The Shaykh called insurance companies gambling companies. ?

The Shaykh : I say that insurance companies are maysir (gambling), or to put it more clearly, organized, regulated, and smooth gambling. And because of its smoothness, it is not called gambling, because gambling today has taken on new names. The lottery, which is open and explicit gambling, is called a lottery. And so on. This is part of the affliction that has befallen the Ummah, as the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) informed us. For example, he said: You must have heard some people calling intoxicants "alcoholic beverages." They call khamr (intoxicants), for example, by a pleasant and very smooth foreign name, "whisky." And if they pronounce it in Arabic, they say "nabit," which is nabidh (fermented drink), and so on. They call riba (usury or interest) what? "Interest." All these names are from the whispering of Satan to mankind to divert them from the path of Allah, from being aware of this danger, and that it is haram (forbidden) under these softened, pleasant names on the tongue. Insurance companies are of this same kind: insurance on life, on cars, on real estate, and so on. This is undoubtedly gambling. One of the names of gambling in the language is "muqamirah," on the pattern of "mukhatirah" (risk), in both word and meaning. It is a risk because it is not based on effort; in many cases, it is based on luck. The lottery is not based on the striving and traveling in the land that Allah (Mighty and Majestic) has permitted. Therefore, Allah the Exalted said in the Noble Qur'an: And he (peace and blessings be upon him) said in the authentic hadith: The "kubah" is the drum. Maysir (gambling) has forms and many, many types. You know these games, such as the game of "shiddah," the game of "dammah," chess, "barris," and many, many other things. There are things we know and things we do not know. All these games, if money is involved, become definitely forbidden. Without money, they may be forbidden or they may not be; that is a separate discussion. Now, an insurance company is like the banks. Banks have no capital except the money of those who deal with the banks. In the path of taking riba (usury or interest), which they have named in their dealings with people, even with Muslims today, except for a few, they have overcome their religious terminology and use the word "interest" instead of "riba." These banks have no capital; their capital is the capital of their customers. And as you all know, as I know, if these customers, as it was said in the past, on a moonless night, agreed to withdraw their capital from the bank, what would befall the bank? Bankruptcy, without a doubt. So this bank stands only on the basis of the money deposited in it by those who deal with the bank, whether it bears an Islamic name or a British name. Names, according to the jurists, never change the reality of the named things. The truth is in what the named thing is, not in its name. A man may be named "Saliha" (good), but the reality of his work is all "Taliha" (bad); what benefit is it to him that his name is "Saliha"? So if this bank cooperates with the customers, the disliked and forbidden thing in the Shari'ah is not what befalls the bank, but rather those who established this bank, built it, and provided it with employees by the dozens, from the bank manager to the bank janitor. This bank does not stand first of all except on these employees, and then on those customers who deposited their money in this bank. Here comes the previous verse I referred to when I spoke about the saying of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him): I mentioned the last condition of the verse, and the beginning of this verse is the saying of Allah the Exalted: So it is not the bank that is responsible for committing the act of riba (usury or interest), but also those who provide them with capital. For that reason, this type of transaction was emphasized and declared forbidden, and indeed, those who cooperate in this forbidden matter are cursed by the Shari'ah.