Can I Take Another Insurance Contract to Reduce the First One?
Answered by Shaykh Irshaad Sedick
Question
I live in the UK, where you are required by law to buy car insurance. Even with the lowest coverage, insurance at my age is very expensive. I have been given advice by the insurance company that if I pay for home insurance (which I intend never to use or take a claim out), I will get cheaper overall insurance.
For example, buying a 1 time £100 home insurance with the company will save me £400 off car insurance.
I understand Insurance is haram unless it is required by the country’s law. Will the opportunity to save a lot of money on the car insurance make getting the home insurance allowed.
Answer
In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate. May Allah alleviate our difficulties and guide us to what pleases Him. Amin.
Insurance contracts are not intrinsically unlawful, though conventional insurance is generally unlawful, and Allah knows best. Please try to ascertain whether the insurance contracts you are referring to are lawful by consulting with scholars about the specific details of the contracts. If the contracts in question are unlawful, check for lawful alternatives.
If there are no lawful alternatives, then resorting to unlawful insurance is a matter of darura (necessity), which makes the unlawful lawful to the extent that alleviates the necessity. [Suyuti, Ashba wa al-Naza’ir]
If you have a real need for a car, and your country’s law requires you to have insurance, you are excused for taking the minimum unlawful measure (insurance) to acquire the car, but you would not be excused from transgressing beyond the minimal measure. Taking a second unlawful contract to reduce the financial burden of the first would, therefore, not be permissible, and Allah knows best.
Related
- The Legal Verdict on Prevalent Forms of Insurance
- When Is It Permissible to Get Insurance?
- Is Property Insurance Permitted When Buying a Home?
- Insurance and Renting
- Can I Take an Insurance When It Is Illegal to Not Have One?
- Are Conventional Insurances Really Impermissible?
I pray this is of benefit and that Allah guides us all.
Shaykh Irshaad Sedick
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
Shaykh Irshaad Sedick was raised in South Africa in a traditional Muslim family. He graduated from Dar al-Ulum al-Arabiyyah al-Islamiyyah in Strand, Western Cape, under the guidance of the late world-renowned scholar Shaykh Taha Karaan.
Shaykh Irshaad received Ijaza from many luminaries of the Islamic world, including Shaykh Taha Karaan, Mawlana Yusuf Karaan, and Mawlana Abdul Hafeez Makki, among others.
He is the author of the text “The Musnad of Ahmad ibn Hanbal: A Hujjah or not?” He has served as the Director of the Discover Islam Centre and Al Jeem Foundation. For the last five years, he has served as the Khatib of Masjid Ar-Rashideen, Mowbray, Cape Town.
Shaykh Irshaad has thirteen years of teaching experience at some of the leading Islamic institutes in Cape Town). He is currently building an Islamic online learning and media platform called ‘Isnad Academy’ and has completed his Master’s degree in the study of Islam at the University of Johannesburg. He has a keen interest in healthy living and fitness.
