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What is the ruling on gifts (perfumes or incense) sent by the bank to some of its customers who have large sums of money in it?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

The current account in the bank is a loan, and every loan that draws benefit is usury (riba). Scholars have unanimously agreed that a gift given by a borrower to a lender is usury, as narrated from Abdullah ibn Salam (may Allah be pleased with him): "If you have a right over a man, and he offers you a gift of a load of straw, or a load of barley, or a load of fodder, do not accept it, for it is usury." And this gift that the bank gives to the customer for the current account is considered usury. Sheikh Muhammad bin Saud Al-Osaimi affirmed that if this gift is given for a current account, it is undoubtedly usury, because it is a loan and its owner is not permitted to benefit from it. However, if the account is an investment account, then there is no harm.

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

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