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How do Islamic countries allow the establishment of banks that deal in usury, and working with them is forbidden?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

Usury is forbidden by the Qur'an, the Sunnah, and scholarly consensus. Working in usurious banks is unlawful, whether they are in an Islamic or a non-Islamic country, because they declare war on Allah and His Messenger. The approval of governments does not make dealing with them permissible, because legislation belongs to Allah alone. Working in these banks is considered cooperation in sin and aggression, and scholars have warned against it. Scholars have advised Muslims to avoid usury and be content with what Allah has made lawful, and not to be deceived by the widespread presence of usurious banks.

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

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