A Comment on 'Payment of Riba' and 'Insurance' All praise is due to Allah - Lord of the worlds. May His peace and blessings be upon His final messenger- Ameen. Dear brother in Islam, May Allah reward you for you efforts in conveying the deen to all. I am a little concerned however about the opinions that you give on mortgages and insurance. These issues have been discussed in great length by our `ulama and have been shown to be haram. In these days - as always it is important to listen to our `ulama when we need a fatwah regarding the unclear. The fact that the person wants to buy a house in the UK does not make it a necessity. I live in the UK and have rented a house. I have not entered into the haram. As for insurance, the `ulama have compared this to gambling. You are betting against the insurance company that your house will burn down before you pay them too much money. They are betting you that your house will stay in tact and they will get your money off you. This form of transaction is haram. I know that this will make life seem difficult for the people, but they really must rely upon Allah. For example - if a person is working in a dead end job, which allows him to pray - but he sees a 9 to 5 job working in a factory with prospects, which does not allow him to pray. Should he now take that job? No! Because this will be going into the haram without necessity. Here is a good page for more information about this and other things. If you go to http://www.islam-qa.com and do a search on the subject matter. I hope you find this of benefit . Wassalaam Alaikum. Abdur-Raheem Reply I sincerely thank you for your word of advice and I assure you that I never ignore the position of the Muslim scholars while giving my opinion on a given issue. However, because the Muslim scholars have generally given their opinion with their respective reasoning of that opinion, therefore, we should carefully analyze the reasoning. If we agree with the reasoning, we should accept their opinion. On the contrary, if the reasoning presented does not seem appropriate, we should then give the opinion which we honestly believe to be correct. You write: The fact that the person wants to buy a house in the UK does not make it a necessity. I live in the UK and have rented a house. I have not entered into the haram. Considering something a necessity or not depends on the decision of the individual. We cannot pass a generalized judgment regarding the necessities and luxuries of individuals. If an individual opts take a rented premise for residence, to avoid paying Riba it would be an act of great piety and inshallah great reward shall follow in the hereafter. However, if on the other hand, the individual opts to take a loan and construct his own house for residential purposes, as is generally the desire of most individuals, I do not think that this act could be labeled as haraam. The reason is simple. The prohibition of the Shari`ah actually relates to the taking of Riba. Giving of Riba, on the other hand, is condemned because it can sometimes translate into cooperating in a sin. (for more details please refer to one of my earlier responses to a similar question titled: " Buying a House on a Riba Based Loan ") You further write: As for insurance, the `ulama have compared this to gambling. You are betting against the insurance company that your house will burn down before you pay them too much money. They are betting you that your house will stay in tact and they will get your money off you. This form of transaction is haram. Insurance can only be termed as "gambling" by someone who is either not aware of "gambling" or is not aware of "insurance". Gambling is neither based the principle of indemnity nor on the principle of insurable interest. Do you actually think that a person gets his house insured with the true intention of "betting against the insurance company that his house will burn down before he pays them too much money"? I think this is a gross misrepresentation of facts. People get their houses or their properties insured not as a bet or a wager that the property would be destroyed before a specified time, but as a security against accidental loss of that property. A person who has his house insured never desires the insured event to actually materialize. He would be as keen to avoid the accident as the insuring institution, if not more. This obviously is not the case in gambling. If you would take a close look at both gambling and insurance, you shall be able to see clearly that the operational mechanism, the intentions of the parties involved and the results in the two cases are quite distinct from each other. There seems to be absolutely no relationship between the two phenomenon. You further write: If a person is working in a dead end job, which allows him to pray - but he sees a 9 to 5 job working in a factory with prospects, which does not allow him to pray. Should he now take that job? No! Because this will be going into the haram without necessity. I fully agree with you. However, I do not see any connection of this statement with the preceding issues. Praying at the prescribed timing is a directive of the Shari`ah . If a person's employer does not allow him to pray at the prescribed timing without any reason, he is forcing him into the disobedience of his Creator. This is not the case in either of the two preceding issues. I hope this helps. In case any aspect of my answer remains unclear, please feel free in writing back to me at your own convenience. May the Almighty guide us all to the path of His liking. Regards The Learner