Modern money: the series map
This series map gathers eight posts from The El Fatwa Library on everyday finance: installments, cards, gold, e-wallets, and signed contracts.
Why this matters in my religion
Modern money rarely looks like the classic examples in a fiqh textbook. An app, a card, a financing plan, or a family savings circle can all raise the same old questions in new clothes.
This library does not approve or reject any product for you. It names what each contract turns on and links you to the fuller, sourced answer.
The idea, simply
Eight posts, one for each common way money moves today.
- Buy now, pay later: what should I check before I ask? It turns on *gharar*, uncertainty, in who owns the item and what fees may apply.
- Buying gold through apps or in installments: what to know? It turns on *sarf*, the rules for exchanging gold, and what handover means in an app.
- Credit cards: what should I understand before using one? It turns on *dayn*, debt, and whether any increase is tied to a delay.
- E-wallets and mobile money: what do fees and rewards mean? It turns on whether a fee or reward functions as *riba*, an unjustified increase.
- Financing a home, car or degree: what to ask before signing? It turns on *kafalah*, a guarantee, and who actually stands behind the financing.
- Installment sales: when is it a sale, and when a loan? It turns on *murabahah*, a cost-plus sale, against a plain increase on a debt.
- Savings circles among friends and family: what to know? It turns on *qard hasan*, since each member's turn works like an interest-free loan.
- Sending money abroad: what to know about the exchange? It applies the same sarf conditions to currency instead of gold.
Two questions recur across the series: is this a sale or a loan, and where does the increase come from?
From life
A shopper adds a phone to her cart and sees a "four payments, no interest" button. She wonders who actually owns the phone until the last payment clears. Her question is Buy now, pay later: what should I check before I ask?
A man buys gold on an app and pays over three installments. He is not sure whether the app actually hands over the gold at the moment he pays. His question is Buying gold through apps or in installments: what to know?
Six coworkers each contribute the same amount every month to one person. They take turns receiving the full pot each month. One of them wants to know how scholars actually view this arrangement. Her question is Savings circles among friends and family: what to know?
What does this require of me?
- Read the full contract, not just the screen you tap to confirm.
- Learn who owns the item or the gold at each step of the deal.
- Check whether any amount grows if a payment is late.
- Note the contract's real name, not only its marketing name.
- Bring the clauses, not the app's description, to the mufti.
When do I need to ask a scholar?
Ask when you cannot tell who owns the item at the moment you sign. Ask when a fee or reward seems to grow only because time has passed. Ask when a family arrangement mixes gifts, loans, and turns you cannot track.
This library does not approve any app, bank, or product. Bring the actual contract to a mufti through Ask.