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Is Being Mortgage Underwriter Halal?

17 May, 2024
Q Is it lawful in Islam for me to be a mortgage underwriter? I don’t think they deal with riba because all they do is check people information for the bank to verify the loan application is correct and they can pay back the loan to the bank. They either approve the loan or deny?

Answer

In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful. 

All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.


In this fatwa:

Working as mortgage underwriter is halal as long as your job is limited to checking and verifying the financial solvency of the individuals applying for mortgage.


Responding to your question, Sheikh Ahmad Kutty, a senior lecturer and an Islamic scholar at the Islamic Institute of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, states:

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As long as you are not directly involved in interest transactions and your job is limited to checking and verifying the financial solvency of the individual and their eligibility to buy a house, I don’t think it is haram to work as mortgage underwriter.

However, since you are associated with institutions whose primary business revolves around interest transactions, you owe it to yourself to cleanse your income of the taints of haram related to your work. It would help if you offered extra charities on top of the yearly Zakah you owe on your net income and lots of Istighfar.

If you can find another job wholly free of such taints of haram, you should go for it.

Almighty Allah knows best.