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What is the ruling on bank interest, and what is the difference between an Islamic bank and a non-Islamic bank in determining the value of interest, and do the loans of Islamic banks make their transactions permissible?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

The ruling on banking transactions depends on whether the contract conforms to or violates the provisions of Islamic law (Sharia). Banks that enter into a Mudarabah (profit-sharing) contract with the capital owner, based on a known percentage of the profit, have valid and permissible dealings. However, banks that give the capital owner a percentage of the capital, not the profit, have a contract that is undoubtedly void. If a bank provides loans that are to be repaid with a stipulated increase, then it is dealing in explicit usury (riba), which is unanimously forbidden. But if "loans" refer to financing operations conducted by some banks through Murabahah (cost-plus financing) in accordance with Sharia guidelines, then these are permissible.

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

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