What is the ruling on agreeing to a fixed monthly rent that includes housing rent and electricity and water bills, with the landlord undertaking to pay them, and what is the ruling on completing the period out of necessity if that is impermissible?

For the validity of a rental contract (ijarah (definition)), the rent must be known. If the cost of water and electricity is added to the housing rent, the rent becomes unknown due to variations in consumption. Therefore, the housing rent must be specified, and then each independent apartment, with its own meters, bears its consumption of utilities. If this is not possible, an agreement should be reached to divide the cost of water and electricity among the shared users, striving to estimate each family's consumption and reaching mutual consent. This is supported by the hadith (definition) of the Ash'aris regarding their equitable division of food. If the difference between the actual consumption and what the tenant pays is slight, we hope there is no harm in it. This is indicated by the permissibility of some minor gharar (definition) (uncertainty) when there is a need for it, as is the case with hotels and furnished accommodations.