Faith-Based Risk-Sharing Structures 61
to charge more than that value in exchange for delaying the time when payment is due. Although allowances are made for dealing with interest from non-Jews, there are restrictions, such as when a guarantor for the transaction is a Jew. The issue of surplus charity funds comes up in a business example (Hilchos Choshen Mishpat 1:16). Here the question asked is, if a campaign is conducted to raise money for a particular person to receive medical care and in the end surplus funds are available, what happens to the surplus funds? Four potential scenarios are given: • If the cause for the surplus is that the sick person did not actually require all of the treatments that were originally anticipated or if money was collected for this cause and, ultimately, for whatever reason, the sick person did not undergo the treatments, the money must be returned to those who donated it. If it is no longer possible to identify who the original donors were, or if it would be a very large expense to identify and return the money to them, the unused money should be used to defray the medical expenses of another needy sick person. It should not be diverted to a different type of charity. • If the patient received all or some of the treatments necessary, but more money came in than was actually needed, the surplus funds would belong to the sick person and his family. This would be true even if the patient passed away during the course of the treatment or afterward. • In the above case, if the person (or organization) collecting is a wellknown charity that collects funds for various causes, he would be permitted to divert these funds to another cause. If, however, he is just a friend who took the initiative this one time for this one cause, he would be obligated to give the surplus to the patient or his family. • If the campaign is run on behalf of a recognized public charity fund or medical assistance program, the person collecting would be permitted to use the surplus funds for another charitable purpose, even if this is the only time that he has tried to raise money for charity. This is true even though the money was collected for a specific needy or sick person (Lobel and Project Genesis n.d.). Thus, there are similarities between Jewish insurance and Islamic insurance, including the avoidance of interest and the sharing of surplus.