Regarding opening a purely interest-based bank account (meaning it does not involve anything that prevents such description, which is common in this era), the majority opinion among scholars is that the contract of usury (ribā) is invalid and unestablished, including what is incurred from it. This is the opinion of the Mālikī, Shāfi῾ī, and Ḥanbalī schools. The increase over the original amount is considered wealth that impermissible to obtain, whether for the usurious party or anyone else, because it is possession without justification. Allāh Almighty says: “Do not consume one another’s wealth unjustly” [An-Nisā᾽ 4:29].

According to the Ḥanafī school, it is a void contract or contains a void condition, meaning that the loan is permissible but the increase is not permissible. Therefore, the void condition is inapplicable, but the contract remains valid.

Therefore, it is permissible to use the increase by someone other than the lender because the original money is lawful for them [i.e., the lender] through the loan contract.

It should be noted that some who consider the usurious contract to be void exempt the person who imitates a legal opinion (muqallid), as mentioned by Ar-Ruḥaybānī in “Maṭālib ᾽Ulī an-Nuhā.” He said: “It is forbidden for every accountable person (mukallaf) to engage in void contracts if they are aware of their invalidity and do not imitate someone who deems them valid. If they imitate, it is permissible.”

Fatwa issued by Dr. Khālid Naṣr