Fatwa Outlaws Life Insurance

(Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India) The supreme Muslim body for Sunnis, Darul Uloom of Deoband, recently issued Fatwa 837 declaring life insurance illegal under Sharia Law.

From Times Now:

"Fatwa had rightly stated that insurance of life is against Shariyat (Islamic laws). No true Muslim should go for it, because Islam prohibits gambling and earning through interest; and insurance is nothing less than gambling," said Khalid Rashid, Vice-President, All India Muslim Personal Law Board and Sunni religious leader.

So, there you go. Purchasing a life insurance policy is no different than betting money on a blackjack table. At least that's what one Muslim leader says.

However, there isn't common agreement among all Muslim leaders. According to Kalbe Javwad, a prominent Shia leader:

"In Shias, there is no such ban. This controversy has been raised for the first time; it has no big meaning for Shias. In Iran, there is no such ban on getting life insured."

I guess the controversy regarding the legality of life insurance will just have to be added to the list of sticking points between Sunnis and Shias. My personal take on the issue is that Muslims should never be allowed to obtain life insurance, interest-bearing or otherwise.

Look, their guiding belief system sanctions and, some would say, encourages killing. There are "honor killings" and a variety of homicidal and suicidal acts of martyrdom, all ostensibly conducted with the approval of higher spiritual authority. An ambitious entrepreneur wouldn't need a John D. Rockefeller intellect to figure out how to rake in some lucrative life insurance payouts.

Muslims are more than adept at regularly killing each other in large numbers already. They don't need a profit motive.

Companion post at The Jawa Report.