Takaful in Islam
The Takaful insurance is nothing more than a modern application of the concept of interdependence, which Islam strives to instill in the hearts of Muslims. This is apparent in different texts of Sharee’ah: such as the words of the Almighty: (Help ye one another in righteousness and piety, but help ye not one another in sin and rancor). Even one of the main foundations upon which Islam is based, namely the Zakat (charity), which symbolizes the magnificence of Takaful, is based on allocating a portion of the community’s earnings to assist some of community members who are stricken by neediness and poverty as a result of disease, old age, and the like. This meaning is also highlighted in the so-called “Aqilah” system, in which certain members who share blood and lineage relationship come together, each according to his ability. This is aimed at mitigating the consequences of manslaughter or wrongful killing, whereby the payment of blood money is shared by all members of the “Aqilah” and is paid to the heirs of the deceased to redress the harm they suffered due to the death, and to ensure a decent life for them.
In consecration of this principle and solid foundation, the Prophet peace be upon him praised some of his companions, may Allah be pleased with them, by saying: (if the Ash'aris sustain losses of lives in invasion or face food scarcity, they gather what they have in a single garment, and then equally divide it among them in a bowl, hence they are of me and I am of them). The prophet’s praise, peace be upon him, stems from his keenness on substantiating the significance of collective solidarity and interdependence among Muslims, to mitigate damages and risks they sustain. This is the Takaful insurance, which is a unique and ideal model. On this basis, the noble Companions worked, as narrated from Jabir bin Abdullah who said, "Allah's Apostle sent troops to the sea coast and appointed Abu 'Ubaida bin Al-Jarrah as their commander, and they were 300 (men). We set out, and we had covered some distance on the way, when our journey food ran short. So Abu 'Ubaida ordered that all the food present with the troops be collected, and it was collected. Our journey food was dates, and Abu Ubaida kept on giving us our daily ration from it little by little (piecemeal). Hence, Abu Obaida’s action, may Allah be pleased with him, who was the leader of that military expedition was in line with Prophetic teachings peace be upon him. In order to put these teachings involving interdependence and cooperation into practice, Abu Obeida gathered contributions from his subordinates and dismantled potential risks that may be incurred as a result of loss of food with these contributions.
One of the forms of cooperation and interdependence, which came in the Islamic jurisprudence heritage, is the so-called (Al-nahd). The premise of this is that participants pay their travel expense – for example – which is collected from everyone and then spend it on their needs during their journey. This was approved by Muslims and was put to practice. Islam has founded the concept of interdependence upon a remarkable, impressive system to ensure a decent life for everyone among Muslims. Yet, this is not at the expense of some while leaving out others. On the contrary, the donator or cooperator will reap rewards in the afterlife because of his donation and participation for the sake and cause of Allah.