Q. (1) Is it
Jaiz (permissible) to take an insurance policy from a conventional insurance
company to cover our employees against liabilty in the following circumstances
:
Injuries that may be suffered by workers (company employees)
due to accidents in the course of their work.
Within the company's premises.
Whilst travelling in company vehicle.
Injuries that may be suffered by innocent parties involved
in accidents within the company's premises or in company vehicles.
In the case of motor insurance it is a statutory requirement that vehicles
owners must obtain an insurance policy to cover third party risks and
the company complies with this requirement. This is the only form of insurance
cover that the comp- any now takes.
(2) Is it jaiz to take out an insurance policy to cover the anticipated
medical expenses of the employees of the company?
(3) Most companies offer to meet the medical expenses of the employees
of the company?
(4) There are circumstances in which the bank charges us interest
when our current account goes into overdraft due to circumstances outside
our control---mainly due to non-realization of cheques issued to us by
our debtors.
Is it jaiz for us to recover such interest from the debtor concerned?
(Rafiq Qasim, Colombo)
A. (1) The permissibility or otherwise of an insurance policy depends
on the nature of the insurance scheme and on the terms and conditions
of the transaction. But, leaving aside the mutual insurance schemes, all
the insurance policies available with the traditional insurance companies
run on commercial basis have an element of interest or qimar or both.
Hence, they are not allowed in Shariah. So, it is not permissible to taken
an insurance policy from a conventional insurance comp- any in any one
of the first four situations mentioned in your question. The prevalent
third party insurance also does not conform to the rules of Shariah. However,
being a necessary legal requirment for the use of a motor car, it is allowed
on the basis of necessity only in those countries where this kind of insurance
is compulsory.
(2) The same reply is also applicable here.
(3) A company may creat a mutual insurance fund of its own for this purpose.
But it is not permissible in Shariah to take a policy from a traditional
insurance company.
(4) If the interest is charged by the bank without your knowledge or without
your having entered into an agreement with them for an interest --- bearing
transaction, you cannot be held responsible for the sin of paying interest.
But of the same time, you cannot claim the amount of interest from your
debtor, because in that case your will be entering into a transac- tion
of interest deliberately.
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