QUESTION:
I wanted to enquire if Samsung Care+ is okay to subscribe to? They have a promotion with a new phone I had bought, which I pay a once-off amount of R499 and if within 12 months after paying, my screen breaks, then I won’t be charged the full price of a new screen or for the actual repair, but rather only R999 to process the repair service. That’s the only two charges that may ever be done, and both are once off; one being dependent on if my screen breaks and I need to fix it, and the other charge is just a sign up fee.
They do have another service where a person would pay around R179 a month, and they are “covered” from paying for two screen repairs within 24 months, but still have to pay an incident fee which is much lower than the price of a new screen. Please let me know whether taking such services are considered as insurance,
and/if they are allowed in Islam?
ANSWER:
Both the subscriptions fall in the category of insurance which is Haraam. There is no certainty whether the phone screen will break and require replacing or not. Secondly, it is possible that the screen breaks, in which case you will receive a screen more than the subscription value which is considered as Riba, hence prohibited. We therefore advise abstention.
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ إِنَّمَا الْخَمْرُ وَالْمَيْسِرُ وَالأَنصَابُ وَالأَزْلاَمُ رِجْسٌ مِّنْ عَمَلِ الشَّيْطَانِ فَاجْتَنِبُوهُ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُفْلِحُونَ
نَهَى النَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ عَنْ بَيْعِ الْغَرَرِ وَالْغَرَرُ مَا يَكُونُ مَسْتُورَ الْعَاقِبَةِ (المبسوط للسرخسي (68/13
انشورنس سود اور قمار پر مشتمل ہونے کی بنا پر بالکل حرام ہے )فتاؤى عثماني 3/314)
ALLAH TA’ALA ALONE IN HIS INFINITE KNOWLEDGE KNOWS BEST!
ANSWERED BY:
Mufti Mohammed Desai Saheb
Date: 30 Rajab 1445 / 11 February 2024
