 In this module, we would look into a possible solution or a possible principle which can be used to structure a Sharia-compliant alternative to insurance. We have established that insurance is a good thing to have. However, we identified at least two, if not three problems with the conventional insurance. The way it is structured, it may involve Reba, which is prohibited, i.e. prohibited interest. It may involve Gharar, which is unnecessary ambiguity or contractual uncertainty, or it may be deemed as a form of gambling. So, we wanted to see if there was a way of coming up with an alternative in an Islamic economic framework. Unfortunately, in the classical books on jurisprudence, we do not find a single contract which can be used for insurance in an Islamic way. Like, you know, we have the contract of Murabaha, we have the contract of Musharaka, we have leasing, we have this thing, that thing, and all these contracts, they serve a purpose. Many of these contracts are actually sale contracts. Others, they are investment-based arrangements, and there are some leasing arrangements. However, when it comes to insurance, in classical era, we did not find any example of this type in the form of a concise contract. The closest we can find in the classical books on fiqh or jurisprudence is the concept of kafala. Kafala is a contract of guarantee. Urdu means kafalat. However, kafalat in Urdu has a different kind of connotation. Kafala is a contract which allows one party to provide some kind of guarantee to the other party. However, this is a gratuitous contract, i.e., the party providing guarantee cannot charge for it. Cannot say that, oh, I am guaranteeing this thing, hence you have to pay me something for this one. Kafala is a charitable contract. It can only be offered as a gesture of goodwill. You cannot charge for it in an Islamic legal slash economic framework. So, this guarantor here could be there in an Islamic economic framework. This party has given loan of 1 lakh rupees to this party and this party is supposed to pay at P1 after some time. Now, this party may say that, okay, I am giving you this loan but you have to come up with a guarantor and this guarantor may be able to help. The guarantor would be basically saying, if he doesn't pay, I will pay. So, in case of kafala, as I clearly mentioned, kafil cannot charge the party it is providing guarantee for. This is what many insurance companies actually do. They provide this guarantee, this assurance and for that service, they charge the person they are providing this assurance to. Unfortunately, kafala is there in an Islamic framework but kafala cannot be priced. Insurance companies do this thing but they charge for it. How? In the same thing, this is a loan contract. This party gives 1 lakh rupees to this party at T0 and this party has to pay the same amount of money. This is an interest-free loan after some time. Now, an insurance company can go to this lender and ask him, look, this is a risky loan. The other person may default. The other person may leave the country. Now, if you want some kind of protection on this loan, we are happy to provide you that protection if you pay us 5000 rupees. So, pay us 5000 rupees. We guarantee that you will be getting your 1 lakh rupees. The same insurance company can actually go to the borrower. Look, you have to return, in this case, this is an interest-based loan. The party, one has given 1 lakh rupees and is expecting 1.15 lakhs after one year, for example. So, insurance company can go to the borrower. Look, you have to pay back your loan and something may happen. You may lose your job. You may fall sick or something of this sort happens. If that happens, we would actually cover for you. We would help you in paying back your loan if you pay us 5000 rupees. So, this is called credit insurance. So, this kind of kafala guarantee is being used by insurance companies, but they charge for it. Unfortunately, in an Islamic legal framework, this cannot be done. There is no price for kafala except an amount which should cover the actual cost of administration. What is the cost of administration in this context? If you want to give a guarantee to one party or the other party, that other party says that there will be no verbal guarantee. Write this on the stamp paper. The legal cost that, of course, the guarantor would have to incur, however, the guarantor can always ask the party to be guaranteed. You have to bear these expenses. And this is acceptable in an Islamic legal framework. Now, if kafala cannot be used as an underlying contract for insurance, there is another practice which actually predated Islam. And when this was presented to Prophet Muhammad SAW, he actually did not dislike it. Rather, he said this is a good thing. In many Arab tribes, there was this practice of Aqeela, which Aqeela is basically blood money. One tribe killed another tribe. This is why there was a fight. Or accidentally, sometimes, one person would happen to kill another person from the other tribe. Now, this other tribe, they would like to take revenge. In order to prevent this revenge, the tribe A, the tribe from where the person killed, they could have paid some blood money. This was enough in the time of ignorance. And where did this blood money come from? The tribes from their income, individuals and families, they would put certain amounts into a pot. Whenever there was such an accident, they would take money from it and give it to another tribe. That was actually called Aqeela. Something similar to this one, I observed in Dubai. Pakistani taxi drivers in Dubai, on a daily basis, they would put something in a box. So, 200, 300 taxi drivers. In case one of the taxi driver meets an accident and dies, and his body has to be sent to Pakistan. So, this thing would allow those taxi drivers or the community of taxi drivers to send the body back. Of course, with the help of Pakistan government. And along with the body, they would send some money to the bereaved family. So, this is a modern time informal practice which is similar to Aqeela. So, from here, because Aqeela was permitted, it is permissible for a group of people to pull sums of money together to take care of some adversaries. This principle of Aqeela is a basis for what is known as the kaful in modern times. And we would be looking into it in the modules to come.