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Fatwa CenterInheriting life insurance money
Question
Assalaamu alaykum. I took my Shahaadah (testimony of faith) and became a Muslim 4 years ago, praise be to Allah. To my knowledge, it is haram for Muslims to take a life insurance policy for their spouse/families. However, my question is as follows: I come from a non-Muslim family, and I am the only Muslim in the family. Praise be to Allah, I am happily married to my husband, who is Muslim, and we do not take out a life insurance on each other or anyone else from our family because we both know that it is haram, praise be to Allah. My concern is that my parents' inheritance will pass down to me, since they are not Muslim, and I do not know whether my parents' inheritance comes from retirement/savings or life insurance money. Unfortunately, my parents will not tell me out of their discretion/respect, so I am worried that after they both pass away, their will/inheritance will pass down to me without knowing where the money came from. I am afraid that if I accept, even without knowledge, it is still haram/sin. Please give me the Islamic ruling regarding this situation, and advise me regarding the halal way in all this. My husband is unsure because he do not know the Islamic ruling regarding this. May Allah reward you.
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allah, the Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ʻalayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.
Firstly, all praise be to Allah for guiding you to Islam and granting you deliverance from the darkness of Shirk (polytheism). We ask Him to bless us and you with steadfastness on the straight path unto death.
As for the inheritance arrangements in reference, you should know that a Muslim does not inherit from a non-Muslim. It was authentically reported that the Prophet, sallallaahu ʻalayhi wa sallam, said, “A Muslim does not inherit from a non-Muslim, and a non-Muslim does not inherit from a Muslim.” [Al-Bukhaari and Muslim]
The difference in religion prevents such inheritance. This is the view of the majority of the scholars, including the four Imaams (Ash-Shaafiʻi, Ibn Hanbal, Abu Haneefah, and Maalik). Some scholars of Fiqh, though, held that a Muslim may inherit from a non-Muslim but a non-Muslim does not inherit from a Muslim. Please, refer to fatwa 189195. The first view is stronger and has more authoritative weight. Hence, there is no inheritance between you and your parents if they passed away while remaining non-Muslims.
If someone inherited life insurance money, then given the unlawfulness of life insurance, it is lawful for the heirs to take only the amount that the deceased paid to the insurance company during his lifetime. One can find out the exact amount of the insurance money and separate it from the rest of the inheritance by asking the insurance company itself, which we believe is not difficult to do.
Allah knows best.
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