Is it Permissible to Refer Customers to Mortgage Brokers?
Hanafi Fiqh
Answered by Mawlana Ilyas Patel
Question
I am a real estate agent who connects the owner with the buyer to sell the house for the owner, and I get a commission for that. However, many of my buyers ask me to help them with their mortgage, refer them to a mortgage broker or MLO, and guide them through the paperwork for the mortgage. Because I say I do not help with mortgages, people politely leave me to look for agents who refer them to mortgage brokers. My question is whether referring someone to a mortgage broker constitutes “helping someone doing sin,” hence I am also a sinner.
Also, for the notary public, if you notarize mortgage papers, are you also helping them in sin? A notary public is just verifying that the actual person is present and verifying their signatures.
Answer
In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate.
I pray you are in good faith and health. Thank you for your question.
It is not permissible for you to refer customers to a mortgage broker that provides interest-based loans.
This will come under assisting in sin.
Allah (Most High) says, “Cooperate with one another in goodness and righteousness, and do not cooperate in sin and transgression. And be mindful of Allah. Surely Allah is severe in punishment.” [Quran, 5:2]
In the Hanafi school, the degrees of assisting another in sin are:
- Direct assistance in sin.
- Indirect assistance in sin.
- Possible cause for sin. [Ibn ‘Abidin, Radd al-Muhtar; Nahlawi, Durar al-Mubaha; Usmani, Fiqh al-Buyu‘]
I would like you to go through the valuable answers and links below. You will receive guidance and direction, in sha’ Allah.
Related:
- Provision and Work: A Reader
- What Are the Principles of Work and Assisting in Sin? [Video]
- Haram Money Archives
Why not begin your search for knowledge by signing up for a course on SeekersGuidance?
I pray this helps with your question.
Wassalam,
[Mawlana] Ilyas Patel
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
Mawlana Ilyas Patel is a traditionally-trained scholar who has studied in the UK, India, Pakistan, Syria, Jordan, and Turkey. He started his early education in the UK. He went on to complete the hifz of the Quran in India, then enrolled in an Islamic seminary in the UK, where he studied the secular and ‘Aalimiyya sciences. He then traveled to Karachi, Pakistan. He has been an Imam in Rep of Ireland for several years. He has taught hifz of the Quran, Tajwid, Fiqh, and many other Islamic sciences to children and adults onsite and online extensively in the UK and Ireland. He taught at a local Islamic seminary for 12 years in the UK, where he was a librarian and a teacher of Islamic sciences. He currently resides in the UK with his wife. His interest is a love of books and gardening.
