Question

Salaams wr wb,

I pray this finds you in the best of health and imaan. My question is regarding the permissibility of halal savings accounts offered by Islamic banks such as Al Rayan, and Gatehouse:

https://gatehousebank.com/personal/savings
https://www.alrayanbank.co.uk/savings

I have recently had my nikah, and my husband and I are both studying and have not yet done the ruksati. We have been discussing finances, as iA on study completion we will both have decent jobs as healthcare professionals. In terms of living arrangements, we are very keen to avoid anything unlawful, as we have heard and read even the halal mortgages aren’t quite halal. We have begun saving and iA plan to continue saving whilst living in a rented property for a number of years, to finance a house. Alhamdulilah, ever since I have been working part time in holidays and as a madrasah teacher, I have managed to save a decent amount, and thus am wondering whether it would be permissible for me to put this money into a halal savings account, so that a) It is kept safe 2) The lump sum when invested will increase as profit from what I understand.

With some ulama saying the halal mortgages by Al Rayan, aren’t permissible I was just hesitant and wanted to make sure the savings account would be permissible before I opted to take this step. Your advice would be much appreciated.

Jzk Khair, and Wasalaam

Answer

May Allah the Almighty reward you immensely for being cautious in relation to your wealth and investments. This is extremely important as unlawful transactions and investments not only result in sin but also prevent blessings from entering your life.

Unfortunately, we have not yet analysed the products offered by Al Rayan and Gatehouse with detail and therefore cannot comment at this stage on their status. We would advise contacting their shari’ah advisory team and discussing their products directly with them. If you feel content with the information provided by them and feel that you can trust them then it would be permissible for you to avail of their services.

If you have doubt about any specific juristic details mentioned to you, then you may write to us seeking juristic clarification in relation to those points.

Answered by:
Ifta Research Fellow

Checked & Approved by:
Mufti Abdul Rahman Mangera
Mufti Zubair Patel