Before we move in further details, let’s go thru to the relevant understanding of ta’awun from the world of takaful. By attached to this principle, the takaful is treated as a game of mutual assistance and cooperation, not a game of pure chance which taking the expenses or liabilities of others. As a result, there is no loser or winner. As, each and everyone share the big cake.
By this principle, it emphasizes that takaful is not a contract of buying and selling where one party offers and sells protection and the other party accepts and buy the offered service at a certain cost due. It is rather an arrangement whereby a group of participants each pay a fixed amount of money, and the compensation for the losses of participants of the scheme are paid in a lump sum amount.
By practice, the principle of ta’awun allows participants to share their risk and exposure with the intention of helping one another of unfortunate few. Attached to the underlying elements of mutual responsibility, mutual cooperation and mutual protection in ta’awun principle leads to manifest a sense of brotherhood and solidarity amongst the participants who are willing to help and assist one another in times of difficulty and need. This is will further strengthen the social bonding and social capital to the society.
Mutual Responsibility
The feeling of responsibility towards another fellow Muslim is the heart-foundation of solidarity of the society, which makes the poor and needy feel secured by being sheltered by the rich. Also the sick does not feel much hurt as they know the healthy will hold their hand. As a result, they will live together in a way of interconnectedness to each other like a single body. On this, the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said in a Hadith:
"The attitude of the believer and feeling of brotherhood to one another is like that of the single body. When one member of the body is hurt, it will impact on the whole body."
The impact of mutual responsibility to the society is like something that holds parts of building together. As the mutual responsibility comes from the sincere heart of the fellow Muslims, it will lead to a stronger heart-bonding rather than a physical bonding, which is not lasting. The Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) mentioned in another Hadith as:
"The relationship between one believer and another (in a community) is like that of a building where one part of the building strengthens the other parts."
The concept of mutual responsibility is closely-related to the nature (fitrah) of the human beings, which it requires everyone to keep his respective responsibility especially for those who are trusted under him. This has been mentioned by the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) in a Hadtih:
"Each one of you has a responsibility and each one of you is responsible towards those under your responsibility."
By keeping back to the nature (fitrah), people will reduce some sought of conflicts as each and everyone is concerning to fulfil their respective responsibilities. The unfulfilling of the prescribed responsibilities which is caused by ignorance, always leads to disputes among people in the society. This later will loose the social bonding, then further push down the social capital in the society the bottom level.
The mutual responsibility will also deepen the heart-consciousness of taking care and mutual consent to the other fellow Muslims. This is in line with the saying of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) in a Hadith:
"One is not judged as righteous until he cares for his brother as much as he cares for himself."
By this kind of heart-consciousness, the social bonding of the people will be more tied-up. Then, it will bring a greater impact to the social capital in the society.
Mutual Co-operation
The underlying principle of mutual cooperation in takaful ta’awun will also attribute to the upward movement to the social capital. That is one of the wisdom why it has been mentioned in few places in the Holy Qur’an and Hadith of the Prophet as well.
At the initial stage, this principle of mutual- cooperation is established both through the Holy Qur’an and the Hadith of the Prophet (PBUH). Some of the Quranic injunctions are:
"Help one another in furthering virtue and God-consciousness (taqwa), and do not help one another in furthering evil and enmity"[1]
“It is not righteousness that you turn your faces towards east or west but righteousness is whoever believes in God and the Last Day and the angels and the Book and the messengers; and spending out of his wealth for His love towards kin, and orphans and the poor and the wayfarer and those who ask and the freeing of slaves and those in debt; to be steadfast in prayer and practice regular charity; to fulfil the contracts which you have made; and to be firm and patient in pain or suffering and adversity and throughout all periods of panic. Such are the people of the truth, the God-fearing.[2]
This will be further stressed by the saying of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) in his few hadith:
“A Muslim is the brother of a fellow Muslim. He should neither commit oppression upon him nor ruin him; and he who meets the needs of a brother. God will meet his needs and he who relieves his brother from hardship Allah will relieve him from the hardness to which he could be put on the day of judgement (Muslim)”
“Whosoever fulfils the intention of a brother, God will fulfil his intentions”
“God always help those who helps his brother”
“Help your brother either those oppressed or those who oppress. The companions ask "Oh Messenger of God, we understand about helping the oppressed how do we help those who oppress?" The Messenger replied "relieve them of their power."
Holding back to the wisdom of mutual cooperation prescribed by the Holy Qur’an and Hadith of the Prophet (PBUH), it can metaphorically be said as a rope that ties up each and everyone in the society regardless to the social status.
By having such mutual cooperation, the rich or fortunate will share their ropes with unfortunate few and to hold their hand together in facing the daily-life-challenges. Without this, the unfortunate few will be isolated from the society in majority and the rich or fortunate will have their set-up-owned-groups which will be further isolated to each segments in the society.
The existence of a lot of isolated segments in the society implies a loosing-social bonding which will further push the long-run downtrend to the social capital in the society.
The practice of mutual cooperation will also bridge the gap between the rich or fortunate with the poor or unfortunate few in the society. When this happened, it will further harmonize the inter-relationship among people in the society. A lesser social bridge in the society will create a stronger social bonding which brings further impacts to the social capital in the society.
Mutual Protection
A nature (fitrah) of human beings requires protection so that he can live in order at micro-individual level and macro-society level as well. In a broader perspective, every human being needs 5 basic elements of protections in his life as prescribed in Maqasid al-Shariah as for the following lines:
1) Protection of religion
2) Protection of life
3) Protection of dignity or lineage
4) Protection of intellect
5) Protection of property
The enactment of takaful ruling with the underlying of ta’awun principle leads to at least one fulfilment of the above protections. Initially, this principle is well-stipulated by both in the Holy Qur’an and the Hadith of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). In several places regarding the protection from hunger and fear, ALLAH SWT mentioned as:
"(He) who has fed them against hunger, and has made them safe from fear."[3]
Rasulullah (PBUH) also mentioned in his few Hadith pertaining to the protection. One of the Hadtih was in the line below:
"Indeed a believer is one who can give security and protection to the life and property of mankind".
In another Hadith, Rasulullah (PBUH) stressed that:
“By God in whose power I am under, one will not enter paradise unless he provides protection to a neighbour in difficulty."
The mutual protection by practice will synchronize by heart-relationship among the people. This is because, it is a kick-start where the people to start loving to each other as a brother in Islam.
In the past Islamic histories, there are few examples of showing the positive impacts of the mutual cooperation against the social capital in the society. One of them is during the early migration of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and early-embraced Makkah people to Madinah, the voluntarily-protection offered by Ansar to Muhajirin had established a strong social capital order and inter-relationship between the two new groups.
In the world of takaful, the mutual protection which manifests thru a participation in the takaful scheme will indirectly establish a kick-start relationship by heart among all the participants. Even, they do not know to each other. This will establish a solidarity and brotherhood in Islam which later strengthen the social bonding, then the social capital in the society.
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