Is a personal loan haram?+
A conventional personal loan is haram because the lender stipulates an increase over the principal for the time you hold the money, which is riba al-nasiah, the form of riba the Quran prohibits most directly (2:275-279). The size of the rate does not change the ruling. The only lawful loan of money is one repaid at par (qard hasan); borrowing cash at interest is permitted by scholars only in genuine necessity (darura) when no halal route exists, and the necessity must be real, not convenience.
Can a qard hasan lender charge any fee?+
Only a fee that covers the actual administrative cost of processing the loan, and it must not vary with the loan amount or term, since that would make it interest by another name. AAOIFI Shariah Standard 19 sets this limit. Membership dues at a credit union are separate and permissible because they are not tied to the loan.
Can I get a 0% interest loan from an Islamic bank in the U.S.?+
From a credit union, yes in one place we list: Jafari No-Interest Credit Union in Texas offers qard hasan personal, auto, refinancing, and expense loans to members. The banks offering Islamic products (UIF at University Bank, Devon Bank, Bank of Whittier) list trade- and partnership-based contracts (murabaha, ijara, musharakah, riba-free declining participation) rather than qard hasan loans. Outside banking, benevolent loan funds run by mosques, Muslim community foundations, and some employers lend at par. The interest-free Islamic loans guide lists the current U.S. options.
Is a 0% APR promotional loan or buy-now-pay-later the same as qard hasan?+
No. A 0% promotional loan from a retailer or a BNPL plan is a commercial sale on deferred payment; it is often permissible as an installment sale as long as no interest or late interest is ever charged and the price is fixed. But it is a sale contract, not a benevolent loan, and most 0% offers carry deferred interest that is charged retroactively if you miss the payoff date, which makes them riba-bearing in practice. Read the deferred-interest clause before treating any 0% offer as halal.
What if the borrower gives back more voluntarily?+
Permitted and praised, provided the extra was not stipulated, expected, or customary as a condition of the loan. The Prophet repaid a loan with a better animal than he borrowed and said the best of people are the best in repaying. The moment the excess is agreed, promised, or understood as the price of the loan, it becomes riba.
How do halal debt consolidation and debt relief fit in?+
Consolidating conventional debts into a new conventional loan replaces one riba contract with another. The halal routes are: negotiating settlements or hardship plans directly with creditors, a qard hasan from a community fund used to clear the highest-cost balances, or an asset-backed halal refinance (for example refinancing a car loan into ijara). Our halal debt consolidation guide ranks the options by what you owe.