Is buying a phone on qist halal?

This is the first question a lot of our customers ask, and they are right to ask it. Paying more than the cash price over a few months can look like interest. Whether it is or not depends entirely on how the deal is made.

Loan or sale?

Interest, riba, is when someone lends you money and takes back more money because of the time. That is haram.

A sale works differently. Someone who owns a thing sells it to you at a price you both agree. Scholars allow the seller to ask a higher price when you pay later instead of now, as long as it is a real sale and one final price is agreed at the start.

What has to be true

The seller must own the phone before selling it to you. You can’t sell what you don’t own.

There must be one fixed price, agreed when you buy. Not a price that keeps growing month by month.

A late payment must never add to that price. The moment a seller charges extra for delay, it turns into interest.

And you must know everything before you agree: the total, the advance, how many months and how much each.

How Mobilistan does it

We use Musawamah, a sale where the buyer and seller agree the price. You pick the exact phone you want. We buy that phone first and it becomes ours. Then we sell it to you at the agreed price, paid in monthly instalments. The price is fixed on the day, and it never goes up if you are late.

Our model, our contracts and our process were reviewed by the scholars of Al Hijrah Sharia Advisory Services, who certified it. You can see every step, and download the certificate, on our Sharia page.

If you have a question about your own situation, please ask a mufti you trust.