Need a Car: Can My Wife Contribute to the Loan Payments?

16 August, 2019

Q As-salamu `alaykum. I got married in April 2015 to my lovely wife and best friend. I worked hard and saved a lot of money to make sure I make the house comfortable for her as well as make her happy. But each time we have to go to a function together, I see that it is not usually a pleasant outing because I don't have a car. She keeps telling me that we will get our own car in due course, but looking at my income, it is very unlikely that I would be able to save enough to buy a car in 3 to 4 years, except if Allah decides to surprise me (I really wish He does). Given this background, I am thinking of a car loan where I can make monthly payments to the cost of the car, but it is not something I can do within my income. Is it right (Islamically) to have her contribute to the monthly repayment costs? She has a good job as a lecturer in the university.

Answer

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:

Interest-based car loan is not permissible in Islam, especially in cases like yours where car is not a pressing need or a necessity of life.

Responding to your question, Prof. Dr. Monzer Kahf, Professor of Islamic Finance and Economics at Qatar Faculty of Islamic Studies, stated:

Interest-based car loan is prohibited in Islam. Allah Almighty prohibited interest (riba) with the strongest word in the Quran and there is no necessity for a car to warrant breaking this strong prohibition. You can live without a car for years and even forever.

For the other point, it is permissible to accept any contribution, given voluntarily, to family expenses by your wife.

Allah Almighty knows best.

Editor’s note: This fatwa is from Ask the Scholar’s archive and was originally published at an earlier date.