Taking mortgages to buy a residence in western countries : your advice on mortgage question kindly requested

السؤال

Assalaam Wallukum. We had the privilege of hearing your weekend lecture in Cincinnati, Ohio in February, 2006. Thank you very much, you taught us quite a bit. We need your guidance on our specific situation. I read through many of your cases on your web-site but did not find one similar. Here is our situation. 1. We purchased a house 1.5 years ago with a mortgage through a western bank, as we were not very knowledgeable about Riba at that time. 2. We rented out our house as soon as it was built, and currently live in an apartment. The apartment is small and all 3 children (girl age 14, boys ages 13 and 12) share 1 bedroom. I am very uncomfortable with this arrangement, and do not think it is proper-separate issue. We had planned to move into the house when we are in a better financial situation, which is soon, Inshallah. 3. We are uncomfortable with the fact that our mortgage is Riba-based. We would like to transfer to an Islamic Financial Institution, but if we do, our payments will increase by about $ 350 per month because our old interest rate was very low and we paid only 10 % down. We would not be able to afford the house if we changed to Islamic Financing, nor would we be able to easily rent it out to cover the monthly payments and taxes. Islamic co-operatives in Cincinnati is not an option as they cannot accommodate an amount of $ 250,000. 4. I have been told by some of my Muslim brothers, though not scholars, that we should refinance through Islamic Financing, when this mortgage term expires (in 3.5 years). Question : should we get out of our Riba mortgaged house right away, even if it means we not being able to afford the house, or can we wait until the mortgage term expires and then transfer ? We should, Inshallah, be in a more stable financial situation at that time, and would be able to better absorb a difference between western bank rates and Islamic rates. Jazza Allah Khair.

جواب الفتوى

أنقر هنالمشاهدة هذا المحتوى

تاريخ النشر

2006-03-09

التخصصات الرئيسية

العلوم الاقتصادية والمالية وإدارة الأعمال
الدراسات الإسلامية

عدد الصفحات

2

نوع البيانات

فتاوى

لغة النص

الإنجليزية

رقم السجل

BIM-788922

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