Can I Work as a Paralegal for an Insurance Law Company?
Answered by Mawlana Ilyas Patel
Question
I am applying for a new job. I have come across a job where I would be working as a Paralegal for a law company. The legal company would pay my wages, but this company specializes in insurance law. When people have a car crash, my role is managing the claim, small claims that don’t need to go to court, and settling them out of court to make it easier for both parties. I would also investigate fraudulent claims, etc. Please could you shed some light on this matter and your thoughts about a Muslim working in insurance law? Would this be sinful?
Answer
In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate
I pray you are in good faith and health. Thank you for your question.
If you are doing the above type of work, as you mentioned, then it is permissible as the nature of the work is permissible in itself.
As a principle, when analyzing the Sharia compliance of a job, one must look at the nature of the job itself. If the hours at work are spent on permissible tasks and services, then the job will be permissible. If one’s services are impermissible, the job will be impermissible.
[Ibn ʿAbidin, Radd al-Muhtar]
However, it would be best to find future work at a place where one can avoid working in insurance companies.
I would like you to go through the valuable answers and links below. You will receive guidance and direction in sha Allah.
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Wassalam,
[Mawlana] Ilyas Patel
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
(قَوْلُهُ وَجَازَ تَعْمِيرُ كَنِيسَةٍ) قَالَ فِي الْخَانِيَّةِ: وَلَوْ آجَرَ نَفْسَهُ لِيَعْمَلَ فِي الْكَنِيسَةِ وَيُعَمِّرَهَا لَا بَأْسَ بِهِ لِأَنَّهُ لَا مَعْصِيَةَ فِي عَيْنِ الْعَمَلِ (رد المحتار ج 6 ص 391 أيج أيم سعيد)
Mawlana Ilyas Patel is a traditionally-trained scholar who has studied in the UK, India, Pakistan, Syria, Jordan, and Turkey. He started his early education in the UK. He went on to complete the hifz of the Quran in India, then enrolled in an Islamic seminary in the UK, where he studied the secular and ‘Aalimiyya sciences. He then traveled to Karachi, Pakistan. He has been an Imam in Rep of Ireland for several years. He has taught hifz of the Quran, Tajwid, Fiqh, and many other Islamic sciences to children and adults onsite and online extensively in the UK and Ireland. He taught at a local Islamic seminary for 12 years in the UK, where he was a librarian and a teacher of Islamic sciences. He currently resides in the UK with his wife. His interest is a love of books and gardening.
