Thursday, August 31, 2006 E-Mail this article to a friend Printer Friendly Version
Clerics call insurance policies un-Islamic
LUCKNOW: One of South Asia’s most influential Islamic seminaries has issued an edict telling Muslims not to buy life insurance policies because they violate Islamic law. Clerics at the Dar-ul-Uloom seminary said Muslims should not invest in life insurance as “life is given by God and to insure it or assure it, is a crime in the eyes of God.” “A true Muslim should never ever go for life insurance policies. This is against the wishes of God,” Maulana Shahid Rehan, a senior cleric at the seminary, told The Associated Press on Wednesday. Dar-ul-Uloom is in the town of Deoband, about 130 kilometers north of the capital, New Delhi, in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The edict was issued early this month following a query from a Muslim resident of Lucknow, Saleem Chisti. Chisti said he had been approached by a private company to become an insurance agent and to buy insurance policies for himself and his wife. “I thought it prudent to ask Deoband before agreeing to the proposal,” said Chisti, a Sunni Muslim. The edict from the seminary, issued on August 7, said: “Insurance is not permissible because it is a sort of gambling. Moreover, it also involves interest money which is illegal under Shariat”. While Sunni Muslims welcomed the religious directive, Shia Muslims say the decree is not binding on them because Dar-ul-Uloom is a Sunni institution. Maulana Kalbe Sadiq, a Shia Muslim cleric, said insurance is not illegal for Shia Muslims because there is no edict against it. ap
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default...1-8-2006_pg7_7
Clerics call insurance policies un-Islamic
LUCKNOW: One of South Asia’s most influential Islamic seminaries has issued an edict telling Muslims not to buy life insurance policies because they violate Islamic law. Clerics at the Dar-ul-Uloom seminary said Muslims should not invest in life insurance as “life is given by God and to insure it or assure it, is a crime in the eyes of God.” “A true Muslim should never ever go for life insurance policies. This is against the wishes of God,” Maulana Shahid Rehan, a senior cleric at the seminary, told The Associated Press on Wednesday. Dar-ul-Uloom is in the town of Deoband, about 130 kilometers north of the capital, New Delhi, in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The edict was issued early this month following a query from a Muslim resident of Lucknow, Saleem Chisti. Chisti said he had been approached by a private company to become an insurance agent and to buy insurance policies for himself and his wife. “I thought it prudent to ask Deoband before agreeing to the proposal,” said Chisti, a Sunni Muslim. The edict from the seminary, issued on August 7, said: “Insurance is not permissible because it is a sort of gambling. Moreover, it also involves interest money which is illegal under Shariat”. While Sunni Muslims welcomed the religious directive, Shia Muslims say the decree is not binding on them because Dar-ul-Uloom is a Sunni institution. Maulana Kalbe Sadiq, a Shia Muslim cleric, said insurance is not illegal for Shia Muslims because there is no edict against it. ap
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default...1-8-2006_pg7_7
However, one can't fault the Deobandis because the interpretation is Quaranic.
High time there was an Ijtihad so that these type of weirdo interpretations that are totally out of synch with the modern world is removed.
If insurance is not taken, then the families will suffer immensely. No wonder they remain poor. And then they blame the government, society and everyone else but themselves.
Who can help such people?
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