I will be living in a basement suite so I am worried about flooding and cracking or robbing occurring, so is it permissible to get tenant insurance?
Bismillahi Ta’ala
Walaikum Assalam Warahmatullah
At the outset, all conventional forms of insurance are impermissible. In the past, auto insurance has been given a leeway due to it being mandated (made compulsory) by law.
Even in this case, one should seek out such a level of insurance wherein one’s involvement with the interest is at minimum. This is in accordance with the Shar’i principle of “Necessity affords leeway in prohibitions”.
In regards to “home/tenant insurance”, it is not mandated by law. So it is quite possible that one would not have to worry about it under normal circumstances.
However, in recent times, more and more Condominiums and Rental Estate Agencies are making it their requirement for renting out premises for collective safety of other tenants and properties of the locality. This is equally been observed in commercial environment of shop tenancy as well, where a particular shop is mandated to take out an insurance for protection of other adjacent businesses.
While, this does not warrant its permissibility in Shariah, there is possibility that in efforts of avoiding such landlords in search for insurance free tenancy, a lot of haraj can manifest, which can render an integral necessity such as renting a place to live can be jeopardized.
If such difficulty does present this genuine concern, and no alternative means are plausible, then it would be permissible to take out the tenant insurance in that particular area. However, even then, should some unforeseen event happens whereby one has to claim from this insurance, it will be impermissible to take benefit of any monies beyond the premium one has paid to the insurance provider.
Wallahu A’lam
And Allah Ta’āla Knows Best
Mufti Faisal al-Mahmudi