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Late-payment fines in a cooperative's murabaha financing

غرامات التأخير في مرابحة جمعية تعاونية

A question about late-payment fines in a cooperative's murabaha financing, in which Jordan's General Iftaa Department answered that stipulating late-payment fines on a debtor is forbidden, while stipulating that all remaining instalments fall due if some are late is permitted, and the creditor may secure the debt with guarantors or a pledge. The Department answered that a debtor able to pay is forbidden to delay, citing a hadith narrated by al-Bukhari whose meaning is that a wealthy person's delay is wrongdoing, and one narrated by Abu Dawud that such delay makes him liable to censure and penalty; the creditor may claim his debt by proper means without taking anything beyond his right. It said that imposing late fines or compensation on the debtor runs against the purpose of the Shari'a, citing Surat al-Baqara 2:280, and quoted resolution no. 124 of Jordan's Iftaa Council that a penalty clause in debts is void and voids the contract, being the riba of the pre-Islamic era forbidden in Surat al-Baqara 2:275, referring to al-Qurtubi's Tafsir (3/275) on how the Arabs used to increase a debt when it fell due. It said the creditor may stipulate that all remaining instalments fall due if the debtor is late, citing a hadith narrated by al-Tirmidhi that Muslims are bound by their conditions except a condition that forbids the lawful or permits the forbidden, and resolution no. 51 (2/6) of the Islamic Fiqh Academy permitting such acceleration if the debtor agreed to it when contracting; the creditor may also secure the debt from the outset with guarantors or a pledge.

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Summary

A question about late-payment fines in a cooperative's murabaha financing, in which Jordan's General Iftaa Department answered that stipulating late-payment fines on a debtor is forbidden, while stipulating that all remaining instalments fall due if some are late is permitted, and the creditor may secure the debt with guarantors or a pledge. 1

The question

A cooperative society that finances its members through instalment murabaha asked about imposing a financial penalty on a member who pays late after the agreed due date. 1

The answer

The Department answered that a debtor able to pay is forbidden to delay, citing a hadith narrated by al-Bukhari whose meaning is that a wealthy person's delay is wrongdoing, and one narrated by Abu Dawud that such delay makes him liable to censure and penalty; the creditor may claim his debt by proper means without taking anything beyond his right. 1 It said that imposing late fines or compensation on the debtor runs against the purpose of the Shari'a, citing Surat al-Baqara 2:280, and quoted resolution no. 124 of Jordan's Iftaa Council that a penalty clause in debts is void and voids the contract, being the riba of the pre-Islamic era forbidden in Surat al-Baqara 2:275, referring to al-Qurtubi's Tafsir (3/275) on how the Arabs used to increase a debt when it fell due. 1 It said the creditor may stipulate that all remaining instalments fall due if the debtor is late, citing a hadith narrated by al-Tirmidhi that Muslims are bound by their conditions except a condition that forbids the lawful or permits the forbidden, and resolution no. 51 (2/6) of the Islamic Fiqh Academy permitting such acceleration if the debtor agreed to it when contracting; the creditor may also secure the debt from the outset with guarantors or a pledge. 1

About this record

Jordan's General Iftaa Department published this fatwa on aliftaa.jo as no. 4479, dated 4 June 2026. 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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Debt (dayn) in fiqh· 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 4479

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islam.museum contributors. “Late-payment fines in a cooperative's murabaha financing”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/work/fatwa-aliftaa-jo-late-payment-fines-in-cooperative-murabaha/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-11-02.

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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.