BENEFICIARIES IN FAMILY TAKAFUL (Islamic Life Insurance)�
IN THE GLOBAL CONTEXT *�


� Mohd. Ma'sum Billah (Ph.D.)[1]

E-mail: [email protected]

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Under Islamic law, the beneficiary in an insurance policy cannot be determined based on a nomination clause. A nomination in a policy is just a mere formality, which has no effect as to the benefits of the policy. This is because the benefits from a policy are not outside the property of the policyholder, rather any policy or any form of savings under the name of a person must be regarded as his own property and he shall have his/her legitimate proprietorship over such a property.

Therefore, the beneficiary in a policy may be determined based on the test of whether one has an insurable interest on the subject matter of the policy, and one�s insurable interest over a policy under Islamic law may be determined based on the principles of al-Milkiyah (ownership), al-Mirath (inheritance) and al-Wasiyah (bequest). In other words, the benefits from an insurance policy would be regarded as the property of the policy holder, and the policy holder, so long as he is alive, would have the sole ownership[2] (unless the policy holder creates al-Waqaf[3] out of the policy) of the benefits of the policy, but after his death the benefits would be disbursed and distributed to the rightful persons relying on the principles of al-Mirath and al-Wasiyah.

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Relying on this contention it is suggested here