If my wife isn’t working can I make National Insurance contributions on her behalf?

Q: Is it permissible to make voluntary National Insurance contributions for my wife who is not in work and will not be in work for the coming years?   الجواب حامدا ومصليا ومسلما ومنه الصدق والصواب A: If your wife is unemployed and not receiving any benefits she can pay voluntary class 3 contributions.  See:https://www.gov.uk/voluntary-national-insurance-contributions/who-can-pay-voluntary-contributions  If your […]

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Is the CARE pension scheme offered by Network Rail permissible?

Q: I understand you have answered questions regarding CARE pension schemes and regard it as permissible. However the option (from Network rail) I have been given states that I contribute 7% of my pensionable salary to earn a unit of pension which is 1/60 of the salary. The company states that employee contributions cover 40% […]

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Is the new NHS pension scheme shariah compliant?

Q: The CARE (Career Average Revalued Earnings) is a type of defined benefit pension scheme. A defined benefit scheme guarantees a certain level of benefit at retirement, according to a fixed formula. In this respect it is similar to the current final salary sections of the NHS Pension Scheme. In a CARE scheme your pension is […]

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NHS Pensions schemes

Q: Following the fatwa regarding Local Government Pension Schemes dated August 3rd 2015, does the issue of uncertainty render NHS pensions as impermissible?   الجواب حامدا ومصليا ومسلما ومنه الصدق والصواب   A: No, NHS defined benefit schemes follow the same rule as the Local Government defined benefit Pension Scheme.

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Is my pension scheme permissible?

Q: I work for the London borough of Newham and I have been opted in to the pension scheme with LGPS (Local Government Pension Scheme). I have heard some pensions are not permissable and would like to know if the LGPS pension scheme is permissable or not. الجواب حامدا ومصليا ومسلما ومنه الصدق والصواب A:  […]

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Is the final salary/defined benefit scheme permissible?

Q: I am a teacher in a secondary and one thing that is offered to all teachers is the Teacher Pension scheme. such a scheme or any pension scheme deemed as halal, would it be better to opt-out of such schemes? It is the teacher pension scheme offered by the government. Each month an amount […]

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In my Final Salary Pension there is a ‘death in service’ agreement, whereby lifetime assurance cover is payable which is 4 times the salary value. This is paid by the employer an no contributions are made by the employee. Is it permissible for my spouse to receive this lump sum?

Q: In my Final Salary Pension there is a ‘death in service’ agreement, whereby lifetime assurance cover is payable which is 4 times the salary value. This is paid by the employer and no contributions are made by the employee. Is it permissible for my spouse to receive this lump sum?   الجواب حامدا ومصليا ومسلما […]

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Please could you comment on the permissibility of a Final Salary Pension Scheme?

Q: Please could you comment on the permissibility of a Final Salary Pension Scheme?   الجواب حامدا ومصليا ومسلما ومنه الصدق والصواب   A: Please visit the following links for further information:  https://alqalam.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/pensions-and-gross-uncertainty-revised-V1aa.pdf  and  http://213.175.220.56/~alqalamo/wp-content/uploads/Zakah-on-Pensions.pdf. The above two links provide background and some of the answers to your questions.  However, to answer in brief:   Final Salary […]

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Is paying back more to a loan I take from my pension fund considered interest?

Q: I intend to purchase a property for my business use for which I intend to borrow the money from my own pension funds. I have a self-administered pension scheme to which I and my partners contribute, the scheme allows us to operate and invest the money at our own discretion as so far as […]

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I intend to purchase a property for my business use for which I intend to borrow the money from my own pension funds.

Q: I intend to purchase a property for my business use for which I intend to borrow the money from my own pension funds. I have a self administered pension scheme to which I and my partners contribute, the scheme allows us to operate and invest the money at our own discretion as so far […]

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If I have a pension, which I don’t know any details about, do I pay zakah on the contributions and is it considered haram?

Q: If I have a pension, which I don’t know any details about, do I pay zakāh on the contributions and is it considered haram? I work for a big company and when I started in Feb 2009 the company inserted me on a default pension scheme. This would be 3% of my contribution and […]

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