Shares of a Bank

Answered by Ustadh Tabraze Azam

Question: Assalam alaykum

I work in a bank and as part of my work we are given employee benefits
such as being able to own shares.

What is the ruling regarding this?

Answer: Wa alaikum assalam wa rahmatullah,

No, it would not be permitted to purchase or own shares or stocks from a conventional, interest-bearing bank.

The first condition for the permissibility of investing in a company is to ensure that its primary line of activity is permissible. This condition is absent in the majority of conventional, usurious banks.

(Usmani, Fiqh al-Buyu‘ (2.1028))

Please also see this answer and this answer.

And Allah Most High knows best.

[Ustadh] Tabraze Azam

Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Ustadh Tabraze Azam holds a BSc in Computer Science from the University of Leicester, where he also served as the President of the Islamic Society. He memorised the entire Qur’an in his hometown of Ipswich at the tender age of sixteen, and has since studied the Islamic Sciences in traditional settings in the UK, Jordan and Turkey. He is currently pursuing advanced studies in Jordan, where he is presently based with his family.