I live in California , the apartments here are very expensive ,I have leased an apartment ,according to the lease contract in total 3 persons can live in the apartment , but since the apartments are very expensive its very difficult for Muslims to find cheap rooms , is it permissible to share the apartment with more than 3 persons in order to lower the cost of a shared room ,considering that most of us work and use the apartment just as a place to sleep and cook food .Also one of the muslim brother with whom i intend to share the apartment live in other state and come to california to work (does not use the apartment during weekends and live hardly 15-20 days a month)
According to the Shari’ah laws of Ijaarah (leasing), it is compulsory to
abide by the contractual agreement.
Therefore, if the agreement restricts the number of people to three, in an
apartment, it is prohibited to violate that agreement without prior consent
from the authorities.
and Allah Ta’ala Knows Best
Mufti Ebrahim Desai
FATWA DEPT.