02 / 12 · Faith · Saving
A prize is not a profit rate.
NS&I Premium Bonds are a loan to the Treasury with a prize draw instead of interest. Many UK boards call that maysir on a qard. The street still buys them as ‘the safe halal’. Both facts can be true as sociology. Only one is a ruling.
The Mizan desk · 7 September 2026 · 8 min
You lend to NS&I. You can have your stake back. Instead of interest you are entered into a monthly draw. That is why uncles like them, and why many scholars do not: qard that returns a chance is not a gift, and a chance is the maysir problem. Other voices treat the prize as a government gift on a tolerated deposit in a riba economy. Split. This site will not pick.
A prize draw on a loan is not wakala. It is a raffle attached to a debt.
The actual alternative
Wakala savings at Al Rayan or Gatehouse: expected profit, real pool, FSCS where authorised. Cash ISA: tax wrapper, conventional underlying unless specified. LISA: bonus plus whatever is inside. If you want a house, the prize draw is a poor deposit strategy even if your mufti smiled at it. Volatility of luck is not a nisab.