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Buying Takaaful (Cooperative) Insurance For a Necessity

Question

Im living in austria and would want to open a business and sell products. If a customer gets hurt using my product because it is deffect he can sue me. Im not very rich in terms of money so if this was ever to happen i couldnt afford paying thousands. I could though get insured and the insurance could handle it. Would it be allowed in this case?

Answer

All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad  sallallaahu  `alayhi  wa  sallam ( may  Allaah exalt his mention ) is His slave and Messenger.

If you cannot find Takaaful (cooperative) insurance which you can buy in those countries, then there is no sin – Allah Willing – in buying a commercial insurance, as per the Fatwa of the European Council for Fatwa. The Resolution of the European Council for Fatwa (6-7) states:

There are situations and environments that require solutions to address special conditions and meet their requirements, as is especially the case of the Muslims in Europe, where commercial insurance prevails, and there is a dire need to benefit from it in order to prevent the dangers to which they are often exposed in their life in all its forms, in the absence of an Islamic alternative – Takaaful (cooperative) insurance – and the difficulty to find it at the present time. Therefore, the Council issues a Fatwa to the effect that commercial insurance is permissible in the following cases and what is similar to them … (one of them was:) - Insurance on vehicles, machinery, equipment, houses and professional and commercial establishments, in order to ward off risks that cannot be covered, such as fire, theft, and malfunction of the various facilities. [End of Quote]

Allah Knows best.

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