Can I Take Out Insurance?
Conventional commercial insurance is held impermissible by most contemporary fiqh councils due to gharar and riba. Takaful (cooperative insurance) is the permitted alternative, and legally mandated insurance is treated as a necessity.
This comes up often enough that it is worth setting out the evidence rather than only the conclusion.
The evidence
The objection rests on excessive uncertainty in the contract and on the investment of premiums in interest-bearing instruments.
Takaful restructures the arrangement as mutual donation and shared risk rather than an exchange contract, which removes the gharar objection.
Where the law requires insurance — motor insurance in most countries — scholars permit taking the minimum required.
In practice
- Take the legally required minimum where takaful is unavailable.
- Some scholars permit claiming only up to premiums paid; others permit the full claim as compensation. Ask.
- Check for takaful providers in your jurisdiction before assuming there is no alternative.
Read it once more slowly. Most of what is worth taking from a passage like this arrives on the second pass, not the first.
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Is Zakah Due on Savings, and How Is It Calculated?
Yes. Zakah is 2.5% of savings held for one lunar year that meet or exceed the nisab, which is the value of 85 grams of gold or 595 grams of silver.
Is a Mortgage Permissible if There Is No Islamic Alternative?
Conventional interest-based mortgages are prohibited by the clear texts on riba. A minority of contemporary scholars permitted them under strict necessity where no alternative exists; the majority did not, and the availability of Islamic finance has narrowed that argument considerably.
Are Cryptocurrency and Stock Investments Halal?
Stocks are permissible if the underlying company’s business and finances meet the screening criteria. Cryptocurrency is genuinely disputed among contemporary scholars, with respected positions on both sides.
Is It Permissible to Take Out a Student Loan?
Interest-bearing student loans fall under the prohibition of riba. Contemporary scholars differ over income-contingent systems where repayment functions more like a graduate tax, and some permit them under need.