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    Islamic Insurance
 
Challenges & Opportunities
 
  Financial Services Research
 
      Forum June 28th 2005
 
  
      Overview of presentation
 
• Why conventional insurance is not allowed
 
• Principles of Takaful
 
• Models of Takaful
 
• The global sector
 
• Challenges for the future
 
• Insurance for the low-income sector
 
• Takaful in Non-Muslim countries
 
 
  Why is conventional insurance
 
                not permissible?
 
• Uncertainty (Gharar)
 
• Gambling (Maisir)
 
• Interest (Riba)
 
 
Earlier forms of Islamic insurance
 
• Dawania – Mutual indemnification amongst officers during
 
  the rule of Umar Ibn Al Khattab (2nd Caliph)
 
• Diyyah and Aquilah – Blood money and concept of
 
  removing hardship from victims family by payment of
 
  Diyyah, on a mutual basis, by relatives of offender
 
• Marine Insurance – Early second century – mutual fund to
 
  cover robberies and mishaps
 
 
  Fiqh Academy Resolution 1985
 
• Commerical insurance is prohibited
 
• Alternative contract confirming to principles of Islamic
 
  dealings is the contract of cooperative insurance, which is
 
  founded on the basis of charitable donation and Shariah
 
  compliant dealings
 
 
          Principles of Takaful
 
• Solidarity and joint guarantee
 
• Self reliance and self sustaining for community well being
 
• Assist those that need assistance
 
• Community pooling system
 
• Shari’ah approved investments and products
 
                “Bear ye one another’s burden”
 
 
    Takaful models in practice
 
• Not for profit model
 
• Ta’awuni model – “cooperative insurance”
 
• Al Mudharabah model – profit sharing
 
• Al Wakala model – agency agreement
 
 
    The Global Takaful sector
 
• 1979 First Takaful Company established
 
• 1996 – 30 Institutions transacting Takaful
 
• 2002 – 50 Takaful operators and four Retakaful providers
 
• 2004 – 80 Takaful operators, 200 Takaful windows and 12
 
  Retakaful providers
 
Source: IBB Solicitors, UK – (2005)
 
 
The Global Takaful sector
 
    Source: Bhatty (2001)
 
 
    Challenges for the future
 
• Dynamic Growth
 
• Harmonization
 
• Best practices
 
• Awareness
 
• Reinsurance
 
• Governance
 
• Low-income sector
 
• Non-Muslim countries
 
 
Insurance for the low-
 
    income sector
 
 
    Can insurance assist poverty
 
                    alleviation?
 
• The poor are the most vulnerable
 
• The impact of losses are more severe
 
• They have minimum means of recovery
 
• Success of microfinance schemes show the poor can and
 
  want to save
 
• Savings and credit are used unproductively
 
• The poor need a safety net to escape poverty
 
 
“Insurance is being recognized
 
    as an important tool for
 
      poverty alleviation”
 
 
      Providing microinsurance
 
              The challenges
 
• Coverage
 
• Regulation
 
• Moral hazard and Fraud
 
• Adverse selection
 
• Education and trust
 
• Technical expertise
 
• Affordability
 
• Retention
 
• Sustainability
 
 
    Providing microinsurance
 
            The possibilities
 
• The cooperative microinsurance model
 
  History of organising the poor
 
  Operate for the interest of members by
 
    members
 
  Trust
 
  Ownership and loyalty
 
  Peer pressure
 
  Surplus reinvested or redistributed
 
 
    Providing microinsurance
 
            The possibilities
 
• The partner agent model
 
  No-risk fee for microinsurance provider
 
  Better coverage for policyholder
 
  Access to new market
 
  Pooling of risks between informal and formal
 
    sector
 
 
    Providing microinsurance
 
            The possibilities
 
• The donor agent model
 
  Access to expertise
 
  Financial sustainability
 
  Guiding hand
 
 
  The need in Muslim countries
 
• Social services inadequate or unavailable
 
• Large sectors of poverty in many Muslim countries
 
• Over half of world’s lowest developed countries have a
 
  majority Muslim population
 
• Increasing inequality in Middle East and Gulf countries
 
 
“Takaful is the second most
 
important social institution to
 
counter poverty and
 
deprivation”
 
              Omar Fisher,1999
 
 
      How can microtakaful be
 
                  provided?
 
• Establish informal microtakaful schemes
 
• Encouragement of pro-poor organisations
 
• Education of government and donor
 
  agencies
 
• Involvement of Takaful sector
 
  Technical expertise
 
  Financial assistance
 
  Partner-agent model
 
 
Islamic Insurance in Non-
 
    Muslim countries
 
 
  Takaful in Non-Muslim Countries
 
          Is there a need?
 
Country  Est. Muslim  Country  Est. Muslim
 
            population            population
 
Argentina    800,000      Italy    600,000
 
  Brazil    1 million  Japan    1.3 million
 
Canada      500,000    Kenya    8.4 million
 
France    4.8 million Netherlands  500,000
 
Germany      3 million    UK      2 million
 
 
  Takaful in Non-Muslim countries
 
              Is there a need?
 
• Fasting growing immigrant population
 
• Belief in will of God
 
• Acceptance that insurance is not allowed
 
• First and second generations are
 
  purchasing insurance
 
• Increased availability of information
 
• Development of Islamic financial sector
 
 
  Takaful in Non-Muslim countries
 
              The challenges
 
• Dispersed population
 
• Capital requirements
 
• Regulation
 
• Awareness
 
• Credibility
 
• Technical expertise
 
 
Ruling by the European Council of Fatwa
 
                      and Research
 
“… It is well known that in most non-Islamic countries there
 
  are cooperative and mutual insurance companies. There is
 
  no harm from the Shari`ah point of view to participate in
 
  these services. So, it is unlawful for a Muslim living in a
 
  country where there is such a cooperative insurance
 
  company to make an agreement with a commercial
 
  insurance company…..”
 
 
  Ruling by the European Council of Fatwa
 
                  and Research
 
Muslims are obliged to purchase their statutory
 
insurance requirements from the cooperative and
 
mutual insurer if there is no Takaful company in the
 
country
 
 
    The case of Folksam - Sweden
 
• 350,000 Muslim population
 
• Fastest growing immigrant community
 
• Collaboration with Swedish Muslim Council
 
• Marketing of Folksam products through
 
  representatives of Council in communities and
 
  mosques
 
• Insurance committee has been established
 
 
The Possibilities in Non-Muslim countries
 
There is a growing awareness and demand for Islamic
 
financial instruments including insurance in non-Muslim
 
countries. There is a great potential for established
 
financial institutes to set up Takaful windows. In particular
 
the Shari’ah ruling presents an opportunity for cooperative
 
and mutual insurers to penetrate this niche market with
 
minimal costs.
 
 
                      Conclusions
 
• Takaful sector is firmly established
 
• Growing rapidly
 
• Micronsurance/takaful is an important tool for poverty
 
  alleviation
 
• Increasing awareness of Takaful in Non-Muslim countries
 
• Development of Takaful in Non-Muslim countries can
 
  encourage greater participation into insurance market
 
 
    Thank you
 
www.icmif.org/takaful
 

Revision as of 00:38, 21 September 2016