Structure
Murabaha (cost-plus sale) home financing, offered as a brand of Guaranteed Rate, Inc.
Full wordingRegulated as
The site's footer reads 'Guaranteed Rate, Inc. D/B/A Barakah Mortgage NMLS License #2611' and says 'This site is not authorized by the New York State Department of Financial Services'. The NMLS record was not opened by us (NMLS Consumer Access refuses automated reads), so licence states are as the site lists them.
Full wordingShariah oversight
The site names a scholar council: Joe Bradford ('CSAA · Shariah Advisor & Auditor'), Sheikh Hassan Jama ('Resident Scholar') and Shaykh Abdullah Ashraf ('Scholar Advisor'), and says the model is 'reviewed and endorsed by an independent council of scholars from across traditions'. No external certifier is named.
Full wordingOutside ruling
AMJA Resident Fatwa Committee (note on the US home-financing resolution page, English text undated): the murabaha contract submitted by Mubarak Mortgage 'is Sharia-compliant'; the firm is advised to appoint an independent Shariah supervisory board.
Full wordingEstablished
mubarakmortgage.com now redirects to barakahmortgage.com (checked 15 October 2026); the site itself does not state a founding date or a former name.
Full wordingStructureIn its own words: 'Barakah Mortgage offers Murabaha financing, which is cost plus profit' and 'Instead of interest, we earn a profit margin that is competitive with current market rates'. It describes 'Faith-based home financing nationwide, welcoming people of all faiths and backgrounds'. How the sale price is fixed, who holds title before resale, and what happens on default are not described on the public pages.
A murabaha (cost-plus) home-finance brand whose submitted contract AMJA's Resident Fatwa Committee reviewed under the name Mubarak Mortgage and found Sharia-compliant, while advising the firm to appoint an independent Shariah supervisory board. Yellow because the executed contract is not public, no rates or fees are published, and the firm says its profit margin is 'competitive with current market rates', so the pricing question the Six Pillars ask is open. Its scholar council includes Joe Bradford, who also appears on this site's allies page; that is a relationship to weigh, not a conflict we can audit.
Provider’s website ↗Provider white papers, FAQs or fatāwā were read, but the executed contract itself is not public. This rates our certainty, not the provider’s compliance.
The five questions
How it answers, at a glance
Which contract
Murabaha (cost-plus sale)“Barakah Mortgage offers Murabaha financing, which is cost plus profit”
Who holds title
Not disclosed“who holds title before resale, and what happens on default are not described on the public pages”
How the price or rent is set
Conventional benchmark“we earn a profit margin that is competitive with current market rates”
What happens on default
Not publicly documented“who holds title before resale, and what happens on default are not described on the public pages”
Independent scholarly ruling
Approved by an independent body“the murabaha contract submitted by Mubarak Mortgage 'is Sharia-compliant'”
Note: AMJA's note concerns the contract submitted under the Mubarak name and its English text is undated; AMJA advised an independent Shariah board, not shown to be appointed.
See how it compares across the US, UK and CanadaEstablished & regulatory standing
The verifiable facts
Established
mubarakmortgage.com now redirects to barakahmortgage.com (checked 15 October 2026); the site itself does not state a founding date or a former name.
Regulatory standing
The site's footer reads 'Guaranteed Rate, Inc. D/B/A Barakah Mortgage NMLS License #2611' and says 'This site is not authorized by the New York State Department of Financial Services'. The NMLS record was not opened by us (NMLS Consumer Access refuses automated reads), so licence states are as the site lists them.
Shariah board
Who certifies it
The site names a scholar council: Joe Bradford ('CSAA · Shariah Advisor & Auditor'), Sheikh Hassan Jama ('Resident Scholar') and Shaykh Abdullah Ashraf ('Scholar Advisor'), and says the model is 'reviewed and endorsed by an independent council of scholars from across traditions'. No external certifier is named.
A named, credentialled board is a real signal — but a provider’s own board certifying its own product is not the same as arm’s-length review. Weigh it alongside the independent commentary below.
Independent scholarly review
What independent scholars have said
AMJA Resident Fatwa Committee (note on the US home-financing resolution page, English text undated): the murabaha contract submitted by Mubarak Mortgage 'is Sharia-compliant'; the firm is advised to appoint an independent Shariah supervisory board.
Independent commentary is weighed, not treated as a final personal ruling. A body that rules one way is one respected voice, not a universal consensus — and rulings can lag changes to a live contract.
