Question Summary:
If a person worked for a life insurance company (accounts dept.) for the past few years and now, shuk’r changed jobs and no longer work for the insurance co… Question Detail:
If a person worked for a life insurance company (accounts dept.) for the past few years and now, shuk'r changed jobs and no longer work for the insurance co.
Is all the money he earned halaal.......if not, what must he do with what ever money he saved up while working there, also all the things he bought, including furniture, car, clothes, food etc can he keep these things or should he throw it all away.
And is there any special dua he can make for Allah's forgiveness for being in this interest dealing place.
Answer :
In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful
Assalaamu `alaykum waRahmatullahi Wabarakatuh
Conventional Insurance is not permissible according to Shari’ah, as it constitutes the elements of interest and gambling. Interest and gambling are strictly prohibited in Sahri’ah and severe warnings have been mentioned in the Holy Quran and the Ahadith of Nabi (Sallallahu 'Alaihi Wasallam) regarding them. Consider the following:
يا أيها الذين آمنوا إنما الخمر والميسر والأنصاب والأزلام رجس من عمل الشيطان فاجتنبوه لعلكم تفلحون
O you who believe! Wine, gambling, altars and divining arrows are filth, made up by Satan. Therefore, refrain from it, so that you may be successful. (Verse: 5:90)
الذين يأكلون الربا لا يقومون إلا كما يقوم الذي يتخبطه الشيطان من المس ذلك بأنهم قالوا إنما البيع مثل الربا وأحل الله البيع وحرم الربا.
Those who take ribā (usury or interest) will not stand but as stands the one whom the demon has driven crazy by his touch. That is because they have said: “Sale is but like ribā”, while Allah has permitted sale, and prohibited ribā. (Verse: 2:275)
يا أيها الذين آمنوا اتقوا الله وذروا ما بقي من الربا إن كنتم مؤمنين. فإن لم تفعلوا فأذنوا بحرب من الله ورسوله وإن تبتم فلكم رءوس أموالكم لا تظلمون ولا تظلمون.
O you who believe, fear Allah and give up what still remains of ribā, if you are believers. But if you do not (give it up), then listen to the declaration of war from Allah and His Messenger. However, If you repent, yours is your principal. Neither wrong, nor be wronged. (Verse: 2:278,279)
عن جابر قال لعن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم آكل الربا وموكله وكاتبه وشاهديه وقال هم سواء. (رواه مسلم)
Hazrath Jabir (Radhiyallahu Anhu) narrates that Nabi (Sallahu ‘Alaihi Wasallam) cursed those who are involved in usury; whether it is the person who is giving usury, receiving it, writing the transaction or witnessing it.
(Sahih Muslim Vol.11 Pg.28 – Dar al-Ma’rifah)
You have stated in the query that the person was working in the Accounts department of the Insurance Company; hence, he will not directly fall within the ambit of the warning of the abovementioned Hadith. The commentators of Hadith explain that whilst the abovementioned Narration explicitly forbids one from writing the transactions of interest, it refers only to those people who write an agreement and prepare the document to evidence the transaction of interest. It does not include those people or accountants who record these transactions later and were not involved in the transaction itself.
وهذا إنما يقع على من واطأ صاحب الربا عليه فأما من كتبه أو شهد القصة ليشهد بها على ما هي عليه ليعمل فيها بالحق فهذا جميل القصد لا يدخل في الوعيد المذكور وإنما يدخل فيه من أعان صاحب الربا بكتابته وشهادته
(Fath al-Bari (Ibn Hajr) Vol.4 Pg.394 – Qadeemi Kutub Khana)
(Contemporary Fatawa (Mufti Taqi Usmani) Pg.160 – Idara-e-Islamiyat)
Therefore, the salary earned in the Insurance Company would be halal, on condition that more than 50% of the funds present in the company were not interest money. The occupation would still be undesirable as it acts as a means of assisting in sin. The person should seek repentance from Allah Ta’ala, and make intention not to be involved in such an occupation again.
However, if more than 50% of the funds present in the company were interest money, the salaries received from the company will be contaminated. The person should make sincere tawbah (repentance) to Allah Ta’ala for consuming interest money. It will not be permissible for him to use the money saved whilst working in the Insurance Company. He will have to dispose of it by giving it in charity without the intention of reward. As far as his basic necessities he has bought through this money are concerned, if he has any other means of replacing them, he should try to do so. However, if he hasn’t got the halal funds to replace his basic necessities, he will be permitted to use these items. He should keep on giving charity from all money he earns, until he is satisfied that he has given in charity the amount equal to the value of the basic necessities he possesses.
And Allah knows best
Wassalam
Ml. Abu Yahya,
Student Darul Iftaa
Checked and Approved by:
Mufti Ebrahim Desai
Darul Iftaa, Madrassah In'aamiyyah
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