Ruling on buying insurance that is compulsory for the individual and optional fo

[bamalli]

Ruling on buying insurance that is compulsory for the individual and optional for his family

Question:
I am studying in Australia, and they require everyone who comes here to buy compulsory insurance for the individual but they do not require it for his family. Some young men buy insurance for themselves and their families, because they save money by doing so. Is that permissible?.

Answer:
Praise be to Allaah.

We asked Shaykh 'Abd-Allaah ibn Jibreen.

He said: If insurance is compulsory and cannot be avoided, the one who is forced to buy it is excused. But if it is not compulsory then it is not permissible to buy it, so long as it is a type of commercial insurance, because it is a kind of gambling which is forbidden. End quote.