How the structure works
The mechanics, in principle
In its own words: 'Barakah Mortgage offers Murabaha financing, which is cost plus profit' and 'Instead of interest, we earn a profit margin that is competitive with current market rates'. It describes 'Faith-based home financing nationwide, welcoming people of all faiths and backgrounds'. How the sale price is fixed, who holds title before resale, and what happens on default are not described on the public pages.
This describes the structure in principle — it is not a verdict on the executed contract. How the contract actually behaves is what the checklist below tests.
From the public documents
How the contract actually works
Read from Barakah Mortgage (formerly Mubarak Mortgage)’s own public materials — white papers, product pages, FAQs and fatāwā — not its executed contract, which is generally not published. Where a point is undisclosed, it is said plainly rather than guessed. Sources are listed below.
AMJA's US home-financing page carries, under its later updates, a committee note on Mubarak Mortgage: 'The committee has reviewed the murabaha contract submitted by Mubarak Mortgage and believes that it is Sharia-compliant.' The same note advises the company 'to appoint an independent Sharia supervisory board to ensure the proper implementation of the murabahah contract standards'. The English text of that note is undated. What AMJA reviewed was a submitted contract; the version a buyer signs today, under the Barakah brand, is not public. Pricing is the open question: a murabaha price fixed at signing is a sale, but the firm says the margin is set to be 'competitive with current market rates', and it publishes no rate, fee or example schedule ('Transparent cost-plus pricing designed to stay in step with the market'). Honest limit: no executed contract, rate sheet or fee schedule was read, and the NMLS record was not opened.
The Six-Pillar test
The questions that decide it
This is the universal lens this site applies to every home-finance contract, anywhere. Read each pillar as a question to put to Barakah Mortgage (formerly Mubarak Mortgage)’s executed contract — not its brochure.
- 1
Real ownership
Does the financier genuinely take ownership of the asset — even briefly — and bear a real owner's risk, rather than only ever holding a debt secured against it?
- 2
Risk-sharing
If the asset is destroyed or its value collapses, does the financier share that loss in proportion to its stake, or is the customer left bearing it alone?
- 3
Rent vs interest
In a lease/co-ownership, is the rent benchmarked to a genuine market rent for the property — or is it calibrated to an interest rate (a base-rate + margin) in disguise?
- 4
Default mechanism
On default, does the contract behave like the end of a real lease/partnership — or does it accelerate like a loan, demanding the full outstanding 'principal' plus charges?
- 5
No guaranteed pre-fixed return
Is the financier's return tied to real ownership and risk, or is it a pre-fixed, guaranteed sum that arrives regardless of what happens to the asset?
- 6
Substance over form
Strip away the Arabic labels: does the cashflow, risk, and outcome differ from a conventional loan — or is it the same economics wearing a compliant name (ḥiyal)?
Before you sign
What to ask Barakah Mortgage (formerly Mubarak Mortgage), in writing
Put these to the provider in writing and keep the answers. The reply — not the marketing — is what tells you whether the structure holds.
Is the contract I will sign the same murabaha contract AMJA reviewed, and can I see AMJA's note alongside it?
What is the total sale price, and is any part of my payment recalculated after signing?
Who holds title between Barakah's purchase and my purchase, and for how long?
What happens if I pay late or cannot pay: is the remaining price accelerated, and are any charges added?
Has the independent Shariah supervisory board AMJA recommended been appointed, and who sits on it?
The honest gap
What we have not verified
- Whether the executed contract matches the one AMJA reviewed.
- How the profit margin is set, given the firm's own words that it is 'competitive with current market rates'.
- The NMLS licence record and the states covered (the site lists them; we did not open the register).
- Whether an independent Shariah supervisory board has been appointed since AMJA's advice.
The reasoning
Why this verdict, and not another
A verdict is only as honest as the reasoning behind it. Here is why Barakah Mortgage (formerly Mubarak Mortgage) sits where it does — what keeps it off a clean pass, and what keeps it off an outright avoid.
Not a clean pass because
No rates, fees or contract are public, the margin is described as 'competitive with current market rates', and AMJA's advice to appoint an independent Shariah board is not shown to have been followed.
Not an outright avoid because
AMJA's committee reviewed the submitted murabaha contract and 'believes that it is Sharia-compliant', and the firm names its scholars.
Sources
What this read is built on
The verifiable references behind this page — provider documents and independent scholarly resolutions. Read them yourself; do not take our summary on trust.