Pursuing career as actuary

21-12-2016 | IslamWeb

Question:

Can I pursue a career as an actuary? The degree is called actuarial science and involves a high amount of mathematical analysis, which predicts, as best as may be possible, future risks in financial investments. Some of the jobs available with this degree are in the insurance and banking sector as well as numerous other industry sectors such as pension, audit, finance, tax, retail, and so on. Also, some calculations might involve working within the concept of interest. Which sectors can I go for if it is permissible?

---

Answer:

All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.

The actu science is a science on which many insurance companies, banks, factories and the like, depend, and it has become an important science because of the great number of financial complications at this time and age. With this in mind, learning it and practicing it is permissible. However, if someone learns this science, then it is not permissible for him to use it in the service of usurious transactions in interest-based banks or commercial insurance companies and similar fields that are not permissible to promote and support.

Allah knows best.