Can I dm regarding the retail finance contract? Would be open to pursuing that route if possible
Regarding the interest, the discrepancy comes from the nature of transaction. In a lease I am renting an asset, so giving my money in exchange to use an asset. In this case it doesn’t really matter how they calculate the payment or what terms they use. My payment is composed of depreciation + rent charge(money factor, they could even call it interest if they want, the name doesn’t really matter). As long as both parties agree on the total amount payed monthly and overtime, and that number can never increase from the orginal amount. So a trade of capital for use of an asset.
In a finance loan with > 0% apr, instead of renting an asset you are renting money. A loan(transaction of money for money) is only allowed in Islam if the amount returned is equal to the amount borrowed. Vice versa it is just as strict about paying your debts.
Guess it’s kind of my fault since I used the word interest, which is commonly conflated with the concept I am trying to avoid which is “riba”. Interest can just be a form of riba, but it all depends on the underlying nature of the transaction. So riba is what I’m trying to avoid, the rental of money but paying back more than I borrowed.
disclosure: not a scholar, muslims(and non-muslims if you care) do your own research