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Umm Yoosuf
02-01-2006, 08:40 AM
Question :


In 1996 I was in a car crash, and I was supposed to submit my papers to the insurance company, but I did not do so until I was in another accident in 2001, when I did not have any insurance. As a result of that accident I became paralyzed and needed treatment. I am very poor, praise be to Allaah. Because I tried all possible ways (with no success) can I submit my papers to the insurance company? Allaah knows the distress and hardship that I am facing.

Answer :

Praise be to Allaah.

We ask Allaah to heal you and restore you to health, and to relieve your distress and hardship.

If what is meant by submitting your papers to the insurance company is that you have health insurance, or intend to take out health insurance, you should note that this insurance is haraam, as is so-called life insurance, because the insurance policy in both cases involves ambiguity and a kind of gambling. This has been stated by the scholars in their fatwas.

It says in Fataawa al-Lajnah al-Daa’imah (15/297):

A – It is not permissible for the Muslim to insure himself against sickness, whether that is in a Muslim country or in a kaafir country, because that involves ambiguity and a kind of gambling.

B – It is not permissible for a Muslim to insure his life or all or some of his physical faculties, or to insure his wealth, possessions, cars and the like, whether that is in a Muslim country or in a kaafir country, because these are kinds of commercial insurance, which is haraam because it involves ambiguity and a kind of gambling.

End quote.

Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: “Insurance means that a person pays a certain amount to the company each month or each year against an accident that may happen to the thing insured.

It is known that the one who pays insurance is losing in all cases, and the insurance company may win or lose, because if the accident is very serious and costs more than the money paid by the customer, the company will lose, but if it is minor and costs less than the money paid by the customer, or if no accident happens at all, then the company will win and the customer will lose.

This kind of contract – i.e., contracts in which a person may win or lose – is regarded as a kind of gambling which Allaah forbids in His Book and mentions alongside drinking alcohol and worshipping idols.

Based on this, this kind of insurance is haraam. I do not know of any kind of insurance based on ambiguity that is permissible, rather all kinds are haraam, because of the hadeeth of Abu Hurayrah (may Allaah be pleased with him) who said that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) forbade transactions based on ambiguity.

And Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen said:

Life insurance is not permissible, because if the angel of death comes to the one whose life is insured, he cannot refer him to the insurance company. So this is a mistake and foolish misguidance, and it involves depending on this company instead of Allaah, because the person is depending on the company, if he dies, to take care of his heirs, which means depending on someone other than Allaah.

This is akin to gambling, indeed it is gambling in a real sense, and in His Book Allaah mentions gambling alongside shirk, divination with arrows and alcohol.

In the case of insurance, a man may pay money for years and years, and he may lose it, but if he dies soon the company may be the loser. All contracts in which there may be gains or losses are kinds of gambling.

End quote. From Fataawa ‘Ulama’ al-Balad al-Haraam, p. 652, 653.

See also questions no. 10805 and 8889.

Secondly:

If you are forced to take out insurance and there is an accident, it is permissible for you to take from the insurance company the same amount as the payments you have made, but you should not take any more than that. If they force you to take it then you should donate it to charity.

We advise you to fear Allaah and to turn to Him and make a lot of du’aa’, for anyone who turns to Him will never be disappointed. And we remind you of the words of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him): “Whoever is stricken with poverty and turns to people for help, his needs will never be met, but whoever is stricken with poverty and turns to Allaah, Allaah will send him provision sooner or later.”

Narrated by al-Tirmidhi, 2326; Abu Dawood, 1645. Classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh al-Tirmidhi.

And Allaah knows best.
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Tasneem
02-03-2006, 11:19 PM
Wow i did'nt even know

Health insurance...harram???

Oh wow

May Allah reward you sis for this infomation.AAmeen

SaLaMz and shurkran
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shorouk
02-08-2006, 01:14 AM
nope
thats so not tru bt the health insurance before u post sth u should check the sheikh ive heard from real trusted sheikhs that this is not tru life insurance but not health ur the one who is benfitting from it ... and at times u really do need it like that person in the accident..

wen u think bt it a person gains more...
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akulion
02-08-2006, 01:21 AM
A lot of reverts find these topics very hard to accept

especially about:

- mortgages
- insurance

I can imagine and empathize because they were born in an environment where these things are common
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akulion
02-08-2006, 01:28 AM
Some further information on the topic...


