Question Summary:
Are savings permissible?

Question Detail:

1) Is savings permissible or is it considered hoarding? e.g. saving to buy a car in order to avoid financing.
(2) List of Shari'ah compliant institutions. 

Answer :

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
As-salāmu ‘alaykum wa-rahmatullāhi wa-barakātuh.
(1) Imam at-Tirmidhi narrates a hadith in his Sunan that the Holy Prophet (sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) said:
لاَ يَحْتَكِرُ إِلاَّ خَاطِئٌ 
Only a sinful person hoards. [Sunan at-Tirmidhi, 1267, Chapter regarding what has been related about hoarding]
In the explanation of the above referred hadith, Imam Tirmidhi explains:
كَرِهُوا احْتِكَارَ الطَّعَامِ ‏.‏ وَرَخَّصَ بَعْضُهُمْ فِي الاِحْتِكَارِ فِي غَيْرِ الطَّعَامِ ‏.‏ وَقَالَ ابْنُ الْمُبَارَكِ لاَ بَأْسَ بِالاِحْتِكَارِ فِي الْقُطْنِ وَالسَّخْتِيَانِ وَنَحْوِ ذَلِكَ 
..they (the 'ulama and people of knowledge) dislike hoarding food, and some of them make a concession for hoarding things other than food. Ibn Al-Mubarak (may Allah have mercy on him) said: "There is no harm in hoarding cotton, goat pelts and like."
Commentators on this hadith have also stated that "hoarding" here only refers to those items that are crucial to human livelihood, such as food items, etc.[1] The fuqaha (Islamic jurists) also concur and explain that this prohibition of hoarding is only related to hoarding those things which serve as a means of livelihood for people and whose hoarding would otherwise cause harm to the general masses.[2] As such, there is no harm in saving one's own wealth for future use.
 (2) When you intend to deal with any institution that provides Islamic finance, you may obtain a copy of the contract and forward it to us for our observations. We cannot issue a blanket ruling of permissibility as otherwise on all institutions claiming to provide Islamic finance.
And Allah Ta’āla Knows Best
Bilal Mohammad
Student Darul Iftaa
USA
Checked and Approved by,
Mufti Ebrahim Desai.
www.daruliftaa.net