Gold and VIP discount cards
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Fatwa number ( 19407 )
Q: We opened a medical clinic about five years ago, and from the very first days we have been keen to provide assistance and support to patients in various ways. One of these ways is issuing various discount cards. Some of them give the patient the right to a free examination and a significant discount on services, granted to those whom the administration deems deserving, and given under the name of "cooperation" or "courtesy." There are also gold discount cards and (VIP) cards, as well as discounts for most government sectors, and so on. These cards were given for free over the past years. Due to several considerations: 1 - The financial cost of printing, packaging, and preparing the cards. 2 - The frequent loss of these cards by visitors and the resulting need to issue replacements. 3 - The visitor's lack of interest in the card and its value, since it is free and easy to replace. A new card, the (VIP) card, has been issued. Given that these cards cost the clinic due to the many stages they go through, namely: innovation, study, and design, and the stages of printing and proofs,
And following up on the printing and the stages of issuing the card, and what follows it in terms of preparing the card, writing on it, packaging it, recording it in its specific tables, delivering it to the clients, and receiving their requests for it. All of this required a great deal of effort from the staff and occupied a significant amount of their time, in addition to the financial costs; therefore, we set a nominal value (50 riyals) for its issuance to cover the costs of issuing it and the efforts and time spent on it. We were careful to keep the value nominal so that all clients could obtain it and enjoy the many discounts and benefits it provides, which are: 1 - A 50% discount on consultations. 2 - A 25% discount on births and internal surgeries. 3 - A 30% discount on services: (X-rays, laboratory, emergency). 4 - A 20% discount on dental treatments and prosthetics. These benefits apply to the cardholder and all his family members, regardless of their number, for a full year from the date of issuance. The question is: Is the value of this card, which the clinic receives in exchange for the financial costs and human efforts it incurs, haram (forbidden) money that is not permissible to trade in? With the note that the client requests it himself and benefits from it in his first visit by more than what he paid for it in a single visit for one person, and it is valid for a full year for all family members, and if one calculated the benefit the client derives from it, it would exceed its value by many times. Also, no client requests the card unless he actually comes to the clinic for treatment, learns about it and its benefits, calculates them, and knows that it will save him more than its price in a single visit, and there is never any client who requests the card without benefiting from it. Also, any client has the right to refund the amount he paid for it at any time if he does not benefit from it, and thus the element of exploitation against the client is not present; he either benefits from a discount that exceeds its value, or he does not benefit, and thus he can return it and recover its value after deducting the actual printing cost, which does not exceed (9) riyals; therefore, we turn to your eminence requesting a fatwa in this matter so that we do not fall into the prohibited without realizing it.
A visit to him for more than what he paid for it in a single visit for one person, and it is valid for a full year for all family members, and if one calculated what the patient benefits from it, it would be many times more than its value. Also, there is no patient who requests the card unless he actually attends the clinic for treatment, learns about it and its benefits, calculates it, and knows that it will save him more than its cost in a single visit, and there is absolutely no patient who requests the card without benefiting from it. Also, any patient has the right to recover the value he paid for it at any time if he does not benefit from it, and thus the element of loss for the patient is not present; he either benefits from a discount that exceeds its value, or he does not benefit, and thus he can return it and recover its value after deducting the actual printing cost, which does not exceed (9) riyals; therefore, we turn to your eminence requesting a fatwa in this matter so that we do not fall into what is forbidden without realizing it.
A: This practice is a type of commercial health insurance, and it is haram (forbidden); because it is one of the contracts of gambling and gharar (excessive uncertainty). The amount paid by the insured to obtain a discount for a year or more or less may not be used at all; because he does not need the clinic during that period, so he loses his money and the clinic gains it. Or he may benefit greatly, exceeding what he paid by a multiple,
in which case he gains and the clinic loses. So the one who gains is a winner in his bet, and the one who loses is a loser in it. This practice is the very gambling that is forbidden by the text of the Book. Allah the Exalted said:[Al-Ma'idah 5:90] And the money in all of this is subject to gharar (excessive uncertainty), and it has been Sahih al-Bukhari 2249, 2250 .
