Qatar Insurance Company (QIC) is not Shariah compliant in the sense a Muslim policyholder means. It is a conventional insurer, founded in March 1964 by Emiri Decree as Qatar's first domestic insurance company, listed on the Qatar Stock Exchange with a market capitalisation above QAR 7 billion, rated A- by AM Best and S&P. Its own pages describe its business as transferring risk for a premium, with no takaful product, no Sharia supervisory board and no policyholder surplus anywhere on qic-group.com or qic.online. Its one Islamic connection is an 18.75% founding stake in Beema, a separate takaful operator. That stake does not make a QIC policy halal. This page explains the contract difference and maps each QIC policy to its takaful replacement. For the model, see our takaful versus insurance explainer.
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What QIC is, in its own words
QIC's about page describes Qatar Insurance Company Q.S.P.C. as a publicly listed insurer with a performance history of over 59 years and a global underwriting footprint, founded in 1964, the market leader in Qatar and one of the largest insurers in the MENA region by written premium and assets. Its heritage page says the company was founded in March 1964 by Emiri Decree and from the beginning crafted solutions to transfer risks in energy, marine, aviation, property and commercial lines before adding personal insurance. Its head office is on Tamin Street in West Bay. The ratings block on every page cites AM Best's A- financial strength rating for QIC and its reinsurance subsidiary, and S&P's A- rating with a stable outlook.
The retail arm trades as qic.online, which calls itself Qatar's first online insurer and claims more than 650,000 customers, a hotline on 8000742 and products including car insurance (third party or comprehensive), mandatory visitors' insurance, outbound travel, life and health, and a QIC Market range covering accidents, boats, golf, gadgets, school fees, retirement, education and bill protection. The group FAQ answers questions about premiums, policy excess, no-claims bonus and total loss, the vocabulary of a conventional insurer. Searches for 'QICC insurance' and 'QIC full form' usually mean this company, Qatar Insurance Company, rather than QIIC, which is Qatar Islamic Insurance Company, a different, takaful-only operator reviewed on our QIIC provider page.
The contract difference in one paragraph
In a conventional policy you pay a premium, the insurer owns it, and in exchange the insurer takes on your risk and pays claims from its own funds; any profit after claims belongs to shareholders and any loss falls on them. Classical and contemporary Shariah scholarship objects to that exchange because the amount you pay and the amount you may receive are uncertain (gharar), the contract has the structure of a wager on an event (maysir), and the premium pool is typically invested in interest-bearing assets (riba). In takaful, your contribution is a donation (tabarru) into a participants' fund that pays claims, the operator is paid a disclosed wakala fee and a share of investment profit as mudarib, surpluses after claims and reserves belong to participants, and the fund is invested in Shariah-compliant assets under a supervisory board. Beema's 2025 accounts show exactly those mechanics, a 30% wakala fee, a 70% mudarib share and a surplus paid to non-claiming policyholders, which our Beema review sets out in full.
Measured against that, QIC's own description of its business is the first model. Its FAQ explains that the car premium is a percentage of the vehicle's value adjusted for accident history, that a no-claims bonus discounts renewal, that a car is a total loss when repairs exceed 65% of insured value, and that the home policy excess is QR 250 per claim. Those are reasonable terms for a conventional product, and QIC has published them clearly. None of them involves a participants' fund, a wakala fee or a surplus, and QIC does not claim they do.
Does QIC's stake in Beema make QIC halal?
No. Beema's FY2025 investor presentation lists Qatar Insurance Company as an 18.75% founding shareholder alongside Qatar Islamic Bank at 18.75%, Barwa at 15%, AlRayan Bank at 15% and QInvest at 7.5%. That means part of QIC's investment portfolio is a takaful operator, and QIC shareholders earn a share of Beema's wakala fees and mudarib income through dividends. It says nothing about the contracts QIC itself writes with you. A QIC comprehensive motor policy is a QIC contract, paid into QIC's funds, governed by QIC's wordings, with no Sharia board review, regardless of what QIC owns elsewhere. The compliance question attaches to the policy you sign, not to the shareholder register of the company that signs it.
The stake does matter for one practical purpose. If you want to move from QIC to takaful and prefer to stay close to the same financial group, Beema is the operator QIC co-founded, its chairman is QIB's chairman and its board includes QIB executives, so a switch to Beema keeps you inside the same establishment. That is a convenience point, not a compliance point.
When you did not choose QIC: employer, landlord, bank and visa placements
Most residents who hold a QIC policy did not pick it. Employers buy group medical, including QIC's QatarCare, and the employee has no say and pays no premium. Landlords and building managers insure property. Banks place motor or property takaful on financed assets, though the four Islamic banks place with takaful operators rather than QIC. Visitors are required to hold the mandatory visitors' insurance, and QIC sells it online. The scholarly treatment of a policy you are compelled to hold or that your employer funds is generally more lenient than of one you buy for yourself: the contract is not yours, the contribution is not yours, and the benefit is a condition of employment or entry. Our is-it-halal hub collects the general principles; the practical point is that the group scheme is your employer's decision and your options are at the margins.
