The Darul Uloom of Deoband, the supreme body of the majority Sunnis, has declared life insurance as illegal but prominent Shia leaders have opposed the decree.
The Darul Ifta of Deoband, the body authorised to issue fatwas, issued a fatwa saying that interest earned on bank deposits as well as insurance of life is illegal as per the Shariat, the supreme law for Muslims. And that Muslims should not go in for insurance or assurance of life which has been given to them by Allah.
The fatwa, issued by Mohammad Zafeeruddin non August 7, in consultation with the two muftis of Darul Uloom, Deoband says: “Life insurance is not permissible because there is interest income in it as well as gambling, which are illegal under Shariat.”
The fatwa was issued in response to a question from one Saleem Chisti from Lucknow who was approached by an insurance company to buy a policy and become an agent.
“It is najayaz as per the Shariat,” said vice-president of All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) Maulana Khaleed Rashid. It amounts to not believing in the supreme status of Allah, he said. But his colleague and noted Shia cleric Maulana Kalbe Sadiq disagreed: “There is nothing wrong in taking an insurance policy. I can say it in the light of the laws followed by the Shia sect. But if another sect has views against it, one should respect that too.”
The chairman of the All India Shia Personal Law Board, Maulana Mirza Mohammad Athar, too, said such fatwas are not binding on Shias.
Support for the fatwa among Sunnis, however, was strong. Said Rukhsana Lari, a member of AIMPLB: “Insurance is illegal as per the Shariat. Those who are covered under group insurance in their jobs should donate the interest and the maturity benefits. Mufti of Nadwa College too has said that if under certain circumstances one has to take life insurance policy, the interest should not be accepted.” |