Q: We opened a medical clinic about five years ago, and from the very first days we have been keen to provide assistance and support to patients in various ways. One of these ways is issuing various discount cards. Some of them give the patient the right to a free examination and a significant discount on services, granted to those whom the administration deems deserving, and given under the name of "cooperation" or "courtesy." There are also gold discount cards and (VIP) cards, as well as discounts for most government sectors, and so on. These cards were given for free over the past years. Due to several considerations: 1 - The financial cost of printing, packaging, and preparing the cards. 2 - The frequent loss of these cards by visitors and the resulting need to issue replacements. 3 - The visitor's lack of interest in the card and its value, since it is free and easy to replace. A new card, the (VIP) card, has been issued. Given that these cards cost the clinic due to the many stages they go through, namely: innovation, study, and design, and the stages of printing and proofs,
And following up on the printing and the stages of issuing the card, and what follows it in terms of preparing the card, writing on it, packaging it, recording it in its specific tables, delivering it to the clients, and receiving their requests for it. All of this required a great deal of effort from the staff and occupied a significant amount of their time, in addition to the financial costs; therefore, we set a nominal value (50 riyals) for its issuance to cover the costs of issuing it and the efforts and time spent on it. We were careful to keep the value nominal so that all clients could obtain it and enjoy the many discounts and benefits it provides, which are: 1 - A 50% discount on consultations. 2 - A 25% discount on births and internal surgeries. 3 - A 30% discount on services: (X-rays, laboratory, emergency). 4 - A 20% discount on dental treatments and prosthetics. These benefits apply to the cardholder and all his family members, regardless of their number, for a full year from the date of issuance. The question is: Is the value of this card, which the clinic receives in exchange for the financial costs and human efforts it incurs, haram (forbidden) money that is not permissible to trade in? With the note that the client requests it himself and benefits from it in his first visit by more than what he paid for it in a single visit for one person, and it is valid for a full year for all family members, and if one calculated the benefit the client derives from it, it would exceed its value by many times. Also, no client requests the card unless he actually comes to the clinic for treatment, learns about it and its benefits, calculates them, and knows that it will save him more than its price in a single visit, and there is never any client who requests the card without benefiting from it. Also, any client has the right to refund the amount he paid for it at any time if he does not benefit from it, and thus the element of exploitation against the client is not present; he either benefits from a discount that exceeds its value, or he does not benefit, and thus he can return it and recover its value after deducting the actual printing cost, which does not exceed (9) riyals; therefore, we turn to your eminence requesting a fatwa in this matter so that we do not fall into the prohibited without realizing it.
A visit to him for more than what he paid for it in a single visit for one person, and it is valid for a full year for all family members, and if one calculated what the patient benefits from it, it would be many times more than its value. Also, there is no patient who requests the card unless he actually attends the clinic for treatment, learns about it and its benefits, calculates it, and knows that it will save him more than its cost in a single visit, and there is absolutely no patient who requests the card without benefiting from it. Also, any patient has the right to recover the value he paid for it at any time if he does not benefit from it, and thus the element of loss for the patient is not present; he either benefits from a discount that exceeds its value, or he does not benefit, and thus he can return it and recover its value after deducting the actual printing cost, which does not exceed (9) riyals; therefore, we turn to your eminence requesting a fatwa in this matter so that we do not fall into what is forbidden without realizing it.
A: This practice is a type of commercial health insurance, and it is haram (forbidden); because it is one of the contracts of gambling and gharar (excessive uncertainty). The amount paid by the insured to obtain a discount for a year or more or less may not be used at all; because he does not need the clinic during that period, so he loses his money and the clinic gains it. Or he may benefit greatly, exceeding what he paid by a multiple,
in which case he gains and the clinic loses. So the one who gains is a winner in his bet, and the one who loses is a loser in it. This practice is the very gambling that is forbidden by the text of the Book. Allah the Exalted said:
O you who have believed, indeed, intoxicants, gambling, [sacrificing on] stone alters [to other than Allah], and divining arrows are but defilement from the work of Satan, so avoid it that you may be successful.
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا إِنَّمَا الْخَمْرُ وَالْمَيْسِرُ وَالأَنْصَابُ وَالأَزْلامُ رِجْسٌ مِنْ عَمَلِ الشَّيْطَانِ فَاجْتَنِبُوهُ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُفْلِحُونَThe Prophet (ﷺ) forbade the sale
نهى النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم عن بيع الغرر
Source
www.alifta.gov.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.