Coming down heavily on usage of credit cards and subscription to medical insurance policies, leading Islamic scholars have sought to discourage Muslims from using them, saying they were 'un-Islamic' practices.
The use of both entailed payment of interest, which is prohibited in Islam, the scholars, participating in the All India Conference of Islamic Jurisprudence in Mysore said.
Besides interest, these schemes also encouraged consumerism, causing people to lead a lifestyle that was beyond their means, according to All India Fiqh Akademi General Secretary, Khalid Siafullah Rehamani.
However, the scholars felt that there was no harm in using debit cards and ATM cards issued by the various banks. On the issue of medical insurance, the scholars compared it to being akin to gambling.
Though rendering help to the sick was laudable, these policies were based more on the pursuit of business ventures, devoid of any service motto. However, scholars were not opposed to medical insurance schemes per se as the ones in practice in certain Islamic countries (since they adhered to Islamic teachings) and cited Malaysia as an example.
The conference, which also deliberated on genetic sciences and paternity tests through DNA, said that conducting the tests to identify the gender of a foetus was not permissible under Islam. Abortion of foetus within 120 days of conception was only acceptable if the tests proved some physical and mental abnormalities.
Nearly 250 Islamic scholars participated in the meet, which concluded in Mysore on Monday night.
