Question about buying a house?
Question- Asalamu Alaikom. I live in Sydney , Australia and my husband and I are looking at buying a house from his parents. We do not want to get involved in Riba because it is haram, but living in Australia there is no other way to do this Islamically. I have been told by many people that we are able to get a loan for our first house only, no more. Please help me with this problem. We really want to buy this house but do not want to risk going to the hell fire because of it. I have also done research on the internet and many well respected scholars and Mufti said that people living in the western countries are allowed to get a house on a mortgage for only two reasons; 1, That it is for our families living and 2, that there is no other way of doing this Islamically. Your sister in Islam.
Answer – Praise be to Allah and may Allah raise the rank of our dear Prophet.
Being safe by taking precautionary measures is a matter of wisdom and intelligence, and following of the majority of Islamic scholars is success in both this world and in the Heareafter.
As to your question, the answer is that a loan based on riba (usurious gain) is Islamically unlawful whether one is in the West or in the East, whether it’s for the first house or more, and this is what the majority of scholars such as Ash-Shafi`iyy, Malik, Ahmad are others are on.
Based on this, it is not permissible to take a loan based on riba and patience is needed. You either find a good loan without riba, or you save the right amount of cash for the purchase. Alternatively, you can choose to live in a rented house or the like.
Allah Knows best.
