What is the ruling on insurance in the Shari'ah?

The questioner : Shaykh, there is a question about insurance, meaning insurance companies, whether it is life insurance, or for houses, or for cars, and so on. Are these companies intended to be... permissible? And if they are not permissible, what is the permissible insurance?

The Shaykh : As for the insurance known today for goods, cars, or real estate, and especially life insurance, my firm belief is that it falls under the category of gambling (maysir), which is prohibited in the Noble Qur'an and in the hadiths of the Messenger (peace be upon him). As for the Qur'an, no one is unaware of the saying of our Lord (Mighty and Majestic): — meaning: gambling — . Likewise, it came in the hadith narrated by Imam Ahmad from Abdullah ibn Amr ibn al-As (may Allah be pleased with them both), who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: , and the kubba is the drum. So insurance today, in all its forms and types, is of the nature of gambling, just like the lottery, which has afflicted some Islamic countries. This type of gambling has been given names intended to cover up its reality and make it acceptable to people. These names are as He (the Exalted) said: . And as he (peace and blessings be upon him) said specifically regarding intoxicants: . So insurance is a type of gambling, like the lottery, called life insurance. (Glory be to Allah!) Who insures a person's life when the entire matter is in the hand of Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He)?! And so you can infer the ruling on other types of insurance.
As for what came in the rest of the question: what is the prescribed or Islamic insurance? In reality, I have not yet found any insurance in the sense known today that Islam approves of, unless there is an exchange of benefit. And by benefit, I do not mean what is called today riba (usury or interest), but rather the linguistic meaning of benefit. If there is an exchange of benefits between the insurer and the one being insured, for example, a man insures his property or his house in a way that obligates the insurer to guard the house, for instance. In return for this guarding, a wage agreed upon can be paid. This is permissible because it falls under the category of hiring and employment. As for insurance based on the idea of luck and the lottery, it is gambling itself!
Yes.

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : How?

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : Did you not understand what he said?

The questioner : ... I said that in some countries, one cannot renew ownership unless...

The Shaykh : This is another matter. In some countries, a car owner is not allowed to drive it and benefit from it unless he has insurance, either private or public. This issue is a different one, because it falls under the category of the many taxes imposed in some countries without any return that benefits the person on whom the tax is imposed. Therefore, the previous discussion on insurance applies to what a person insures by his own choice. As for what is imposed on him by the state, its ruling is the ruling of all taxes imposed by the state that a person pays under compulsion and force. That is one thing. And insurance that he pays of his own accord for a benefit he expects from it is, in most cases, as He (the Exalted) said in the Qur'an: .
The point is that forced insurance is like taxes. It is enough for a person to know that he is not paying by choice, but out of necessity. As for the insurance that he chooses and seeks out, that is what is not permissible for a person, because it falls under the category of gambling and maysir.
Yes.

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : We see a distinction in this. If what he paid is equal to what will be paid to him, then the state of this payer is: . But if what will be paid to him is more, then it is not permissible for him to take more than what he paid.
Yes.