State benefits and allowances

Public benefits rest on the covenant of citizenship: fiqh qualifies them by the basis of the pact and the destination of the funds; contemporary fatwa institutions have detailed the cases.

The basic rule

O you who believe, fulfil your engagements.sourate al-Ma'ida 1

• Universal benefits or acquired rights (family allowances, housing aid, health reimbursements): lawful; the Jordanian Dar al-Ifta (opinion No. 4016; decision No. 133, 2009) judged that there is no religious harm in subscribing to social security and receiving the due benefits, the portion received beyond the contributions paid not being riba; these benefits come from general taxation and contributions, are non-discriminatory, and the resident is entitled to them by the social pact.
• Contributory benefits (unemployment, retirement, sickness paid by contributions): lawful under the same ruling: a right acquired by payments, compulsory affiliation falling under iqrar al-hakim (the constraint of the law).
• Scholarships and emergency aid: lawful, meant for real need.

Firm limits

• Fraud: declaring false to receive, stacking illegally, undeclared work while drawing unemployment benefits: formally unlawful: taking a right without cause (Quran an-Nisa 29: "do not devour your wealth among yourselves unjustly").
• Aid tied to a forbidden use: direct subsidies to an unlawful activity (alcohol, gambling) for a direct job: avoided by the majority of scholars; neutral work within an institution with mixed services: admitted by degree (see the page work with non-Muslims).
• Repayable debt: aid lent by the state (advances) is repaid: it is a covenant (Quran al-Isra 34).

Practical cases

• Unemployment while working undeclared: plain fraud: drop one of the two.
• Personal aid vs the family purse: family benefits destined to children are spent for them first.
• Reversion pension and death insurance: acquired rights, lawful for the entitled heirs under the rules of the scheme.

Practical note

The honest method: read the conditions, declare true, receive one's due, and give back in charity a share of any surplus beyond need: the jurists' wisdom is that aid received beyond need may become a sadaqa to redistribute.