Interest bearing loans & Transactions

Q: I saw an add on Internet for sale of land. I wanted to buy that land but I didn't have enough money. So I contacted the bank and fixed the loan. As it was property of a private owner, so bank bought the property, paid amount to the seller and gave me loan. Land price was 100,000. I have 5 years loan period, amount of payment is fixed to 150,000 only if I pay within 5 years, above the principal amount 50,000 is interest (in bank's terms, because it is a conventional bank) but I considered it as I'm buying the property at a high price and amount of money is fixed at the beginning. I will pay this amount within that period if I don't bank will charge interest. Is this contract halaal?

Now after few months have past and i'm paying off that loan, I realised that I have made a mistake because first, I will not be able to pay off this loan within this period and secondly I think its not halaal. I have put this land for sale. I have in my mind that I'll do lots of istigfar and still begging Allah to forgive me. I have decided i'll never deal with conventional banks ever. Is it all right if i sell the property now? Where bank will not share in any loss or profit, rather it has some fixed fees it will charge for breaking the contract. Although, that land is not going to be sold in profit, may be equal to the same actual price of 100,000 or may be less than that. Whereas I have paid more than that amount in terms of lawers fee, council charges, bank fee and interest to bank (as I considered extra payment as high price). Was that contract halaal? Can I sell that property now? I had dream on two different nights that a storm in the ocean is approaching us. What does it mean? Is it related to the whole story?

Q: Is it haram if someone makes a contract and in the contract it says that they will give someone something for free, but it also says in the contract that if the person that gets the free thing breaks the terms and conditions of the contract or cancels once the free thing that is being given starts to be installed then they will be asked to pay for it and also if they break the contract and are asked to now pay for the free thing and they do not pay for the free thing when the money is asked from them then interest will be charged on the money they would owe? Is that a haram interest contract to ask someone to sign? 

If it is, what should someone do with the money they have made and saved from doing a job that involved witnessing and asking others to sign up to a interest contract like this one? What should a person do if the company they worked for doing this for are due to pay him money from past contracts that the person signed others into?

Q: I'm a 22 year old graduate student studying for my Master's in Physiology. I live in Cleveland, Ohio, USA and I was wondering if someone would be able to answer my question. I'm currently $124,000 in debt due to government loans, which charge interest. I was under the impression that under situations of necessity, the haram becomes halal, however I recently found out that the definition of "necessity" means life or death. I took out the loans so that I could complete my bachelor's and master's degrees. I'm planning on going to medical school in Fall 2014 and I will be required to take out even more loans (with interest). I found out that there's a military service program (HPSP - health professions scholarship program) for medical students in which the military will pay all tuition and fees, along with a monthly stipend, but will require 4 years of military service as payback. This will mean I will have to live without my family for months at a time. I'm planning on doing this program so that I do not have to take out further riba-based loans, and so that I can begin to pay off my current loan with my monthly stipend. However, there are other non-military programmes out there as well, but they will only forgive my loan after 10 years, which means I will be paying interest for at least 10 years. Also, there are some residency programmes that offer signing bonuses and partial loan forgiveness that might reduce the time required to pay off my debt to 3-5 years. Dropping out of medical school doesn't seem like a good option since I will end up paying the interest on my loan anyway. Any career besides medicine will most likely pay less, and thus take longer to pay off my loan (resulting in more interest). In the meantime, is there anything else I should do? I don't come from a wealthy family, and there are hardly any interest-free student loans offered for regular middle-class families. I guess, I can only keep asking for Allah's forgiveness and pray for a way out of this debt.

I'm sure there are many other Muslim students in America in my situation. I appreciate any answer. 

Q: I am a married woman with two very young boys and a husband. I bought a flat before I got married and have a mortgage on it. So of course interest is involved. If I rent, I will not be able to afford it as I live in london and rents can be as high as 1000-1300 pounds a month on a two bedroom flat, which is what I would need with my boys. My husband and I both work 3 days each but my husband has been off sick for most part of this year so he gets a minimal wage each month. Statutory sick pay I think. In this case I need to know what to do Islamically. Do I continue paying my mortgage and ask Allah Subhana wa ta'aala for forgiveness? I wanted to sell it and try to buy a house as its not big enough for my family. I can try to get a re-mortgage on this flat and extend it or sell it and try to buy a house rather than a flat. This is really bothering me because I don't want a war with my creator.

Q: My bank name is Dubai Islamic Bank and they give advance salary and deduct 150 AED as services charges. They say it's not interest. Is it sood or not? I needed money and I want to confirm if it is sood. I didn't take it.

Q: I borrowed money to buy a vehicle (with an agreement to pay back a much higher amount) i took full ownership of the vehicle, the outstanding amount is the extra amount. What should we do?

Q: My salary is transferred to my bank account every month. Our bank gives us a facility to get 1 advance salary for 1 month, bank charges AED 175/- for this facility. I want to know is this interest or not?

Q: Is it ok to buy a house through a bank in the USA? I am trying to avoid riba, what would you advise me to do?

س: ما الحكم الشرعي في الحالات التالية:

الحالة الأولى: عند الزبير توجد الآلة الكهربائية يحتاج إليها، و لكن آلته الكهربائية قد فسدت، و الزبير يريد تصحيحها؛ الزيد عنده مصنع خاص لتصحيح الآلات الكهربائية التي قد فسدت، و الزيد يقول للزبير أن عليه أن يدفع مئة دولار إذا كان يريد تصحيح هذه الآلة؛ و لكن الزبير ليس عنده إمكان لدفع مئة دولار مباشرة، لأنه لا يملك مئة دولار؛ و فيصل يقول للزبير: "أنا أعطيك مئة دولار، و لكن عليك أن يرجع لي مئة و عشرون دولار - مئة دولار إرجاعا للدين، و عشرون دولار أجرة و ربحا لي بسبب المساعدة لك في إزالة مشكلتك." (و إرجاع النقود أثناء عشر أشهر بأقسام متساوية بإثنى عشر دولار كل شهر) و الزبير رضي على هذه الشروط. هل في شروط فيصل يوجد الربا؟

الحالة الثانية: نفس الحالة، و لكن فيصل قد دفع مئة دولار مباشرة للزيد، و بعد ذلك ألزم على الزبير أن يرجع له مئة و عشرون دولار بأقسام متساوية أثناء عشر أشهر بإثنى عشر دولار كل شهر - مئة دولار إرجاعا للدين و عشرون دولار أجرة و ربحا بسبب مساعدته للزبير في إزالة مشكلته. (يعني في الحالة الأولى فيصل قد أعطى النقود للزبير نفسه، و لكن في الحالة الثانية أعطى النقود للزيد لا للزبير) و الزبير رضي على هذه الشروط. هل في شروط فيصل يوجد الربا؟ 

Q: I am a 36 year old man who was born and lived in India for 20 years and moved to North America now. I am married and have 2 children. Now I am thinking about buying a home on bank loan and of course there will be interest involved. Will this stop me performing Hajj? We (wife & I) did our Umra last year (2012) Allhumdulillah.