Waleed Basyouni – Is It Permissible For A Muslim To Get A Life Policy – Ask The

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.