Waleed Basyouni – Is It Permissible For A Muslim To Get A Life Policy – Ask The
AI: Summary ©
The host of a show called " aged in the future" discusses the legal framework for life insurance policies in Islam, which are not allowable in modern days. The host discusses the expense of burial and the need for people to take care of their bodies, as well as the importance of avoiding being buried in a way that is not acceptable to the Muslim community. The episode ends with a brief advertisement for a future episode.
AI: Summary ©
As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullah, welcome to a
new episode of Ask the Imam, a program
that we host at the Clear Lake Islamic
Center.
You can see the answers to your questions
on our YouTube channel.
If you want to ask a question, send
us an email at asktheimam, one word, at
themasjid.org.
That is asktheimam at themasjid.org.
As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullah, Shaykh.
This question is about life insurance.
Are life insurance policies permissible in Islam?
That's a difficult question.
See, Shana, insurance in general is one of
these modern issues that the ulema, rahmatullah, in
modern days debate over.
Life insurance, the overwhelming number of scholars said
it's not allowed.
The overwhelming number of scholars in modern days
said it's not allowed.
And they said it's not permissible.
And the only exception they made for this,
if it is provided to you by a
third party, let's say your company provides you
life insurance and you're not paying for it
and it's a gift from them, or you
bought health insurance and it comes on the
top of it as something like addition.
So they said that will be permissible, okay?
And it is allowed, you know, they allowed
it.
Another situation, some life insurance, I think the
argument for saying the permissibility for it, at
least for me, it is strong.
It has to do with burial, like a
life insurance has to do with burial, so
the expense of burial.
Many Muslims, they do not have funds to
be buried.
As you know, some burial can cost $10,
$12, $13, it depends where you die, you
know, $9,000 and seven, I don't have
that money.
And I got question before from people said,
what we do with the body, you know,
nobody willing to pay the money.
Sometimes a small community do not have enough
funds to cover that.
Yes, it became the obligation on the Muslim
community to take care of that and to
pay that, but sometimes can be burden.
If somebody have a life insurance that cover
their burial because they worry about this, in
this case, and they don't have the money,
in this case, I do see this as
a great need and can reach the level
of necessity and then it is permissible to
do.
But other than that, which is just for
the sake of making your family members rich
and leaving a million dollars policies, take care
of the kids or like the wife or
the family, the overwhelming every single council of
fiqh I know said it's not allowed.
The people who said it's allowed are individuals,
but every council of fiqh in the Muslim
world and in the non-Muslim world like
Amjad, like fiqh council, like most of fiqh
councils in the world and the committee of
fiqh, large committee body of fiqh committee in
the world today will not agree with that.
But some individuals who are great scholars said
it's permissible because they see life insurance like
any other insurance and they believe.
I'm not strict about insurance in general, but
in life insurance, I'm not comfortable to say
it is allowed because the overwhelming number of
scholars who said it's haram.
It's just so much and even the people
who said it's allowed for the business insurance
and stuff like that, when it came to
life insurance, they have others because they said
it's a money that you pay and a
service that you pay and completely.
Like you can pay the life insurance all
your life and you get, you know, and
in many times you don't get anything back.
What if you just paid now and you
died a week ago, two weeks versus when
you look at I'm making insurance over the
laptop, there is a life expectation for the
life.
There is a way to calculate the risk,
but this a complete unknown when you're going
to die.
So there is a very clear kind of
haram, like unknown.
An unknown factor like this in the business
transaction, make the transaction is not acceptable.
But you might argue, what about unknown factor
when it comes to insurance for the car?
No, but there is a level of risk,
there is an average of accident, there is
an average of this, you know, of the
life expectation of the refrigerator that you bought,
you know, the phone that you, it's most
like kids will drop it.
So there is, it's not a complete unknown.
There is a level of being unknown factor,
but it's not like the life and death.
So that's why I see there is a
difference in that argument.
And I would say if you can avoid
that, I will say you should.
I hope that explains a little bit.
Yes.
JazakAllah khair.
Wa alaikum salam.
Thank you, Sheikh.
Thank you very much for your questions.
We'll see you next episode.