Respons Artikel "Benarkah Insurans itu Haram...

Ini ada lah pendapat saya saja. Saya bukanlah pakar agama atau ahli ulama. Izinkan saya menulis dalam bahasa Inggeris. Lets go the basic principle of the life insurance before we go to the 'haram' issue.

Basically, the principle of life insurance is a straight forward concept. The benefit of a life insurance policy is payable upon death or sometimes on survival of the insured at a maturity date. The coverage of an insured can be a permanent or temporary basis or both. Term insurance is a temporary coverage where the benefit is payable on death of the insured within a period of time. While a permanent insurance provides a permanent economic protection for the insured family. This is called a whole life insurance. An endowment policy is a combination of both, but the duration of coverage is temporary. I will not discuss further on the endowment policy here.

Lets say the insured or policyowner signs a contract with the insurance company. Under the contract, the insured or policyowner will pay his premium to the insurance company while the insurance company is obligated to pay the benefit to the beneficiary/es of the insured upon death of the insured. The obligations of both the policyowner or insured and the insurer are expressed in the contract. In the process, basically the insurance company provides a tool for the public to seek protection for a possible economic loss for the insured's family in the event of his/her prematured death. The question of how long the premiums have to be paid by the insured is solely based on the policyowner or insured's needs for economic protection. If he feels he is no longer need or concern about his potential economic loss due to his prematured death, the policy can be terminated immediately. Depending on the provisions of the policy, the protection may ceased immediately upon non payment of the premiums by the insured.

Again, the question is why a person has to rely on insurance for his possible economic loss in event of his prematured death. Why can't he just save his money somewhere safe? Of course, he can do that and hope that his saving is really secured. But then again, who can give you such an guarantee. The bank has no obligation to pay your money in full if it goes under. No contract is signed between the bank and the depositor either. Forget about bailing out by the authorities! So what then is the alternative? Does he know when he going to die or lay off? Of course not. Can a Muslim man plan for his family's potential economic loss in the event that he will never come back to see his family again? Yes, that's obvious! Everyday, he is facing an element of uncertainty one way or another. He may or may not come back to see his family again. Allah is the Greatest Planner! The question is that :are we allowed to plan as well? For example, some of us put away a lot of money for our children's education. Why? It's simply the primary responsibility which rests on us to make sure that our children is educated and is able to plan his/her own future. That's right, for the future! No one can predict if your children will be able to plan his/her future life. But you can only plan for his future, right? The question is what is wrong for a family man to plan for his family's potential economic loss too?

If you look closely, to subcribe for an insurance plan is just another form of contingency plan. Death is certain but its time is everybody's guess. It does not equate to gambling whatsoever. In gambling, loss or win is a game of chance. Furthernore, there is no element of contract in gambling. However, death is not a game of chance, but it is very certain! Insurance is not a game of chance because the insurance company knows that it will have to pay the benefit to the beneficiaries someday. It is just matter of timing. In the process, both parties should get the benefits, The family of the insured has the benefit of economic protection while the insurance company will make profit on its investment and provides jobs to the society.

Puting money aside to pay the premium is just another form of economic cost to a person. Of course, the insurance company minimizes its losses as it is able to maintain a sizeable pool of fund which must then be managed prudently. So, since the element of chance is avoidable in insurance and the existence of a contract is established, I don't see the concept of life insurance becoming a 'haram' issue. It's just another form of financial tool for those who have concerns about his family's economic security. Just like like saving or any other form of investment. It only becomes an issue if the income or profit of the financial tools is derived from haram activities.

Melayu di Boston
USA

______________________
Terbitan : 28 Jan 2003

Ke atas Home