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What is the ruling on subscribing to shares in cooperative insurance companies, reinsurance companies, and "Bupa Arabia"?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

Insurance companies in Saudi Arabia operate on commercial insurance principles, despite some being named "cooperative" or "Islamic," due to regulations issued by the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA). The majority of contemporary scholars, including the Council of Senior Scholars in Saudi Arabia, have issued fatwas prohibiting commercial insurance. Accordingly, it is impermissible to subscribe to these companies or to trade their shares through buying and selling. Anyone who subscribed out of ignorance must donate any amount exceeding their capital. As for anyone who did so intentionally, they must repent and donate any amount exceeding their capital. Scholars have called for the executive regulations to be amended to comply with Islamic Sharia and the royal decree.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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