Author: Siddharth Kathans
Publication: The Indian Express
Date: August 30, 2006
URL: http://www.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=73105
Introduction: Deoband decree says interest
earned on bank deposits and insuring lives are illegal under the Shariat
Two top groups of Muslims, including the Darul
Uloom of Deoband, the supreme body of the majority Sunnis, have termed life
insurance as illegal. The Darul Ifta of Deoband, the body authorised to issue
fatwas, has issued a decree saying that the interest earned on bank deposits
as well as insurance of life are illegal as per the Shariat, the supreme law
for Muslims.
Deoband has said that Muslims should not go
in for insurance or assurance of life which has been given to them by Allah.
The fatwa was issued in response to a question from one Saleem Chisti of Lucknow.
Saleem was approached by an insurance company to become an agent and also
insure his own life. He thought it appropriate to ask the competent poeple
before agreeing to the proposal.
The Fatwa (No. 837/zeem) issued by Mohammad
Zafeeruddin, in consultation with the two muftis of Darul Uloom, Deoband on
August 7, says: "Jaan ka bima katai lazmi nahi kyonki isme sood bhi hai
aaur jua bhi, jo ki Shariat mein jayaz nahi." (Life insurance is not
permissible because there is interest income in it as well as gambling, which
are illegal under Shariat).
The vice-president of All India Muslim Personal
Law Board and Nayab Imam of the Aishbagh Eidgah, Maulana Khaleed Rashid, supports
this view. He says insurance and assurance of life are a crime for the true
Muslim.
"It is 'najayaz' (illegal) as per the
Shariat and hence Muslims should not go for it," Rasheed told The Indian
Express.
He said that a true Muslim will never go for it and it amounts to not believing
in the supreme status of Allah.
Omar Saleem Peerzada, spokesman for the Aligarh
Muslim University Old Boys Association, said there are several other alternatives
to insurance in Islam that provide security to the family of a person.
He said Islam is a scientific religion where
everything has some logic and reason, and therefore, if insurance is illegal
there must be some reason. Peerzada said that instead of going in for insurance,
parents must help their children acquire necessary skills and financial independence.
He himself is married, but has no children.
The chairman of the All India Shia Personal
Law Board, Maulana Mirza Mohammad Athar, however, said such fatwas are not
binding on Shias. So there is no restriction on insurance in this sect of
Islam. Talking to The Indian Express here, Athar said fatwas are rarely issued
in Shia community, and on such issues, there is anyway no need for it.
He said intentions are more important while
addressing such issues. There is a provision for "zakat" (donation)
which should be given by every Muslim and keeping money in bank or insuring
oneself is no issue, he emphasised.
The insurance companies in Lueknow do not
have any community-wise figures on those insured but they admitted that the
proportion of policy holders from the Muslim community is lower than those
from others.
According to Swatantra Kumar, a former field
officer of LIC, poverty among Muslim is also one of the main reasons why fewer
Muslims cover their lives. He did, however, say that he had came across Muslims
who refused insurance on religious grounds.