- For your own car, switch at renewal: third-party liability is compulsory, but every takaful operator sells it, so there is no necessity argument for a conventional policy
- For an employer's group medical scheme, you may ask HR whether a takaful operator was considered; Beema, QIIC and others sell group medical, and employers do switch
- For a bank-placed takaful on a financed car or home, check the certificate; if it is from a takaful operator, nothing needs changing
- For the mandatory visitors' insurance, buy from an approved takaful operator if one is offered for your visa type; if only conventional cover is accepted, the requirement is the state's
- For QIC Market savings-style products such as retirement, education and school fees plans, treat them as conventional and compare them with Islamic savings and takaful plans before buying
The takaful equivalent of every QIC policy
| QIC policy | Takaful replacement | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| Car, third party or comprehensive | Beema, QIIC, Alkhaleej Takaful, General Takaful, Shamel motor takaful | Agency repair years, excess, courtesy car, surplus rule |
| QatarCare group medical | Beema or QIIC group medical, via your employer | Network, outside-Qatar cover, claims statistics |
| Outbound travel (Travelcare Plus) | QIIC travel takaful and other operators' travel plans | Medical limit, excess, winter sports, age loading |
| Home and contents | Beema home takaful, QIIC property takaful | Sums insured, excess, unoccupancy clause |
| Individual life and health | Beema individual life at QR 120, QIIC Aman family takaful | Sum assured, term, savings element |
| Mandatory visitors' insurance | Approved takaful operator if listed for your visa | Which operators the visa system accepts |
The cells name products that appear on the operators' own sites or in our existing reviews. Our motor takaful versus conventional comparison does the car line in detail, our travel takaful comparison covers zones and the visitor plan, and the 2026 takaful state of play lists every operator. Alkhaleej Takaful, General Takaful and Shamel are named from our provider profiles rather than pages fetched for this article.
What you give up, honestly
QIC is a large, highly rated, digitally mature insurer with a 60-year claims record, a two-minute online purchase flow and features the takaful operators do not all match: comprehensive cover on cars up to 15 years old, an Off-Road 360 add-on for dunes, which Beema's off-road extension explicitly excludes, agency repair as an optional cover beyond the first year, and travel medical limits from USD 50,000 to USD 1,000,000. The takaful operators are smaller, their retail pages are thinner and most premiums are quote-only. A buyer who moves should expect to ask more questions and possibly accept a narrower add-on list.
Against that, the takaful contract gives you a disclosed fee, a share of surplus if you do not claim, Shariah-screened investment of the pool, and, at Beema and QIIC, audited accounts that show where the money goes. Beema's surplus of QAR 11.76 million for 2025 and QIIC's advertised 15% are modest in cash terms for an individual; the point is the structure. Complaints against any insurer in Qatar, conventional or takaful, go to the Qatar Central Bank, which licenses both QIC and the takaful operators.
Verdict: keep the QIC policy or move it?
A policyholder who bought their own QIC car, home or travel policy should move it at the next renewal to a takaful operator; every one of those lines has a takaful equivalent, so there is no necessity argument, and the switch costs nothing but a phone call for a quote. Ask Beema or QIIC for a quote that itemises the add-ons QIC gave you, and compare the excess and agency repair terms rather than the headline premium alone.
An employee on a QIC group medical scheme should keep using it; the contract is the employer's, the premium is the employer's, and the benefit is a term of employment. Raising takaful with HR at the next renewal is reasonable, and the operators are ready for it. A visitor required to buy the mandatory insurance should buy whatever the visa system accepts and not treat it as a personal choice. Anyone holding a QIC Market savings-style product, retirement, education or school fees, should treat it as conventional and compare it with Islamic alternatives, since savings products are where the investment side of the contract matters most. Our providers directory lists every takaful operator we profile. Facts checked against qic-group.com, qic.online and beema.com.qa on 19 September 2026.
Frequently asked questions
Is QIC a takaful or Islamic insurance company?
No. Qatar Insurance Company is a conventional insurer founded in 1964, and its own pages describe its business as transferring risk for a premium, with policy excess, no-claims bonus and total loss rules. No takaful product, Sharia supervisory board or policyholder surplus appears on qic-group.com or qic.online. Qatar's takaful operators are Beema, QIIC, Alkhaleej Takaful, General Takaful and Shamel.
What is the difference between QIC and QIIC?
QIC is Qatar Insurance Company, the conventional insurer founded in 1964 and the largest in the country. QIIC is Qatar Islamic Insurance Company, a takaful-only operator founded in 1995 that advertises an annual policyholder surplus. They are separate listed companies with different contracts; a search for 'QICC insurance' usually means QIC, but if you want Shariah-compliant cover you want QIIC or another takaful operator.
Is it haram to have car insurance with QIC if the law requires insurance?
The law requires third-party cover, not QIC's version of it. Every takaful operator in Qatar sells compulsory third-party liability and comprehensive motor takaful, so a driver can satisfy the law with a Shariah-compliant contract. The necessity argument that scholars allow for compelled conventional cover does not apply where a compliant alternative exists at comparable cost, which is the case for motor in Qatar.
My employer gives me QIC QatarCare medical cover. Should I refuse it?
No. A group medical scheme is a contract between your employer and the insurer; you pay no premium and the cover is a term of employment. Most scholarly treatment regards using employer-provided conventional medical cover as permissible because the contract and contribution are not yours. You can ask HR to consider a takaful operator at renewal, since Beema and QIIC both sell group medical.
Does QIC's ownership of Beema shares make QIC's own policies Shariah compliant?
No. QIC holds an 18.75% founding stake in Beema according to Beema's 2025 investor presentation, which makes it an investor in a takaful operator. Compliance attaches to the contract you sign, and a QIC policy is a conventional risk-transfer contract reviewed by no Sharia board. If you want cover from within the same financial group, Beema itself is the takaful operator to use.
Compare providers in your state
See side-by-side comparisons of Shariah-compliant products, or let our matcher recommend the best options for your situation.
Which takaful operator should I switch a QIC car policy to?
Get quotes from Beema and QIIC first; both are QCB-licensed, listed, and publish their surplus policy, and Beema's add-ons include agency repair without depreciation, a 14-day courtesy car and an off-road extension. Alkhaleej Takaful, General Takaful and Shamel are the other options. Compare the excess, agency repair years and courtesy car terms against your QIC policy, not only the premium.
