Can we use this money even though we have a home mortgage and a credit card to pay every month? We would like to know what Islam say about it.
Note that we are making our payments every month without any problems. Jazakum Allah khayran.
Answer
Wa `alaykum As-Salamu wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh
In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.
In this fatwa:
I- Riba (interest) is prohibited and considered one of the major sins and acts of disobedience to Allah.
2- Therefore, all Muslims have to abstain from dealing in riba or facilitating the receiving or giving of riba in any way in order to avert Allah’s punishment.
3- If the process of line of credit involves interest, then the transaction is unlawful and you cannot use it to cover in vitro fertilization costs.
4- If, however, you can avoid paying interest, then there is nothing wrong with that.
In his response to your question, Sheikh Ahmad Kutty, a senior lecturer and Islamic scholar at the Islamic Institute of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, states:
If the process of line of credit involves interest, then the transaction is haram, for interest is haram.
In this case, it is not allowed for you to use it to cover in vitro fertilization costs.
If, however, by paying your installments every month when they are due you can avoid paying the interest, then there is nothing wrong with that.
For in that case, it is not at all different from your credit card purchases, which may or may not involve interest.
This depends on whether you pay it off in full when it is due or you choose to pay it with interest.
If, therefore, your payments involve interest, it is haram.
Almighty Allah knows best.
Editor’s note: This fatwa is from Ask the Scholar’s archive and was originally published at an earlier date.