What is the ruling on insurance (shops, cars, people, and so on)?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The Shaykh: Go ahead.
The questioner : I want to ask a question about insurance, O Shaykh.
The Shaykh : From whom?
The questioner : Insurance.
The Shaykh : Insurance.
The questioner : My Lord (Glorified and Exalted is He) took from me a month ago, and my place of business, my trading place, burned down.
The Shaykh : May Allah compensate you with good.
The questioner : Praise be to Allah. Everyone blamed me and said to me: Why did you insure it? Some of them follow Allah and the Sunnah. They said it is lawful, and that it does not happen, and so on. Naturally, I am careful—if Allah wills—to know that it is forbidden, but I want an explanation. I suffered a loss—praise be to Allah—material, not spiritual; praise be to Allah, because my faith in Allah is great, and it did not affect anything. So we want to know about insurance for shops against fire or any other incident?
The Shaykh : First, before I answer your question, I want to confirm what you said with the words of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him):Sahih Muslim 1051. This is the important point, meaning that what is with Allah is better and more lasting.
As for insurance, whether on real estate, buildings, cars, or people, all of this is gambling, without doubt. The reason for this goes back to the fact that the one dealing with insurance companies pays a certain percentage monthly or annually in exchange for something uncertain and not guaranteed. It is sufficient to know that this transaction is not a Shari'ah transaction in general to know that it is a transaction of the disbelieving foreigners. Those are the ones whom Allah (Mighty and Majestic) described in His saying (Blessed and Exalted is He) in the Noble Qur'an, and He established a Shari'ah ruling based on that, which He made obligatory upon His believing servants. He addressed them (Mighty and Majestic) with His saying:[At-Tawbah 9:29]. The point of the verse is that Allah (Mighty and Majestic) described them as not forbidding what Allah and His Messenger have forbidden. So, for them, unlawful sexual intercourse is permissible, and gambling is permissible, and all obscenities, even sodomy, have been made openly permissible in some of the disbelievers' constitutions. It was not known in all the Islamic centuries, whether early or late, that what is called today insurance, in all its types and forms, some of which I mentioned earlier, existed among them.
These disbelievers, who do not forbid what Allah and His Messenger have forbidden, established systems to extort people's money and consume it unjustly with deception, such that this deception deceives the simple people. That is because they make them believe that if one of them pays a certain percentage as insurance on one of those things every month or every year, he guarantees a good and happy life. But the truth is the opposite of that; in most cases, the matter is the opposite of that.
These companies are exactly like banks. Where do they live? Where do they sustain themselves, when they do not engage in a lawful commercial work or an industrial profession or something similar? They live from the money of these subscribers in these companies! One of them may pass many long years without an accident happening to him, and without being hit by an accident. In exchange for what did he pay these things? For nothing. An accident may happen, like your accident, or his car may be destroyed as soon as he left the agency. They compensate him with a replacement. Where did they get the price from? From Zayd, Bakr, and 'Amr, from those for whom these accidents did not happen. So these funds accumulated in very large quantities, and with that they compensate those who are affected among them, and they keep a surplus. With this surplus, they can live the life of kings. So it is gambling, but it is more wicked than gambling. Because the gambler may gamble; and therefore it is called gambling. Between one evening and the next, he loses; between one evening and the next, he becomes a millionaire, and so on. But these people guarantee profit in this cunning way that they followed with people.
Therefore, we say: Insurance, in all its types and forms, is modern gambling, like what is called today the lottery. The lottery is a regulated, organized gambling. With this, I say: Everyone who is afflicted and insures his real estate or his car, and then an accident happens to him, and the company presents to him what was agreed upon in the contract between them and him; I see that he should take from what was presented to him what he had paid to them, in the sense of: This is our merchandise returned to us! As for anything beyond that, the case returns to gambling for the one dealing with them. Gambling is usually in their favor. Here it is not in their favor, but in the favor of the one dealing with them. So this person has the right to take what he paid. As for more than that, it is gambling.
Therefore, if you have calculated what you paid, you take what you paid. As for more than that, you have one of two situations: either you return the rest to the company, or you put it in what is called in the language of jurists public facilities. As for you, you do not benefit from that, not even by one qirsh.
The Shaykh : This is the answer to what you asked.
Another image: If a car is standing in the middle of the street, and someone hits it in an accident, and the insurance wants to compensate; is it permissible for me to take an amount?
The questioner : Okay, there is a second part to the question.
Regarding cars; we are ordered to pay the government insurance. In the case of one whose car is standing in the middle of the street, and someone hits it from behind, the insurance wants to compensate me; is it permissible for me to take my money as the amount?
The Shaykh : The same answer, my brother. What did you pay?
The questioner : The same answer applies.
The Shaykh : What did you pay?
The questioner : I paid twenty dinars. My car was destroyed for five hundred dinars.
The Shaykh : Yes, that is it. You want to take only what you paid.
The questioner : The twenty dinars.
The Shaykh : The rest is divine decree and destiny.
The questioner : And the rest is not a right.
The Shaykh: Yes.
The questioner : May Allah reward you.
The Shaykh : And may He reward you.
Please proceed.
The questioner : I want to ask a question about insurance, O Shaykh.
The Shaykh : From whom?
The questioner : Insurance.
The Shaykh : Insurance.
