Q: Is it permissible to buy a life insurance policy, not so that my heirs can benefit from it; but merely to cover inheritance tax/estate duty that is so exorbitant that due to not having so much cash funds in the estate, essential assets such as the house in which the heirs live in has to be sometimes sold just to pay the estate duty? The heirs will be instructed that after paying the duty, the surplus must be given away in charity without intention of reward.
A: Insurance is an embodiment of interest and gambling. Why leave the world in a state where these two curses are hanging over your head?
And Allah Ta’ala (الله تعالى) knows best.
Answered by:
Mufti Ebrahim Salejee (Isipingo Beach)