Based on my years of experience in Takaful industry, I am of the
opinion that the following behaviors of Takaful participants should not emerge
as they may contradict with the spirit and objectives of Takaful business:
1. Searching for cheapest Takaful product - This attitude is common among insurance policyholders
where they will compare the pricing between all insurance providers and
normally buy the cheapest among them. However, Takaful is based on the
concept of Tabarru'at or donation. If we intend to donate to a
"khairat" fund at a mosque, we will never search for the cheapest
"khairat" fund among the mosques to donate. Instead, we will
donate based on whatever we willing to contribute. Moreover, there are
few verses in Quran which mentioned about the rewards of doing good deeds
including donation for the cause of Allah. The rewards are between 10 to
700 times as promised by Allah swt. The more we contribute will
definitely lead to higher rewards from Allah swt. Thus, we should never
look for lower Takaful contribution as it will lead to much lower rewards from
Allah swt.
2. Choose Takaful product based on higher
cash rebate or return - The purpose of participating in a Takaful
scheme is mainly to help other participants based on the concept of
Ta'awuni (helping each other). "What's for me?" concept
should not arise during participating in a Takaful scheme. We shall do
good deeds without considering any rewards return to us. Our believe,
faith and "iman" towards the promise from Allah swt shall prevail
everything else. To gain the maximum benefits from Takaful is to
participate in any Takaful scheme with sole intention to help any other fellow
participants who involve in any prescribed losses. Thus, considering the
highest cash rebate or return as an objective to participate in Takaful plan may
invalidate your purpose to help others. If
we happen to receive any cash rebate or return upon expiry, consider it as a
bonus or dividend instead of pre-requisite for participating in Takaful.
3. Grieved when no claim happen upon
expiry -
Many feel that they are paying the Takaful contributions for nothing when no
claim occur. This happens when the contributor considers the money he
contributes into Takaful fund is still his asset thus when no claim occurs the
money is considered "forfeited". Again, this contradicts the
concept of Tabarru'at or donation as the money we donated into Takaful fund is
no longer considered our asset or belonging. The ownership of the money
or asset is transferred to the Takaful fund due to our righteous intention to
help others. In the event of no claim occur by the participant, the money
he contributed is absolutely used to pay for claims by other participants.
As a result, the money is not forfeited but instead it is used for the
sole reason of participating in a Takaful fund or scheme.
4. Consider Takaful Operator as un-Islamic
when a claim is not payable - There are few instances when claims are
not payable due to several reasons such as:
a. The loss is excluded (under exclusion)
b. The coverage is not effected
c. The certificate is lapsed
d. The loss is not within the coverage
Takaful business is a commercial entity
where the management runs the business professionally with an expectation of
making some profit to be returned to the shareholders who risk their capital investing
some money to support the business. Thus, the Takaful products are
prudently priced based on the coverage offered or the potential liabilities to
paid from the Takaful fund. All the terms and conditions are stipulated
in the Takaful certificate as well as all relevant marketing collateral.
It is, of course, the duty of Takaful operator representative to explain
in detail to the potential participant with regard to the product.
Nevertheless, the potential participant shall not enter into any Takaful
transaction until he is fully understand the detail of the product. It is his
responsibility as well to obtain the clarification on any doubts. There
must be a valid reason for a claim to be repudiated by Takaful operator. Thus,
it is unwise to allege a Takaful operator as un-Islamic when a claim is
repudiated.
5. Comparing Takaful operator with a
conventional insurance company - Takaful operator is established based on
Shariah compliant principles whereas insurance company is not. In a
layman perspective, Takaful operator is a "Halal" certified while
insurance company is NOT a "Halal" certified. From Islamic
perspectives, they are two different entities and business modus operandi.
There is no way for these two entities to be at par or equivalent.
The products offered by both looks alike but in actual fact are very much
different. Technically, they are not comparable and serve different purposes
and objectives.
