What is the ruling on purchasing a home for residence through borrowing from usurious banks, given the existence of Islamic banks that deal with Sharia-compliant formulas but demand significantly higher profits, and what is the ruling on investing in bank deposits (bonds) in usurious banks with the bank's assurance that they will not be used for any illicit purposes?

We have previously clarified the impermissibility of purchasing a house with an interest-bearing loan, based on the hadith of Jabir: "The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) cursed the one who consumes riba (interest), the one who pays it, the one who records it, and its two witnesses." We also clarified that the impermissibility of riba in the lands of disbelief is the same as its impermissibility in the lands of Islam, and that it is not permissible to deal with interest-based banks through bank deposits, because these are precisely the riba of the pre-Islamic era (Jahiliyyah).

As for the fatwas that permit purchasing houses with riba or dealing with interest-bearing deposits, we consider them to be incorrect ijithad (independent reasoning), for riba is forbidden and is not permissible except in cases of necessity. The inability to purchase with cash or the exploitation by some Islamic banks of people's needs does not constitute a necessity, as long as renting is an option.

Furthermore, Islamic jurisprudential councils have unanimously agreed on the impermissibility of bank interest, including the Islamic Research Academy at Al-Azhar, the Islamic Fiqh Council of the Muslim World League, and the Islamic Fiqh Academy of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation.