on interest because if he does that, he’ll be paying less tax to the government as he believes that tax is haraam.

He says this isn’t permissible for a person who isn’t self employed as such a person pays tax according to his fixed salary irrespective of where he spends his wage on. (He says that this is how the system works in UK for tax.)

What is to be said of this?

Paying back an interest loan or delaying it until it is written off

Q: My question is about the UK student loans. I took out the loan to go to university not knowing back then that it was haraam. The UK student finance does't require you to pay anything back until you earn above a certain amount. However it does start taking interest from day one of the loan being given. I have now started a job and will have to pay back the loan which is taken out of my salary every month. 

My question is whether it is better for me to try and save up and get rid of the loan as soon as possible or is it ok if I continue paying as it is as the loan gets wiped off after 30 years. Either way I am paying interest.

The first option means I get rid off my debt as soon as possible, whilst the second one means that I may end up not even paying back as much as I borrowed as the loan gets woed out after 30 years. Whilst pursuing the second option I would contribute more to charirty inshaAllah. I need advise on which path is better.

Purchasing a house through taking a loan on interest

Q: We live in a country, where it is impossible to buy a house on a full amount, it is more expensive than Europe. My husband is religious and wonts take a mortgage. We have been married for 2 decades and wasted lots on rental property, and the headaches that come with it. Buying ones own house is a basic necessity and advised by scholars, elders, alike if possible.

1. Is buying a house in installments permissible in Islam? From a real estate developer?

2. Can one use an installment plan which is jaiz, from a bank such as Al Rajhi bank?