The lease-to-own model may be used in modern Islamic financing. Among the many technicalities that should be observed, the two most important points are: ensuring the ownership of the lessor before he or she leases the property out, and abiding by the obligations and rights of the lease contract while the property is leased. This is to ensure that the contract is not simply a trick to guarantee the return of capital with a profit, without any risk-taking or liability for the investor/financier, as this would constitute usury (ribâ).

The two other commonly-used models of Islamic financing are: ‘declining partnership’ (sharâkah mutanâqiṣah) and ‘cost-plus sale to the purchase orderer’ (bay‘ al-murâbaḥah lil-âmir bish-shirâ’). In Islam, profit follows liability. Immunizing the capital of the investors against loss is the essence of usury. Some of the safeguards against that include the complete possession of the property before its sale to the client in the cost-plus sales, and the shared responsibility of the partners in the declining partnership model.

Islamic financing encounters enormous hurdles when it operates within a framework that is negligent of its principles. Sincere efforts by the Islamic financing industry should be appreciated. Ongoing improvements must be undertaken to achieve compliance with the spirit and values of Sharia, not only its technicalities.