Is it permissible or forbidden to join a cooperative society that charges 20 dirhams per month to benefit from low-cost trips, financial aid upon the death of parents, or to perform the Hajj rituals?

Participation in the aforementioned society is a type of insurance. If the purpose of subscribing is cooperation in permissible trips, performing Hajj, and dealing with unforeseen circumstances, with the annual surplus remaining in the fund or invested in a permissible manner without investing in a usurious bank, then this is permissible cooperative insurance. However, if there is an entity that seizes the surplus for itself, or if the money or surplus is invested with usury, then participation is not permissible; due to the impermissibility of commercial insurance and investing money with usury.

As for paying money for discounted trips, this falls under forbidden discount cards due to their inclusion of gambling, as previously explained in question number (17265).

Sheikh Ibn Baz clarified the difference between permissible cooperative insurance and forbidden commercial insurance. Cooperative insurance is when a group of people contribute to a specific fund for defined interests such as covering disasters or assisting the needy among them, and it is not for commercial profit. As for forbidden commercial insurance, it is when a person pays money to a company or a merchant in exchange for compensation for what might afflict their car, house, or themselves, and it is forbidden because it involves gharar (excessive uncertainty) and usury.