usury; and because purchasing shares in companies that deal in ribā (usury) while the buyer is aware of it amounts to the buyer’s own participation in usurious transactions. A share represents an undivided portion of the company’s capital, and the shareholder owns a proportional stake in all the company’s assets. Accordingly, every sum the company lends for interest or borrows for interest yields a share for the shareholder, for those who carry out the interest-based lending and borrowing do so on his behalf and by his authorization—and authorizing someone to commit a prohibited act is itself impermissible.

May abundant blessings and peace be upon our master Muhammad, his family, and his Companions; and all praise belongs to Allah, Lord of the worlds.

• Fatwa of the Permanent Committee for Scholarly Research and Fatwa concerning “the Stock Exchange”:

Summary of the fatwa:

First: The original meaning of the word “bourse” is “purse.” It was then applied to the place where a city’s merchants, money-changers, and brokers gather, under government supervision and at fixed hours, to speculate in commercial goods, in forward markets for foreign currencies, and in securities markets (shares and bonds).

It originated in Romania, then appeared in France around the middle of the sixth Christian century, after which it spread to other countries and evolved until it reached its present form.

From this it becomes clear that its categories are:
(a) speculation in commercial goods;
(b) speculation in foreign currencies;
(c) speculation in securities—shares and bonds.

Second: The price fluctuations in these markets—sudden rises and falls—