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What is the ruling on loans offered by government banks to farmers and investors, which they call permissible (halal) loans that do not accrue interest, but are not without insurance and late payment penalties? And what is the ruling on taking these loans, even if they were one hundred percent permissible, knowing that bank transactions are usurious (ribawi) in most areas?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

Loans that involve usurious interest or forbidden commercial insurance are not permissible to undertake except out of a recognized necessity, which is when a person reaches a point where if they do not take what is forbidden, they will perish or be close to perishing. The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, cursed the one who consumes usury, the one who feeds it, its scribe, and its two witnesses. As for good loans (Qard Hasan) that are free from usury, given to help those in need, and do not compel the borrower to undertake forbidden commercial insurance, there is no harm in taking and benefiting from them.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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