I am an engineer. Is subscribing to the health insurance of the Engineers' Syndicate religiously permissible or forbidden?

The Shaykh: Yes.

The questioner: Peace be upon you.

The Shaykh: And upon you peace.

The questioner : I am an engineer. Is subscribing to the health insurance of the Engineers' Syndicate religiously permissible or forbidden?

The Shaykh : Explain to me what this subscription is so that I can give you the answer?

The questioner : There is a fund called the Engineers' Health Insurance Fund. Every month, they pay them four dinars. If I get sick, they pay eighty percent of the hospital bill for me.

The Shaykh : No, this subscription is not permissible. It resembles gambling. Yes, another person might get severely ill, and without the subscription, it would have cost him many times more. So where do they take these multiplied amounts from? From people like you who did not incur such costs.

The questioner : Yes, yes.

The Shaykh : So this is a gamble.

The questioner : It is gambling.

The Shaykh: Yes.

The questioner : And it is not permissible for us to say that it is social mutual assistance.

The Shaykh : No, this is a cover for this reprehensible matter.

The questioner : Okay, another question.

The Shaykh: Go ahead.