The questioner : My Lord (Glorified and Exalted is He) took from me a month ago, and my place of business, my trading place, burned down.
The Shaykh : May Allah compensate you with good.
The questioner : Praise be to Allah. Everyone blamed me and said to me: Why did you insure it? Some of them follow Allah and the Sunnah. They said it is lawful, and that it does not happen, and so on. Naturally, I am careful—if Allah wills—to know that it is forbidden, but I want an explanation. I suffered a loss—praise be to Allah—material, not spiritual; praise be to Allah, because my faith in Allah is great, and it did not affect anything. So we want to know about insurance for shops against fire or any other incident?
The Shaykh : First, before I answer your question, I want to confirm what you said with the words of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him):
Richness does not lie in the abundance of (worldly) goods but richness is the richness of the soul (heart, self).
ليس الغنى غنى العَرَض ، ولكن الغنى غنى النفسAs for insurance, whether on real estate, buildings, cars, or people, all of this is gambling, without doubt. The reason for this goes back to the fact that the one dealing with insurance companies pays a certain percentage monthly or annually in exchange for something uncertain and not guaranteed. It is sufficient to know that this transaction is not a Shari'ah transaction in general to know that it is a transaction of the disbelieving foreigners. Those are the ones whom Allah (Mighty and Majestic) described in His saying (Blessed and Exalted is He) in the Noble Qur'an, and He established a Shari'ah ruling based on that, which He made obligatory upon His believing servants. He addressed them (Mighty and Majestic) with His saying:
Fight those who do not believe in Allah or in the Last Day and who do not consider unlawful what Allah and His Messenger have made unlawful and who do not adopt the religion of truth from those who were given the Scripture - [fight] until they give the jizyah willingly while they are humbled.
قَاتِلُوا الَّذِينَ لَا يُؤْمِنُونَ بِاللَّهِ وَلَا بِالْيَوْمِ الْآخِرِ وَلَا يُحَرِّمُونَ مَا حَرَّمَ اللَّهُ وَرَسُولُهُ وَلَا يَدِينُونَ دِينَ الْحَقِّ مِنَ الَّذِينَ أُوتُوا الْكِتَابَ حَتَّى يُعْطُوا الْجِزْيَةَ عَنْ يَدٍ وَهُمْ صَاغِرُونَThese disbelievers, who do not forbid what Allah and His Messenger have forbidden, established systems to extort people's money and consume it unjustly with deception, such that this deception deceives the simple people. That is because they make them believe that if one of them pays a certain percentage as insurance on one of those things every month or every year, he guarantees a good and happy life. But the truth is the opposite of that; in most cases, the matter is the opposite of that.
These companies are exactly like banks. Where do they live? Where do they sustain themselves, when they do not engage in a lawful commercial work or an industrial profession or something similar? They live from the money of these subscribers in these companies! One of them may pass many long years without an accident happening to him, and without being hit by an accident. In exchange for what did he pay these things? For nothing. An accident may happen, like your accident, or his car may be destroyed as soon as he left the agency. They compensate him with a replacement. Where did they get the price from? From Zayd, Bakr, and 'Amr, from those for whom these accidents did not happen. So these funds accumulated in very large quantities, and with that they compensate those who are affected among them, and they keep a surplus. With this surplus, they can live the life of kings. So it is gambling, but it is more wicked than gambling. Because the gambler may gamble; and therefore it is called gambling. Between one evening and the next, he loses; between one evening and the next, he becomes a millionaire, and so on. But these people guarantee profit in this cunning way that they followed with people.
Therefore, we say: Insurance, in all its types and forms, is modern gambling, like what is called today the lottery. The lottery is a regulated, organized gambling. With this, I say: Everyone who is afflicted and insures his real estate or his car, and then an accident happens to him, and the company presents to him what was agreed upon in the contract between them and him; I see that he should take from what was presented to him what he had paid to them, in the sense of: This is our merchandise returned to us! As for anything beyond that, the case returns to gambling for the one dealing with them. Gambling is usually in their favor. Here it is not in their favor, but in the favor of the one dealing with them. So this person has the right to take what he paid. As for more than that, it is gambling.
Therefore, if you have calculated what you paid, you take what you paid. As for more than that, you have one of two situations: either you return the rest to the company, or you put it in what is called in the language of jurists public facilities. As for you, you do not benefit from that, not even by one qirsh.
The Shaykh : This is the answer to what you asked.
Another image: If a car is standing in the middle of the street, and someone hits it in an accident, and the insurance wants to compensate; is it permissible for me to take an amount?
The questioner : Okay, there is a second part to the question.
Regarding cars; we are ordered to pay the government insurance. In the case of one whose car is standing in the middle of the street, and someone hits it from behind, the insurance wants to compensate me; is it permissible for me to take my money as the amount?
The Shaykh : The same answer, my brother. What did you pay?
The questioner : The same answer applies.
The Shaykh : What did you pay?
The questioner : I paid twenty dinars. My car was destroyed for five hundred dinars.
The Shaykh : Yes, that is it. You want to take only what you paid.
The questioner : The twenty dinars.
The Shaykh : The rest is divine decree and destiny.
The questioner : And the rest is not a right.
The Shaykh: Yes.
The questioner : May Allah reward you.
The Shaykh : And may He reward you.
Please proceed.
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.