The Benefit of Medical Insurance from a Cooperative Insurance Company

Question:
Honorable Shaykh! The questioner says: I work for a foreign company that provides its employees with medical insurance through a partnership with the Cooperative Insurance Company. I asked one of the students of knowledge about the ruling on my using this insurance, and he said, “If the company is the one paying the premium, use it; there is no blame on you.” Another person told me, “Do not use it, because it is a forbidden contract.” If you are not the one paying it, what is the correct ruling?

Answer:
The correct view is the latter: it is not permissible for you to use it, because it is an invalid contract and a consumption of people’s money by means of falsehood. If the company you work for provides your medical treatment, there is nothing wrong with that, because that is part of the obligation in the contract between you and them. As for another company bearing the cost of treatment and trading in illnesses, that is trading in illnesses and in people’s needs, and that is not permissible. Allah knows best, and may Allah send prayers and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and all his Companions.