Fatwa #198097 March 2012Saudi Arabia
Is it permissible for my roommate to charge me 60% of our monthly rent.
Question
My roommate is making me pay 60% of the rent. Before me, he shared the room’s rent equally with the previous roommate. Just because he was in the room before me does not justify him to pay less. I think in Islamic point of view its haram, as the room rent should be shared equally among the two of us. Please advise and Jazakallah Khair.
Answer
In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
As-salāmu ‘alaykum wa-rahmatullāhi wa-barakātuh.
In order for us to issue a ruling kindly elaborate on the following;
1) Who is the official tenant?
2) Does the tenant have a right to include anyone in his room?
3) Do you have any recourse to the landlord?
4) Did you approach your roommate on the issue?
Mawlana Ali bin Cassim
Checked and Approved by,
Mufti Ebrahim Desai.
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