Interest and Gambling

Q: I recently heard about Takaaful insurance and was interested in taking out a scheme to cover my home, business, cars, etc. Takaaful claims to be fully Shari’ah compliant, but when I went to the Takaaful website and saw the different schemes that they offer, I couldn’t see any difference with normal insurance. Also, when I dialed the number on their website, I reached a conventional insurance company who told me that Takaaful is part of them and operates under their license. Can you please explain to me whether Takaaful is permissible or not. Jazakallah.

Q: Is it permissible to use interest money to pay for duty costs imposed on imported goods?

Q: A person does a lot of importing goods. The goods and shipping fees are paid directly to the seller. When the item enters South Africa: If the item is less than R500 in value, customs generally do not charge anything. If more, sometimes they charge exorbitant amounts, e.g. on a item I recently purchased worth R3000 they charged R2000. This amount they charge is made up of VAT and customs import duties. They also charge clearance fees which are minimal, under R100. If I pay the clearance fee with halal money and the rest with interest money, is this permissible?

Q: As per new Saudi rules, they are charging many levy, taxes, even charges of exit/entry and iqama charges. My father have 7 dependents under him which and we are paying government more than 40,000 riyal from our halal earned money. In this case, is it possible to pay them by depositing our money in fixed deposits and give them interest amount and get rid of it? 

Q: My car has been involved in an accident with another car. Will it be permissible to accept compensation for the damages from his insurance as it was his fault.

Q: What exactly is the definition of interest or riba? Will the return on investment for a business be considered as interest? Tell me briefly about interest.

Q: Can you use interest money to offset bank charges?

Q: If prize bond is haram, can I purchase a car in a money draw money because some people said prize bond is interest?

Q: Many financial institutions nowadays have rewards programs where you earn points for every swipe that you do with the credit card. Some you need to pay a yearly fee to be part of the club others you don’t pay anything. Just by swiping you earn points. Is it permissible to use these points? 

Q: I know that it is haraam to deal with interest, but buying a house today comes with great difficulty and is seen as a need not and not a want. Can one use interest recevied from an investment account to offset the interest paid towards the house?