This fatwa acknowledges the increasing demand among society to utilise banking services, including savings accounts, to store its wealth. It notes that withdrawals from a savings account can only be made pursuant to certain, agreed-upon conditions, not via cheque, giro ticket, and/or other means. It also notes that not all savings account practices are shari'a-compliant and, accordingly, a set of guidelines are necessary to ensure shari'a-compliant savings account practices.
The fatwa acknowledges that there are two types of savings accounts:
- those that are not shari'a-compliant, insofar as they are based on interest calucations; and
- those are are shari'a-compliant, insofar as they are based on Mudharabah and Wadi'ah principles.