Question

Selamun aleykum,

My non muslim parents who are also the renters of my appartement, want me to make a liability insurance, so in case I danage something I will be able to pay the costs for it. I only have little earning since I’m a trainee and wouldnt be able to pay the costs myself, if I may damage sth., without insurance. Will it be permissible for me in this case? I told my parents that this is against my religion but they say that it is to risky to not have one and that normaly if they rented the appartement to a stranger they would have asked him to have one as a condition too.

Answer

According to Islamic law it is not permissible to take out conventional insurances. You should try and agree on an alternative arrangement with them. For example, pay a certain amount on a monthly basis in addition to your rent which will be kept under your parents control as a security against any potential damage. This might be a small sum to start with but over time the balance will increase. If you damage the property out of negligence, your parents would be entitled to use that sum to cover repair costs. On the other hand, if you end up leaving that property and there is no damage, the sum will be returned backed to you. You could potentially pay the same amount that you would be paying into the insurance or a bit more.

If there is no alternative arrangement that you can come to then you should try and rent another property where liability insurance is not required. If there is no such option then as a last resort due to necessity if you were to take out insurance in order to secure a safe space to reside then you will not be sinful for doing so.

Answered by:
Ifta Research Fellow

Checked & Approved by:
Mufti Abdul Rahman Mangera
Mufti Zubair Patel