I hope you are fine. I want to ask whether car ijarah offered by various banks in Saudi Arabia is Halal or not?. As currently I am living in here and I see many such offers. In car ijarah, the car which I want to buy is actually bought by the bank and then bank asks the customer to pay monthly rent of it over a fix period of time with a specified initial payment and fixed final payment. for example if I want to buy a car from Toyota company over the period of two years. I will tell my bank that I want to buy this car. The bank will buy that car on cash, and will tell me to give monthly fixed rental, with a fixed final payment and initial payment. The car will be on banks name until we do the final payment. They also tell the total price of the car over these two years, which is also fixed. Is it OK to buy in such manner?
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
(Fatwa: 1476/L-488/TL=11/1434)
If the car etc is bought from the back in a way that first the bank buys the car and it includes its profit in the original price whatsoever and sells to the buyer and the buyer pays the fixed price within the fixed time in instalments then it is correct to do so. You may buy the car etc in this way. It is harmless if the car remains in the name of bank till you pay the last instalment. The selling does not depend on names as per the Shariah.
قال فى الفتاوى المهدية: لا يتوقف صحة البيع ولزومه شرعاً على كتب صک التبایع بمحكمة مصرأ وغيرها (افتتاوى المهدية: 3/2 ط مصر)
Allah knows Best!
Darul Ifta,
Darul Uloom Deoband