Investor Guide · October 2026
Is Investing With Amtaar Halal? How Our Contracts Were Reviewed Under Ijarah
Saying an investment is Sharia-compliant in principle is easy. Showing that it holds up when a specialist reads the actual contracts is harder, and it is what a careful investor should ask for. Amtaar asked Dr. Basem Munir Elewa, a Cairo-based Sharia audit and zakat accounting consultant, to review the contracts behind our investments and the way rental income is earned and paid out. His review, carried out under Ijarah (إجارة), the Islamic contract of leasing, found the model compliant with Sharia. This article explains what Ijarah is, what was reviewed, and why rent from a property you co-own is considered halal income.
What Ijarah (إجارة) means
Ijarah is the Islamic contract of leasing: the owner of an asset lets someone else use it in return for a known rent, for a known period. Classical jurisprudence describes it as the sale of a usufruct, the benefit of using an asset, rather than of the asset itself. It is one of the most widely used contracts in Islamic finance, and AAOIFI, the body that sets standards for Islamic financial institutions, dedicates a full Sharia standard to it.
For Ijarah to be valid, a few conditions matter: the lessor must actually own the asset, the asset and its use must be clearly defined, the rent must be known and agreed, and the owner bears the risks that come with ownership. Rent earned this way is a return on a real asset in productive use, which is why it is considered halal income.
How Amtaar's model maps onto Ijarah
With Amtaar, investors buy shares in a specific commercial property and become co-owners of it, each with a percentage stated in a common-ownership share-sale contract. The property is then leased to a business tenant under a lease contract with a defined unit, a defined term and an agreed rent.
The rent the tenant pays is the income. After the management fee, it is split between the co-owners by the number of shares each holds and paid quarterly. Investors are not lending money and receiving a fixed return. They own a real asset and receive its real rent, which depends on the tenant paying. That is Ijarah in its plain form.
What the review covered
Dr. Elewa did not review a marketing description. He reviewed the real contracts: the share-sale contract that documents each investor's ownership, the lease contracts with tenants, and the way rental income is collected, calculated and distributed to investors.
His conclusion was that the structure is Sharia-compliant under Ijarah: investors own a real, identified asset, the income is rent for its use, and the contracts contain no interest (riba). Amtaar's investor contracts also carry no late-payment penalties on investors. Scholars check this point closely, because a penalty that profits the lender or seller when a payment is late resembles interest.
Who is Dr. Basem Elewa
Dr. Basem Munir Elewa is a Sharia audit and zakat accounting consultant based in Cairo, working under the name Sharia Audit (شريعة أوديت). He holds a master's degree in Islamic finance from CIBAFI in Bahrain and a master's in accounting from Menoufia University, and is a PhD researcher in accounting at Al-Azhar University. His professional certifications include Certified Islamic Banker (CIB) and Certified Islamic Capital Markets Specialist (CICM) from CIBAFI, and Certified Zakat Accountant (CZA) from the Kuwait Accountants and Auditors Association.
He is a member of the Egyptian Society for Islamic Finance, the author of books on zakat and contemporary financial transactions, and the host of programmes on zakat and Sharia audit. You can find his work on his website, basemelewa.com, and on his Facebook page, Basem Elewa – Sharia Audit.
Zakat on your shares
Many contemporary scholars hold that zakat on income-producing property is due on the rental income you keep, once it reaches the nisab and a lunar year has passed, and not on the value of the property itself, because the property is held for income rather than for trade.
Rulings differ between schools of thought and between personal situations, so ask a zakat specialist about your own case.
What this means for you
If Sharia compliance is a deciding factor for you, you now have more than a general argument: a specialist reviewed the actual contracts and the flow of income and found them compliant under Ijarah.
If you follow a particular scholar or Sharia board, you can still review the share-sale contract and how returns are generated with them before investing. Our team can walk you through the contract on WhatsApp.
Questions investors ask
Is investing with Amtaar halal?
Amtaar's contracts and income model were reviewed by Sharia audit consultant Dr. Basem Munir Elewa, who found them Sharia-compliant under Ijarah: investors co-own a real property and receive its rent, with no interest involved.
What is Ijarah?
Ijarah (إجارة) is the Islamic contract of leasing: the owner of an asset lets someone use it for a known rent and a known period. The rent is a return on a real asset in use, not interest on money.
Which contracts were reviewed?
The share-sale contract investors sign, which documents their ownership percentage, the lease contracts with tenants, and the way rent is collected and distributed.
Do Amtaar's investor contracts include interest or late-payment penalties?
No. Investors receive a share of actual rent, not interest, and the investor contracts carry no late-payment penalties.
Is zakat due on my Amtaar shares?
Many scholars hold that zakat on income-producing property is due on the rental income you keep once it reaches the nisab and a lunar year passes, not on the property's value. Ask a zakat specialist about your own situation.
