Changing the terminology—calling them “certificates,” “investment sukuk,” or “savings instruments,” or rebranding the stipulated usurious interest as “profit,” “yield,” “commission,” or “return”—does not alter the ruling.

Second: Zero-coupon bonds are likewise prohibited, for they are loans sold at a price lower than their face value, and the holders profit from the difference, which is effectively a discounted interest payment.

Third: Prize bonds are also forbidden, being loans that stipulate a benefit or increment for the lenders as a group, or for some of them on an unspecified basis, in addition to the element of gambling involved.

Fourth: One permissible alternative to bonds whose issuance, purchase, or trading is banned is the issuance of bonds or sukuk structured on the basis of muḍāraba for a specific project or investment activity. The holders of such instruments receive no fixed interest or guaranteed benefit; rather, they are entitled only to a share of the project’s profit in proportion to the bonds or sukuk they own, and they receive this profit solely when it is actually realized. Benefit may be taken here from the model adopted in this Academy’s Resolution No. 30 concerning muqārada bonds. And Allah knows best.