Answered by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
My husband and I would like to move into an apartment but he has bad credit and I have no credit. Would it be permissible to bring his sister in and say she is going to live there when in fact she isn’t and we will only be using her to get the apartment. If so, would it be permissible to use her income so we could get cheaper rent (low income housing).
Walaikum assalam wa rahmatullah,
1. Lying and deception are two things that no true Muslim can be acceptably characterized by.
Imam Ahmad related that the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, “The believer could be characterized by all traits except lying and deception.” [Ahmad, and Tabarani, Bayhaqi, and Abu Ya`la with similar wording]
As such, it would be unlawful and sinful to claim that your sister-in-law would be living in the house when should not be the primary resident.
Wassalam,
Faraz Rabbani