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Is it permissible to take money from someone outside the bank in exchange for writing a check for an amount greater than the borrowed value, due to banks setting a certain limit on cash withdrawals?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

Borrowing with usury is Islamically forbidden and is considered one of the major destructive sins. Its sinfulness is not lifted unless there is a necessity. The Second Conference of the Islamic Research Academy unanimously decided that borrowing with usury does not lose its sinfulness unless there is a necessity.

The limit of a religious necessity that permits committing the forbidden is: a person reaching a state where, if they do not consume the forbidden, they will perish or be close to perishing.

For the principle of necessity to apply, it is stipulated that: the necessity must be present, not anticipated; there must be no other means to دفع the necessity except by violating religious commands and prohibitions; and the person in dire need must observe the extent of the necessity, and adhere to the principle of averting the greater of two evils.

Therefore, it is not permissible for a Muslim to proceed with borrowing with usury under the pretext of a shortage of funds in banks unless their situation reaches the level of necessity.

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

Read the full answer on Ftawy