(Published in Arab News dated June 17, 2002 under “Islamic Fiqh and its revival“)

In essence, insurance is an act of avoiding God’s will by God’s will, as expressed by the second Caliph Omer Bin Khattab. Or we may use the words of God’s messenger and say that it repels one act of God’s will by another. The Prophet(ﷺ) was asked whether prayers, medicines and forms of disease prevention could prevent an act of God’s will? He answered:
“These too (preventive methods) are part of God’s will”.
Moreover, health insurance, or insurance in general, is an act of mutual love and compassion which strengthens ties between believers so as to enable them to be like a whole construction in which each part supports the rest.

We see in insurance a clear cooperation to prevent what may un-dermine the welfare of believers. According to the Prophet(ﷺ) “If a Muslim sees his brother being exposed to a grave risk of a great loss but does not take steps to protect him and spare him such risks and losses, he actually gives him away and lets him down”.

Furthermore, insurance is a means to relieve stress and hardship. An authentic Hadith outlines a great promise:
“Whoever relieves a Muslim of one hardship of this life will be relieved by God of one of the hardships of the Day of Judgment, and whoever makes things easy for a person in a difficulty will have his things made easy by God both in the life and in the life to come”.