Q 1. I was wondering if any one would be able to give me the Islamic perspective on Disability Insurance. (Ahmer)
A.1 I have written on the subject of insurance before. The word insurance is a confusing and misleading word. We believe that no human being can insure anyone and anything. Insurance companies can neither insure your health from sickness, nor your property from damage, nor you from disability and death . Only Allah has the power to insure. However, apart from the terminology, the principle of mutual cooperation in helping each other in case of death, accident or sickness etc. is not wrong. There is nothing un-Islamic about it. As Muslims we may use the word "takaful" (mutual responsibility) for it. It was Muslims who first introduced this principle. Muslim businessmen in Spain used to make long journeys via sea for trade purposes; and it were they who first introduced this principle. They used to collect some money from each merchant and used to compensate those among them who incurred any loss of ship or merchandise in their sea voyages. European businessmen learnt and adopted this practice from Muslims. While Muslims forgot about it, it was the Europeans who developed it in the most sophisticated and diverse forms. Some Muslim scholars consider insurance forbidden on the assumption that it involves a kind of gambling and it goes against the principle of taqdir in Islam. But there are other scholars who have equally strongly argued that insurance is very different from gambling. Dr. Nejatullah Siddiqi in his book on Insurance in Islamic Economy has pointed out that gambling upsets the normal system based on work and reward and is inimical to equitable distribution of income and wealth, whereas insurance protects the disruption of the system by accidents and events beyond human control. A gambler takes risks in order to make more money, but the insurer's basic objective is to protect his/her assets and interests.
The Takaful (or insurance as the word has become common now a days) in the case of Disability and/or loss of life is not against the principle of taqdir, because no one is claiming that this or that company will protect life, health, or safety. The insurance companies only promise that in case of death, sickness or accident or disability they will provide certain compensation to the individual or his/her family within certain limits that the parties have agreed upon. The insurance companies utilize the law of probability and causality. They estimate how many people in a large population get involved in accidents. On the basis of the scientific studies of statistics etc. they collect a certain premium from every person and distribute it among those who incur the loss. For these reasons, many Muslim scholars have allowed insurance and they also do not see anything wrong in life or disability insurance. I am inclined to accept this position and consider health, home, auto, disability and even "life" insurance permissible in Islam.
We, however, must keep in mind that most of the insurance organizations today are involved in riba and other Islamically prohibited transactions. It is for this reason important that Muslims have their own insurance companies based on Islamic economic principles. This was also the opinion of Maulana Mawdudi who once said that insurance can be re-organized under Islamic principles so that it becomes free from all prohibited practices. In the absence of Halal Islamic insurance companies, Muslims are allowed to purchase insurance from other insurance companies because as a minority in non-Islamic states Muslims must protect themselves, their properties and businesses, and they must make provisions for their families. A prominent group of 'Ulama held a conference in Nadwatul 'Ulama in Lucknow, India in the early 70's and had suggested that Muslims should take benefit of insurance.
Q 2. I have no doubt in my mind and heart that we are required to follow the Sunnah of our beloved Prophet (peace be upon him). However, the difficulty arises in accepting the often-quoted Hadiths as authentic. Logically, the authenticity of Hadith is suspect at best. My concerns are two folds, first if the highly revered priests of the Christian church could manipulate the works of Hazrat 'Isa (Jesus) (as claimed by Muslim scholars), why can't the same argument be used on the gatherers of Hadiths. Secondly, why is it extremely difficult to find Hadiths reported by Abu Bakr and 'Umar, some of the closest friends of the prophet? I hope you will provide some clues or references. And I would also like to know your personal opinion. Hopefully you have not resigned to the fact that since most of the Muslim jurists agree with the authenticity of Hadiths as quoted by Bukhari and others, therefore it is clear that the Hadiths are correct and their interpretation final. This is a common argument and reminds me of Albert Einstein's quote "Reality is a mere perception, albeit a persistent one". If the Christians of the world are living in folly, why can't the same be said of the Muslims.
A 2. The Sunnah is the tradition and the way of the Prophet -peace be upon him and Ahadith are the statement that inform us what the Prophet said, did or things happened in his presence and he approved or disapproved them. Thus Sunnah and Hadith are distinct as terms, but in their content they are one and the same. The Hadith contains the Sunnah and the Sunnah is known through the Hadith. You said, "I have no doubt in my mind and heart that we are required to follow the Sunnah of our beloved Prophet -peace be upon him." This is very good. Now you should try to find out what is the Sunnah and for this purpose you should consult the authentic works of Hadith. If Allah has required from us to follow the Sunnah, then He must have protected the Sunnah. Allah says in the Qur'an: "Allah does not places a burden upon a soul except what it can bear…" (al-Baqarah 2:286). Allah told us in the Qur'an in many places that we must obey and follow the Prophet -peace be upon him. Logically then, we can say that since Allah commanded us to follow the Prophet -peace be upon him- then He must have preserved for us his words, deeds and example. Allah preserved the Qur'an by preserving the Sunnah. Actually, we can say that the Qur'an also we know through the Sunnah. How else could we find out what was the Qur'an, except through the Prophet. He informed us that Allah gave these words to Him through His angel Jibril and we accept what the Prophet said.
It is correct that the so-called "highly revered Christian priests" manipulated and corrupted the words of Jesus -peace be upon him. This is not just Muslim scholars' assertion, it is first of all what Allah has told us in the Qur'an (see al-Baqarah 2:75; al-Nisa' 4:46; al-Mai'idah 5:13; 41 etc.). It is also now being recognized by a growing number of Christian biblical scholars. Why the teachings of Prophet Muhammad could not suffer the same fate? The reason is that Allah wanted to preserve His last message, the Qur'an and its authentic explanation through His last Prophet and Messenger Muhammad -peace be upon him. It is also because Muslims learned the lesson from the mistakes of earlier communities and took good care of preserving the teaching of the last Prophet.
It is not right to say that the Prophet's closest companions Abu Bakr, 'Umar -may Allah be pleased with them all- did not report any Hadith? I suggest that you read the Musnad of Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal and you will see the collections of the Ahadith of these and other great companions. Abu Bakr and 'Umar -may Allah be pleased with them- used to pay great attention to the ahadith of the Prophet and they used to mention them in their speeches and their official letters to their governors. You may read a good discussion on this subject in Dr. Mustafa Azami's excellent work, "Studies in Early Hadith Literature" published by American Trust Publications in Indiana in 1978.
Since you wanted to know my personal belief in this matter, let me say that I strongly believe in the Hadith of the Prophet -peace be upon him. I believe that we do have many authentic sayings of the Prophet and they are sufficient for our guidance, for correct understanding and application of Allah's rules as given to us in the Qur'an. I believe that Imam Bukhari's collection of Hadith is one of the best that is available. I believe that all those people who doubt the Ahadith of the Prophet and/or those who consider them un- necessary for understanding Islam are wrong and have no rational, logical or objective reasons for their doubts.
I do not agree with Albert Einstein. If he said that all reality was a mere perception, then I would say that his statement would be the first one in this category. To say that there is no true statement is the first untrue statement and we should not accept it. If some people are in folly, it does not necessarily and logically entail that all people are in folly. Please do not try to be a sophist. Use your common sense and read the Qur'an and learn the authentic Sunnah. May Allah lead you unto the right path.