Working for life insurance company

Question: 69

Salam Alicom, A friend of mine has gotten an offer
from a life insurance company in USA. He is a student
but he must work to support himself and his study. what
makes the problem worse is that he must find a job by
Sept 97 otherwise he will be illegal and will be kicked
out of the country. So my questions are: (1) is working
in life insurance companies Haram? (2) Are this
circumstances for my friend considered a necessity and
can he get this job until get a better one instead of
loosing everything?

Answer

Praise be to Allah, and blessings and peace be upon the Messenger of Allah. To proceed:

Al-hamdu lillah (praise be to Allah). Life insurance is among the most severely prohibited types of insurance if not the single worst one. It is no doubt a type of gambling, and thus working in this field of employment is haram (prohibited), and it is forbidden to be a partner in helping people towards sin and enmity.

While taking into consideration the situation of this brother and the difficulty and distress that he has fallen into, I can but say: (translation of the meaning from surat al-Talaaq:2-3)

“And for those who fear Allah, He (ever) prepares for him a way out. And He provides for him from (sources) he could never expect” (65:2-3)