How it works
First we find out where you stand. Then we introduce you.
Miftah is not a bank and does not lend. We check whether you are ready for non-interest home financing, show you what is missing, and put the ready in front of partners who fund on ethical terms.
What we do
The part nobody else does.
Most people are not turned down because they cannot afford it. They are turned down because their income does not arrive in the shape a financier expects, and nobody tells them that.
Free readiness check
A few questions and you get an indication of where you stand. It costs nothing, and you share nothing sensitive to get it.
Identity and income
ID, a few details and a quick check, then statements and income evidence. Each step is explained, and nothing is read without your permission.
A score, with reasons
Income stability, payment behaviour, savings, existing obligations, documentation and headroom. You see what is strong, what is weak, and what you could realistically afford.
A certificate, or a plan
Ready, and you get a Finance Readiness Certificate and an introduction to a partner. Not ready, and you get an ordered plan — what to fix first — and we keep watching until you are.
The principle
Why interest is the problem.
A bank lends you money and charges you for holding it. The longer you take, the more you owe. The rate can move against you after you have signed.
For millions of people that is not an option. Riba — profiting from lending money itself — is forbidden in Islamic finance.
The objection is not only religious. Interest puts almost all the risk on the person least able to carry it.
Musharakah solves both. The financier invests alongside you instead of lending to you, and takes a share of a real asset instead of a fee for time. Every partner we introduce you to has to work this way.
The structure
Musharakah Mutanaqisah — diminishing co-ownership.
This is the financing you are being prepared for. It is the only structure we will put you in front of, and the one Miftah intends to offer directly once formal Shariah supervision is in place.
You buy it together
You put in what you can afford. The financier funds the rest. Both parties own a documented share from day one. This is real ownership, not collateral against a debt.
You buy them out
Every payment purchases another slice of their share. Yours grows, theirs shrinks. Nothing compounds.
The price never moves
The profit is set at the start and shown in full before you commit. It is a share of a property deal, not interest on a loan.
The home is yours
When the last payment clears, their share is zero and full title passes to you. No balloon payment, no residual claim.
The difference
Against a conventional mortgage.
What it is
Conventional mortgage
A debt secured on a property
Ethical co-ownership
Joint ownership of a real asset
What you pay for
Conventional mortgage
Time. Interest, usually compounding
Ethical co-ownership
The financier's share, at a margin agreed once
If rates move
Conventional mortgage
Your cost can rise after you commit
Ethical co-ownership
The margin is fixed and does not move
Credit checks
Conventional mortgage
Formal credit history required
Ethical co-ownership
Alternative data, so no credit file is fine
If you are turned down
Conventional mortgage
A rejection, with no reason attached
Ethical co-ownership
The gap, in order, and help closing it
Who it reaches
Conventional mortgage
Fewer than one in five Nigerians
Ethical co-ownership
Built for the other four
The technology
What makes it reachable.
The contract is not the clever part. Access is.
Scoring without a credit file
Most Nigerians have never borrowed formally, which makes them invisible to a bank. We read income patterns, payment behaviour and existing obligations instead. Having no debt should not count against you.
Machines read it, people check it
Statements and payslips are analysed in one pass, then a person reviews anything that looks odd before it affects your score. You get the reasoning either way, in plain language.
Built for the diaspora
Foreign income counts. Statements in pounds, dollars, euros or dirhams are accepted, verification happens remotely, and you do not need a Nigerian address or a guarantor.
Shariah governance
How compliance is assured.
Every partner on our panel has to offer Shariah-compliant financing. If a structure is not ethical it does not go on the panel, however competitive the terms look.
We are appointing a dedicated Shariah Compliance Officer to review and certify that panel, with independent external review alongside it.
We would rather say that plainly than imply an endorsement we have not yet earned. Compliance here is a standing job, not a certificate collected once.
Who this is for
People conventional finance was not built for.
Salaried and self-employed earners
You can afford a home. You cannot satisfy a bank's paperwork and deposit demands.
The unbanked
Real, provable income and no credit record. Currently rejected before anyone looks at you.
The diaspora
Living in the UK, US, Canada or the Gulf and want to own a home back in Nigeria.
Cooperatives and unions
Groups seeking home financing for members on terms that respect their principles.
Questions
Straight answers.
Do you provide the financing yourself?
No. We assess your readiness and introduce you to regulated, ethical finance partners, who make their own decisions on their own terms. We do not provide, approve or decline financing. Offering it directly is where we are headed, but it is not what we do today.
So what do I actually get from you?
An honest answer about where you stand, and what to do about it. A score with every factor explained, an ordered plan if there are gaps, and a certificate and an introduction if there are not.
Is a readiness certificate a guarantee of financing?
No. It tells a partner that your identity, income and affordability have been checked properly, which is usually the part that goes wrong. The decision stays theirs.
What does it cost?
The first assessment is free, and it tells you exactly where you stand. The improvement programme and the certificate are paid, and both prices are shown on MiHome before you commit to anything.
Isn't the profit margin just interest with a different name?
Interest is a charge for the use of money. It accrues and usually compounds. A Musharakah margin is a one-time markup on the sale of an asset share, fixed and disclosed before you commit. It does not grow, and it does not change if you take longer.
Do I have to be Muslim?
No. The model comes from Islamic finance but it is open to everyone. Plenty of people choose it simply because fixed terms that never move are easier to plan around.
How do I start?
Check your readiness on MiHome. It is free, it takes minutes, and there is nothing to join first — you get an indication straight away.
Find out where you stand.
The first check is free and takes minutes. You will know exactly what is between you and a home.