Resolution No.(222) By the Board of Iftaa, Research and Islamic Studies:

"The Ruling on the Sums Wrongly Transferred by (S.S.C) to the Deceased's Account" 

Date: 29/Jumada2/1437 AH, corresponding to 7/4/2016 AD

All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the Worlds; and may His blessings and peace be upon our Prophet Mohammad and upon all his family and companions.

The Board reviewed the letter of the General Director of The Social Security Corporation (S.S.C), on the above date, which reads as follows:

Could your Grace clarify the ruling of Sharia as regards a bank declining from giving back the amounts transferred by the Corporation to the account of one of its beneficiaries after his death because it wasn`t notified about that, and how to divide those amounts among his heirs? It should be noted that the law stipulates ceasing the transfer of a person`s salary from the date of their death, and the Corporation should divide it among his heirs-if there were any - and in retroactive effect from that same date. Is it permissible for the bank to keep those salaries under the pretext that the heirs are entitled to them, or is it permissible for it to deduce the debts, due on the deceased, from those salaries, which aren`t considered the right of the deceased in the first place?

Having deliberated the above question, the Board decided the following: 

The Social Security System is among the public interests drawn up by contemporary laws in order to achieve security and stability for the working class of the Muslim community. Those benefits go under the umbrella of socio-cooperative insurance where contributions are made by the employee, the state and the Corporation. When the he/she becomes eligible to receive the benefits, they are granted to him/her as a donation.

The Corporation has the right to claim back the amounts that it has transferred to the beneficiary after his death because he isn`t entitled to receive them. Juristic principles have established the following: "A clearly wrong conjecture doesn`t count", and the eligibility to receive the above benefits is tied with the beneficiary being alive, if he/she isn`t, they become the right of the Corporation, to be given by it to the eligible recipients , as stipulated by the regulations observed in such situation.

In conclusion, the Corporation has the right to claim the amounts that it had transferred to the beneficiary`s account by mistake in order to dispose of them in line with the regulations of the Social Security. And Allah Knows Best.

Chairman of  the Iftaa` Board,

 Abdulkareem Khasawneh/Member

Vice chairman of the Iftaa` Board, Prof. Ahmad Hilayel/Member

Dr. Hayel Abduhafeez/Member

Prof. Abdulnaser Abulbasal/Member

Sheikh Saeid Hijjawi/Member

Dr. Yahia Albotoosh/Member

Prof. Abdullah Alfawaz/Member

Judge Khalid Woraikat

Dr. Mohammad Khair Al-Esa

Dr. Mohammad Alzou`bi

Dr. Mohammad Alkhalayeleh/Member