Original Question: Are there different zakat rulings for different insurance products? ie wholelife, term etc.
Answer provided by Ustaz Haron from FAiWA:
Yes different ruling. We at FAiWA has the following view:In the absence of Takaful (Islamic Insurance) products in Singapore, Muslim can look into temporary measures of conventional Insurance.
Term Plan and Invest the rest in Shariah Compliant Investments.
ILP plan with Shariah Compliant Investment.Term insurance is still a conventional plan, structurally and contractually still not meeting shariah compliant.
However, its a lesser evil of all the conventional insurances due the following:
Term insurance do not have an interest element accumulated from cash values that were generated from mainly fixed income instruments and a dubious status of compliant n non compliant stocks.
You are paying only for the very cost of insurance to cover your income in case anything happen to you.
Because of its affordability, it frees up your budget to invest in other shariah compliant stocks and business that you like.
Hence, term insurance becomes temporarily permissible in the absence of takaful products in Singapore market.
If you see the FAQ by MUIS, although it says you can follow which scholar you are most convinced when buying Insurance products but when it comes to pay zakat only endowment plan need to pay zakat because its deemed as savings plan in the absence of shariah compliant products for saving.
If you see the The rest is not needed to pay zakat. We think because of its non shariah compliant nature, that is why we don’t have to pay zakat for other insurance plans.
