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by Sheikh Jamal Zarabozo
Insurance and Living in the West
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What an important subject. May Allah reward the respected Shaykh for his effort in this regard. From the position of a non scholar, I would offer a few points of contention.
1. In regards to the concept of gharar can it not be argued that one first should firmly establish insurance as being an application of gharar? Shaykh Jamal writes in his opening statements that insurance is itself a concept foreign to the sunnah and qur’an and is a matter that falls under the cloak of ijtihad. Indeed as many see it, insurance is not a selfish bet (as would be the case of a fruit seller selling unripe fruit before anyone can know that they have insects) but a cost of business or living that one incurs so as to protect against intolerable harm. Would not a better comparison and/or analogy be that of a merchant who pays for guards to accompany his caravan from Makkah to Damascus so as to protect against the chance of theft or attack?
2. The noble shaykh mentions three scenarios in the US in regards to insurance. The most prevalent example of these three is the second example wherein the employee pays a premium and/or deductible and the employer pays the rest. Shaykh Jamal then goes on to detail his opinion as what is most shareeah compliant and recommends catastrophic insurance. As a medical student, who is forced to pay for private health insurance and will be paying malpractice insurance soon, I must say that this is not a solution that will see itself readily applied by those who research insurance policies and for those who do, they will find themselves in great harm. Indeed the sum total of relevant ongoing research indicates that chronic disease management is what the US lacks and is the greatest source of personal health care expenditure, morbidity and mortality. Catastrophic care does nothing to prevent hypertension from becoming a stroke or heart attack. Similarly, it does not provide for health screenings which would help detect cancer and other conditions at a stage where treatment is viable and effective. Lastly, the single largest expenditure of the average patient (chronic pain) is one that would not be covered by such coverage….forcing patients to expend great sums of money over their lifetime on OTC pain killers or controlled substances whereas a six month regimen of physical therapy may have reversed the condition. Indeed good regular health care coverage and visits is the solution to the multi trillion dollar expenditure our society incurs. If anything, such health insurance would waste less money than catastrophic or other policies.
as salaam alikuim Imam Suhaib,
I had a question around this topic. What is the ruling on purchasing ‘extended warranties’. Extended warranty being you pay an extra amount from the price of the product to extend the warranty coverage by the manufactur or retailer.
Is this a form of a ‘short term insurance’ ?
Barikallah fee
as salaam alikuim
Salaams
Sh Abu Eesa gave a short alternative position a few years back which is well worth a read:
http://alternativeentertainment.wordpress.com/2007/05/05/insurance/
It’s only short for the layman I guess as opposed to Sh Jamaal’s detailed and excellent piece. May Allah reward all of our scholars for their efforts!