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What is the definition of a necessity? And are there different degrees that are relevant here?
House ownership in my opinion is not a necessity. There alternative of rent is taken up by most of the Uk population and they’re still able to survive and some thrive.
I would disagree, the reality is, shelter is the biggest necessity after food. If you are in a system that makes it impossible to buy a house without a mortgage because the houses are as high as ever, we may have no choice. Rent is also, very unstable and not safe and causes ones life to be very very difficult. Just like we have been given permissibility to take insurance with cars which isn’t a necessity, you can argue you can take rube, bus, or uber, but the necessity for shelter is far greater.
This is the video from sheikh akram on mortgage, worth a watch.
I don’t think the matter of necessity can be so simply dismissed
For example. Car insurance is inherently Haram like mortgages are Haram, and like renting is an alternative to buying a house, public transport or other means of transport are also alternatives to owning a car. So if we wanted to be consistent we’d also have to stop using cars and use their alternatives
And that’s not even considering that owning a house is more important than a car.
Sheikh Akram makes a similar argument I believe.
Of course, I would say, for each individual, it differs, there are many other options such as wayhome, primary finance, way2live and many more halal routes, but they generally pay way more than the normal mortgage and isn’t readily available. Once these become more available, I don’t think we will have an argument for mortgage being a necessity, but for now, I believe it to be necessary for only your first home. I believe many other scholars agree with sheikh akram on this.
Agreed, the argument for the necessity for a home far outweighs the necessity for a car, yet we are permitted for it. And I agree with this notion. A car is necessary but I have lived 22 years without a car and was fine, buses were and still are cheap and the train is decent. But rent is super expensive and unstable and unable to live life properly. in fact rent increases and life is very difficult under rent. you don’t ever save enough to buy a house and with family numbers increasing, you need bigger houses. It is very difficult to say a house isn’t considered necessary.
We can argue, that now, it is not a necessity to have a mortgage because we have so many halal options as I have listed in my previous comments. Although, I agree with Sheikh Akram Nadwi here, I would never take a mortgage, I am too scared about taking riba is going to war with Allah. It is something we must do extensive research before we make a decision. And Allah knows best.
Necessity here meaning basic fundamentals of life. In Arabic this would be daruriyat. I would argue that stable shelter definitely falls under this. Rent keeps you under the hold of landlords who are unreliable.
Way home only pays for 50% of the property, after that you still need to get a mortgage. So it’s not exactly halal. As for primary finance, you can be waiting 5 years + before you actually get a home.
Rent is so unstable, that landlords can decide they want you gone once your contract is finished. Having a stable home is a real need. I genuinely think the necessity argument holds, even though it’s an evil itself.
I agree, once primary finance becomes more readily available, I would say the argument of necessity for a mortgage breaks down, but for now it holds quite strongly. I do, however, think that its worth waiting for primary finance to catch up, but I am young and can make this argument.
I agree with this as well. The level of security isn’t the same. On one level what you said in terms of termination of tenancy. But also on another level where landlords may have access to the property in certain ways and this could also pose a safety risk for family.
I’ve come across arguments which differentiate why car insurance is not delt with as strictly as mortgage (I believe it was because the issue with insurance is more due to uncertainty whereas the issue with mortgages is due to one diving into interest). Can anyone who has across such an argument explain it further or correct me?
I don’t have the qualifications unfortunately to explain. However you’ve made a good point and I acknowledge that the nature of the impermissibility behind car insurance is not the same as the nature of the impermissibility behind mortgages.
However, from what I do know, the argument via Darooriyaat doesn’t necessitate taking into account the nature of the impermissibility. E.g. the same argument is made when if you find yourself in the theoretical case of having no food except for pig and you are starving, it becomes permissible by necessity to eat enough to stay alive. The nature in this case also being different but the ruling being unaffected.
@MotaharMalik regarding the point about pricing- I recently came across a piece of finding which suggested that renting at times is actually cheaper than owning (after taking into account the various expenses that landlords end up paying for). It also showed how the richest country in Europe has the lowest homeownership (perhaps that was also linked to the fact that they have rules which better protect tenets).
Regarding the point of stability, from what I’ve seen (albeit from a small sample) if one is effective when dealing with their landlord and keeps an eye out, they can (i) choose to stay at one house for a VERY long time and (ii) if they need to move, often it’s not too far. Hence I think if one approaches renting with such a mentality these aspects can also be taken care of.
And if there is a risk of mortagaging being a major sin, should we be even more prudent in finding ways of limiting its need for us?
The fact of the matter is most people lack those skills. Furthermore, rent is incredibly high in London sometimes higher than mortgage payments. It really doesn’t make sense to rent when you have a family. Perhaps as a single person renting is possible. But as a family, it makes life very unstable and difficult.
Lastly, although this is besides the topic, the macro impact of adding fuel to the fire (facilitating interest through mortgaging in a highly credit heavy society) should be a part of the argument.
The role of mortgages was huge in the market bubble of 07/08 and as far sighted individuals, surely we should consider the role our actions will have on the large scale.