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Raising a flat's price to the bank to cover transfer fees

رفع سعر الشقة على البنك لتغطية رسوم التنازل

A question from a flat seller whose buyer, a bank client, asked him to raise the price so that he could cover the transfer fees and maintenance, in which Jordan's General Iftaa Department answered that this is a stratagem to get round usury, while raising the price for genuine additions to the property made before the contract with the bank is permitted. The Department answered that an agreement between the client and the seller to raise the price charged to the financing party, so that the client takes the excess from the seller, is a stratagem to get round usury, because the client will repay that cash with its profit, and murabaha on cash is usury. It cited a hadith reported by Ibn Batta in Ibtal al-Hiyal forbidding the use of the slightest stratagems to make forbidden things lawful, noting that Ibn Kathir judged its chain good. It said that if the client and the seller agree on additions to the property, and the seller makes them before the sale to the bank and raises the price in return, this is permitted. It said transfer fees are not part of the price of the property but lie outside it, so stipulating a higher price to pay them amounts to obtaining cash from the bank and appointing the seller to pay the fees, which is a stratagem to get round usury. It concluded that stipulating a higher price in a murabaha for a purchase orderer so that the seller can pay the transfer fees is forbidden, while agreeing on genuine additions and a higher price in return is permitted, provided the additions are made before the seller signs the sale contract with the bank.

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Summary

A question from a flat seller whose buyer, a bank client, asked him to raise the price so that he could cover the transfer fees and maintenance, in which Jordan's General Iftaa Department answered that this is a stratagem to get round usury, while raising the price for genuine additions to the property made before the contract with the bank is permitted. 1

The question

The questioner said he wanted to sell a flat, and the bank's client asked him to raise its price so that he would cover the transfer fees and the maintenance the house needed. 1

The answer

The Department answered that an agreement between the client and the seller to raise the price charged to the financing party, so that the client takes the excess from the seller, is a stratagem to get round usury, because the client will repay that cash with its profit, and murabaha on cash is usury. 1 It cited a hadith reported by Ibn Batta in Ibtal al-Hiyal forbidding the use of the slightest stratagems to make forbidden things lawful, noting that Ibn Kathir judged its chain good. 1 It said that if the client and the seller agree on additions to the property, and the seller makes them before the sale to the bank and raises the price in return, this is permitted. 1 It said transfer fees are not part of the price of the property but lie outside it, so stipulating a higher price to pay them amounts to obtaining cash from the bank and appointing the seller to pay the fees, which is a stratagem to get round usury. 1 It concluded that stipulating a higher price in a murabaha for a purchase orderer so that the seller can pay the transfer fees is forbidden, while agreeing on genuine additions and a higher price in return is permitted, provided the additions are made before the seller signs the sale contract with the bank. 1

About this record

Jordan's General Iftaa Department published this fatwa on aliftaa.jo as no. 3939, dated 16 January 2025. 1 The museum records this text as a historical document attributed to the body or scholar that issued it; it issues no ruling of its own.

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Hila (legal device)· Riba in the rulings: the forbidden excess in exchange and in delay, its kinds, its causes and its rulings

People and things also explored

A charity accepting a commercial bank's support in return for thanking it in posts· A loan whose interest is paid by another party· Administrative fees on an interest-free loan card· Arranged invoices to obtain cash from Islamic banks· Buying an online game account in instalments· Buying gold bars through an app· Court-awarded legal interest· Financing a Ramadan iftar invitation in instalments

Sources

  1. Jordan's General Iftaa Department (aliftaa.jo) , fatwa 3939

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islam.museum contributors. “Raising a flat's price to the bank to cover transfer fees”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/work/fatwa-aliftaa-jo-raising-a-flats-price-to-cover-transfer-fees/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-11-01.

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A charity accepting a commercial bank's support in return for thanking it in posts

A question about a charity accepting support from a commercial bank in return for thanking it in posts, videos and advertisements, in which Jordan's General Iftaa Department answered that donations from interest-based banks may be accepted if no promotion is required, that thanks given orally or by letter are fine, and that thanks through advertisements and posts are forbidden because they amount to promotion. The Department answered that promoting and advertising banks and financial institutions that deal in usury is forbidden, because it is assisting in what is forbidden. It said there is no objection to dealing with someone whose wealth is mixed between lawful and unlawful, or even mostly unlawful, so his gift or donation may be accepted unless the specific money given is known to be unlawful, provided this is not tied to promoting the donor; it quoted Ibn Hajar al-Haytami's answer in al-Fatawa al-Fiqhiyya al-Kubra that dealing with someone most of whose wealth is unlawful is disliked unless the unlawful item itself is known. It distinguished ways of thanking a supporting bank: oral thanks to its management, or a letter of thanks, are unobjectionable; thanks published in advertisements and videos are not permitted, because they amount to promotion. It concluded that donations from interest-based banks may be accepted if they do not require promotion, but are forbidden if given in return for promotional work, such as thanks in posts and advertisements.