Buying a house on installment while paying in the form of rent

Question #342:

A brother urgently requests an answer on this type of business transaction. He wishes to buy a house on installments and the seller agrees to sell him the house with no interest. While he is paying the installments, the seller will act as a landlord and buyer is acting as renter but he will be responsible for fixing and maintaining the house, not the seller. Once the entire amount is paid the house will be transferred in buyers name. Is this transaction permissible?

Answer:

This bayʿah (transaction) is incorrect, because the buyer does not have full control of the property. And also it maybe that the buyer, he dies before the completion of the course of the rent. This type of buying and selling, this trading, is impermissible and incorrect.

Answered by: Shaykh ʿAbdullāh al-Iryānī حفظه الله

Translated by: Abū Hārūn Muḥammad ʿAbdin-Nūr