سواب-مجاني حسابات — How They Actually Work

1. True سواب-مجاني (the clean option)

No charge of any kind for holding positions overnight, regardless of duration. Spreads and commissions are identical to قياسي حسابات. The وسيط absorbs the cost as a customer-acquisition expense or covers it from their hedging book.

Example وسطاء in this category: select مستوى-1 regulated وسطاء that have specifically built compliant إسلامي infrastructure. Verifiable by checking their fee schedules show no asymmetry between قياسي and إسلامي حسابات.

Structurally clean — most scholars accept this.

2. Limited-period سواب-مجاني

No سواب for the الأول N days (usually 5, 7, 10, or 14 days). After that, سواب applies as on a قياسي حساب — or sometimes at an elevated rate to recover the holding cost.

This works for day المتداولون and short-term swing المتداولون who close positions within the grace period. It does not work for long-term positions or for المتداولون whose strategy involves holding through major أخبار cycles. Some scholars accept this; others view it as deferred سواب and reject it.

Acceptable for short-term المتداولون only — discuss with your scholar.

3. الإدارة-fee replacement

The broker removes the labeled "swap" charge but introduces an "administration fee" or "holding fee" that activates at the same time, at roughly the same magnitude, on the same instruments.

Structurally this is the same charge with a different label. The اقتصادي substance is unchanged. Most scholars looking at substance over form reject this — the AAOIFI مركز is explicit: a fee that behaves identically to a سواب is a سواب regardless of the name on the invoice.

Marketed as حلال — not structurally حلال under substance-over-form analysis.

4. Spread loading

The وسيط removes سواب charges but widens the spreads on the إسلامي حساب. The financing cost is built into every صفقة rather than charged separately.

Easy to detect: compare the live spread on EUR/USD between a standard account and the same broker's Islamic account during the same market hour. If the Islamic spread is structurally higher, the swap revenue is hidden inside it.

Structurally similar to الإدارة-fee replacement — substance-over-form analysis raises riba concerns.

Five tests

1. The fee schedule test: ask for the broker's complete fee schedule for both standard and Islamic accounts. Compare. Note any asymmetries.
2. The spread test: open both حساب types in demo if possible. Watch live spreads on EUR/USD and XAU/USD during London-NY overlap. Compare.
3. The hold-period test: ask in writing: "If I hold a 1-lot EUR/USD position for 30 days on the Islamic account, what total non-spread, non-commission charges will be applied?" The answer should be zero.
4. The الشروط test: read the actual Islamic account terms document, not the marketing page. Look for any phrase referencing "rollover," "financing," "administration fee," "holding fee," or "currency conversion adjustment."
5. The certification test: ask if the إسلامي حساب is externally certified. By whom. When. Available for تقييم?

Genuinely حلال-structured سواب-مجاني حسابات exist. They are offered by a smaller number of وسطاء than the marketing suggests, and they tend to come with conditions (lower leverage, ECN-style execution, sometimes a small ticket fee). They are حقيقي.

"Islamic accounts" that are simply swap-free in name only also exist — they relabel the same financing structure with a different name. Substance-over-form is the analytical lens that lets you distinguish the two.