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What is the ruling of Islamic law on borrowing money from a foreign bank for the purpose of investing in a project, and then repaying the loan to the bank after the investment concludes, and are the profits resulting from this project lawful or unlawful?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

It is not permissible to borrow from a usurious bank to establish an investment project, for the interest on loans is prohibited usury, whether small or large. Neither need nor necessity makes it permissible, unless there is a dire necessity that is estimated by its true measure. Allah has warned those who deal in usury with war, and the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, cursed the one who consumes usury, the one who feeds it, its scribe, and its two witnesses.

Whoever borrowed with usury and then repented is not obligated to dispose of the project, and there is no harm in benefiting from what was earned from it. He must repay the loan early if that leads to the waiving of interest, along with regret, seeking forgiveness, performing good deeds, and resolving never to return to it.

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

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