Is interest (riba) haram, including mortgages?

Riba is clearly forbidden in the Quran. Most scholars hold a conventional interest-bearing mortgage to be riba; a minority permitted one for a family home in need. Islamic home finance offers alternatives.

Yes. Riba, interest charged on a loan, is clearly forbidden in the Quran and is among the gravest sins in Islamic law. Most contemporary scholars hold that a conventional interest-bearing mortgage is riba. A minority permitted one for a family home where there is genuine need and no alternative. Islamic home-finance contracts exist to avoid it.

The texts

• "Allah has permitted trade and forbidden interest" (Quran 2:275).
• "O you who believe, be mindful of Allah, and leave what remains of usury, if you are believers. If you do not, then be warned of war from Allah and His Messenger. But if you repent, you may have your principal" (Quran 2:278-279).
• The Prophet cursed the one who consumes riba, the one who pays it, the one who records it and the two witnesses to it, saying "they are all the same" (Sahih Muslim 1598).

Mortgages

• The majority view, including standard-setting bodies for Islamic finance, is that a conventional mortgage is an interest-bearing loan and therefore riba.
• A minority view, notably a 1999 ruling of the European Council for Fatwa and Research, permitted a conventional mortgage for a Muslim's primary residence in a non-Muslim country, on grounds of need and where no Islamic alternative was available. Many scholars disagree with this ruling.
• Alternatives: Islamic home finance uses contracts such as murabaha (the bank buys the home and sells it to you at a disclosed profit), ijara (lease-to-own) and diminishing musharaka (shared ownership that you buy out over time).

Because circumstances matter, anyone facing this decision should take their specific situation to a qualified scholar rather than rely on a general answer.