Interest and Gambling

Q: I live in a country where health insurance is compulsory. But the fine for not being insured would be less than the fees for being insured I think. On the other hand we wouldn't be able to pay my mothers treatment otherwise. Plus I think my wife is pregnant. And the costs that come with that also I wouldn't be able to pay without health insurance. The only alternative I can think of would be not to register her here but keep her registered in her home country and let her be treated there. But that would cause a lot of difficulty for us. What shall we do in this situation?

Q: Is medical aid and hospital plan permissible? Also, Is insurance permissible in South Africa?

Q: I just wanted to know, I received an email from FNB and I am not sure if you know how EBucks work but basically it is earned from money spent from your bank account. I spend money and they award me EBucks for doing so. These EBucks are worth 10 cents each. I basically wanted to know if I could use my EBucks as a form of Zakaat to the Pakistan flood victims?

Q: My friend was going from Torino to Rome in a car with his friends (my friend was not the car owner). Another person crashed his car into the car which my friend was travelling in. In Italy, it is mandatory for every car to have insurance. In the case of an accident, anyone who was in the car and was injured, whether the owner or just a passenger, will be paid some money, depending on the extent of their injury. My friend was injured in this accident and his collar bone was broken. Regarding this situation, we want to ask the following questions:

Q: A competition is being run where a certain amount is given as a donation and the donor is entered into a draw for an Umrah ticket and a quad bike. The money is used for a campaign to free a prisoner and the prizes are sponsored by third parties. Is this type of competition permissible?

Q: Is it permissible to use the prizes won from a music competition. The host plays a song and prizes are given for knowing the name of the song, artist, etc. No money is paid to enter the competition.

Q: I am part of a class in which schools gather and the students debate on issues of world problems and how to solve them. We each research a world problem and write papers/speeches for the competition. When the schools gather the host school asks for funds to cover costs. At the end of the competition the host school gives awards to the students who performed the best.

Now there are three things I would like to point out in this competition:

1. The money given to the host is used for food, janitors, and printing costs and as such cannot be waived.

2. The awards are mostly paper certificates and some trophies but all of which have little to no monetary value.

3. I recieve a grade on my performance regardless of if I get an award but some students there do not as it is not a class for them but a club.

Will this amount to gambling?