Commercial Insurance in Light of Islamic Commercial Law

Islamic Law prohibits business transactions that include a great deal of uncertainty. For example, I cannot sell you an unspecified quantity of peanuts for a fixed amount of money. The amount of peanuts must be specified. I cannot sell you a car for a certain sum of money without the make and model of the car being agreed upon beforehand.

There are many authentic hadîth in this regard. For instance, Abû Hurayrah relates that Allah’s Messenger (peace be upon him) forbade business transactions determined by the throw of a stone and business transactions involving uncertainty. [Sahîh Muslim]

Insurance is the sale of uncertainty itself. This is the strongest reason for its prohibition, since insurance is effectively the sale of a commodity that Islamic Law does not recognize as saleable. You pay the company to assume some matter of uncertainty in your life on your behalf. In life insurance, for example, you pay a fixed premium each month – say $200 – under an agreement that if you die, the company will pay out – say $75,000. If you die in one month, then the company has to pay you $75,000. If you live for forty years, you will have to pay them $96,000. If at that point you fail to continue to make your payments, your policy is cancelled and you get nothing back. Why is this? It is because you received for your $96,000 the benefit of their assuming your risk for you for those forty years. So you received, according to law, the commodity that you paid for during all those years and the company owes you nothing more.

There are other problematic areas with respect to insurance, though these are far less important than the one just mentioned. In many instances, insurance resembles a type of prohibited interest (ribâ al-fadl), where two parties exchange the same commodity – gold, silver, dates, etc – in unequal quantities. Taking another look at our life insurance example above, assuming that you were to die one month into your policy, this would mean that you paid them $200 dollars and they paid you $75,000. Since Islam does not recognize the assumption of uncertainty as a salable item, this becomes an example of exchanging a like commodity (money in this case) in an unequal manner.

Another problem with insurance is that it bears some resemblance to gambling. This comes as a consequence of the uncertainty inherent to the business of insurance. Insurance premiums are set based on the percentage chance that the individual policyholders will collect from their insurance. The company makes its profits by receiving more money from its customers than it pays out to those who deserve to collect. In a somewhat similar manner, a gambling casino earns its profits by calculating probabilities to ensure that its receipts exceed the winnings that it is liable to pay out.

Source Site
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DaSangarTalib
02-08-2006, 01:36 AM
:sl:

Jazak'Allah for all this info ppl :)


:w:
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ilm.seeker
07-19-2007, 06:31 AM
AbdurRahman.org » economics » He fears that if he does not have health insurance he will become bankrupt

source: islamqa.com
Question:
Assalamu alaikum. What does Islam say about having Hospital insurence in a country like USA? It is very expensive to treat medically and if u don't have any insurance, probably they would not treat u or u will be bankrupt totally! Zajakallahu Khairan
Answer:
Praise be to Allaah.
We put the following question to Shaykh Muhammad ibn Saalih al-‘Uthaymeen:
Health care in the US where I live is very expensive, and if I do not have health insurance they will not treat me. If I want to pay for my own health care, I will go bankrupt and may even end up in prison. Is this considered to be a valid excuse for taking out health insurance, which is a form of gambling, given that there is no Islamically-acceptable form of insurance and I cannot afford to pay for health care for myself, my children and my wife in the way that is usual in some other countries?
The shaykh, may Allaah preserve him, answered as follows:
“So long as the man knows that this is a form of gambling, this is not permissible because it is of the works of the Shaytaan. He should rely on Allaah and put his trust in Him, because whoever puts his trust in Allaah, Allaah will suffice him, and whoever fears Allaah and keeps his duty to Him, He will make a way for him to get out (of every difficulty). So it is not permissible for him to get involved in insurance.”
We have already explained that the reason why health insurance is like a form of gambling is that a person pays a sum of money which becomes the property of the insurance company; if he falls sick or has an accident he will benefit, otherwise his money is gone. Moreover, the benefits he gains may be equal to what he has paid, or they may be more, or less. This involves jahaalah (buying something sight unseen) and undue risk, or consuming wealth unlawfully. It also means that one of the two parties will suffer a loss. I wish that some of the Muslims or wise people would set up cooperative insurance institutions that are in accordance with Islamic sharee’ah, the basic idea of which would be for people to cooperate in making payments to a specific account (that is not owned by any third party), so that if any one of them falls sick or has an accident, he will be compensated, with the consent of his partners. There would be nothing wrong with paying a salary to those who take care of this account, or with investing the money in another company according to a certain level of profit. And Allaah is the source of strength.
Islam Q&A
Sheikh Muhammed Salih Al-Munajjid
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