Fatwa: # 15568
Category: Financial Transactions
Country: United States
Date: 21st August 2007

Title

Working for a Health Insurance Company or as a Doctor in USA

Question

1. Working for a Health Insurance Company.
                I would like to know whether we can work for a Health Insurance Company. I work as a Software Engineer in the Co mputer  Dept of Company Here in Chicago,USA. This Health Insurance Company Provides Health Insurance to People here in USA.

2. Working as a Doctor in USA
               In USA  when a Doctor serves the Patient, The Doctor is Paid by the Heath Insurance Company of the Patient. I would like to know whether a Doctor can take Payment for the Service he Provieded thro a Insurance Company. Most of the Insurance companies in USA are involved in Interests.

 

Answer

In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

Assalaamu `alaykum waRahmatullahi Wabarakatoh

1. Your work as a software engineer in the computer department of the insurance company will be governed by the direction and limitations of the verse “And do not assist in sin”. Insurance is haram. Your work there will be assisting the course of the company. The Fuqaha have discussed the limitations of such assistance. In brief, if your work has a direct involvement in insurance, then that will be prohibited. If your work does not have a direct involvement in insurance but the company uses your work to fulfill its needs then you will not be responsible for that. In any event, since the very purpose of your employment in the company is to promote the cause of the company, ther will not be free of some resentment (karahat) even though your work does not entail a direct involvement in insurance.
2. The income of the doctors being paid by the insurance companies will be permissible. They are simply paid for the services rendered by them.

And Allah knows best

Wassalam

Mufti Ebrahim Desai
Darul Iftaa

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